Customer Reviews

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Jungle Storm

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I recently bought "Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm", and I wasn't quite sure what to expect; I had played "Ghost Recon: Island Thunder" when I borrow it briefly from a friend, but it wasn't really living up to the hype that everyone around me seemed to be expressing.

This time, however, I was more then pleasantly surprised, but I'll try to stray from giving a very biased review, and attempt to speak in a perspective that will hopefully clarify any unsure expectations for the wondering buyer (which is why this review is four stars and not five).

First off: I suggest 'very' strongly that if you haven't played a "Ghost Recon" game yet, you begin with this one.

It has more up-to-date features (which I'll elaborate on), every mission from "Ghost Recon: Island Thunder" included for FREE in addition to the "Jungle Storm" missions, and an easy-to-use interface once you read the manual (warning: this IS one of those games where you should read the manual carfully before you pop it in your console... you will be lost, I can strongly assure you of that; so build up some patience).

Now, if you are a new player, here's a list of things you should know:
1. Yes, the controls are difficult, as with most Tom Clancy games. But not difficult to say they're always a problem, but enough to say it will be getting use to, and you should be prepared to be in a situation where you'll lose a mission because of the frustration. It's okay, it'll pass, but I'm 90% sure that at least three quarters of the people who pick this up without ever playing before will be tempted to just put the game down... it's that difficult.

2. This isn't a game where you can run in and blast everything. Probably one of the biggest appeals for these types of games is the depth of strategy involved. And believe me, this is a game where you can be winning, and then be losing in about five seconds (what I just said is meant to be taken literally: the tides can switch VERY fast, so be on your toes). Perhaps this level of innovation will put off gamers who don't have the patience or diligence to take everything so "step-by-step", so that's a warning right there. On a positive note, this gives the games an IMMENSE level of intense, hand-shaking, eyes-darting gameplay, and will without a doubt make you feel like you're in the soldiers shoes if you're willing to make that kind of connection with the game.

3. People looking for the "latest in graphics" should not come looking here. As usual, the "Ghost Recon" games are a... little behind, so to speak. So, it's much less "eye-candy", and more about the game. Which is good, I think! I believe that many people today are getting too uptight about graphics, and leave a lot of actual gaming to be desired. In conclusion, if you're looking for rich colors, texture, and cutscenes, then you've already bought the game for the wrong reason. If you're looking for rich substance, gameplay, and complex thinking, you're on your way to having a good time.

That's about all there is to know for the new gamers.

For older fans, I guess it's always nice to have more missions and goodies, but you might want to wait until the price drops, or get it used.

And for both groups of people, I'll add a list of neat little game aspects for more information:

-When you're shot, the camera blurrs, and realistic sounds and movements come into effect.
-The new "threat indicater" is quite a step up! Now you can locate your enemies and be aware of their distance to a point (it's vague in excatly what direction they're in, but with an extra layer added to the indicater, you'll start being cautious before you're anywhere close to an enemy, so don't worry about getting ambushed without knowing it).
-You'll limp when you're shot in the leg, it's harder to get a perfect shot when you've just been running or keep jittering, and your enemies will spot you and shoot you dead on the site if you're not carful... overwhelming intensity.
-Rescuing hostages adds more flavor to the rich game.
-Commanding two teams of people (as well as choosing how they proceed, shoot, and where they go) can be very satisfying for anyone looking for good strategy, as long as you become accustomed to the style of the game.
-The story isn't ridiculous (had a much better time getting into it then I did with "Final Fantasy X-2").

Finally, as a bonus, I'll point out the 'pros and cons' before I end this review.

Pros:
+Intense gameplay.
+Surprising strategy allows you to make many decisions.
+Great replay value; with the "quick-mission" feature there, you can be playing this game for a looong time.
+All the missions from "Ghost Recon: Island Thunder" added in, free of charge! (I'm surprised they didn't mention this on the case!)
+Maybe get another controller or get an online connection so you can play multi-player. Even MORE replay value.
+Soundtrack can be breath-taking when you're sneaking up to an enemy base, hoping that your team doesn't make a sound too loud that you'll be heard.
Cons:
-Graphics sometimes remind you that you're playing a videogame, and with this type of game, only lessens the intensity (if this games just had up-to-date graphics, it'd be absolutely incredible. Even so, it's still good)
-Controls, gameplay, and story may not appeal to a number of gamers, which can lead to selling the game back, or just letting it collect dust.
-Enemies could be a BIT smarter (to say the least; once they were five feet away, walking TOWARDS me, and didn't shoot...?)
-Campy narrator is just completely unnecessary.

Tell me if this review helped.

It would be a diservice to compare this game to other games such as Navy Seals and Medal of Honor. I will treat this game on it's own merit and game play. I really enjoyed the first Ghost Recon game immensely, but I thought, I wish I could use a headset to speak commands. Well, they must've heard me because you can with this game!! It's fun to tell my guys what to do. I like that you can switch to different characters on the fly. If you are playing and get seriously injured well, you can switch to a healthy one to lead. And the injured one actually moves as if he is really injured!! Now that's awesome. Graphics are really good. Especially the one where you are in the rain and it's foggy. Awesome. Visibility is very low and you have to rely on your sensor to tell where bad guys are or potentially are. A few time's I've reverted to using my night vision in the day when visibility is compromised. So, you can improvise in this game. I see by many other reviewers that they've not thought as highly as I have about this game. But, I can tell you, I've enjoyed it so much, I want to just keep on going. And now they got Ghost Recon 2!! I can't wait to get my hands on that one as well!!

This game has been reviewed pretty harshly by most players, probably because they're used to games like SOCOM which blow the competition away. For a, well, 'not SOCOM' game it actually stacks up pretty well. The graphics are okay, not outstanding, so probably a 7/10 rating. The game can get a little choppy at times as well, but it usually doesn't effect gameplay. The first player mode isn't too great, getting hit hard by the lack of difficulty throughout the missions. Even if you chose the toughest mode, elite, the levels still don't seem to be that hard. Even though there are about 30 missions, you can finish the game in a few days easy. HOWEVER!!! The multiplayer is EXCELLENT. No one mentions this in reviews!! And I don't mean online because that isn't incredible but still fun, but I mean the split screen so you can play at home with friends. All of the top games, Splinter Cell PT, SOCOM, etc... don't have split screen at all or it isn't that great. You have 31 levels to chose from and 10 modes, and you can be 1 of 4 types of players (Sniper, Demolitions, Riflesmen, and Support). With all of these combinations, the multiplayer is extremely fun and is the only reason why I'd by this game. There aren't a lot of new games that have great split screen action for the FPS games, but this is definitely a step in the right direction. The only reason I'd rent or buy this game is because of split screen, otherwise it's just an okay game. My rating: 7.5 / 10

This game is very cool! I love Tom Clancy games; that's why I bought this one. The story and gameplay are excellent! The bad part about this game is that when you're playing with the headset you have to talk very clearly; if dont, your team members (that you control) don't understand you. Another problem is that the bad guys are very stupid! But that's not too bad. I took 1 star away because the graphics are sometimes not too good(very rarely, though!).

I dont know why you all hate this game! This is the best game on the ps2, no doubt about it. Yes, the graphics suck, but a game with crappy graphics and good gameplay is better than a game with good graphics and crappy gameplay. The online mode is the best(its broadband only) and it supports the headset. You can have up to 8 people deathmatch, or 6 player co-op. It has two campaigns (island thunder and jungle storm) and has another 10 or so *bonus* maps from earlier Ghost Recon titles. It is a great value, and if you can overlook the graphics, you will have A LOT of fun with this game!

Pros: Great gameplay
Online + headset support
35+ maps
around 40 real life guns

Cons: crappy graphics
your character breathing sounds get REALLY annnoying after a while.......

As with ALL the Tom Clancy video games, once again, I am dissapointed...I have yet to play one of his games that's actually "great". The graphics are cheesy, gameplay is not very smooth, and for all the hype about these Ghost Recon games, they should be WAY better than what they really are.

I mean, I can't help it when I keep comparing games like this to SOCOM Navy Seals, but, I gotta be honest here....These G.R. games are lame in comparison. Simply put: The gameplay & graphics in this game are similar to the very first Syphon Filter game for PS-1. Was OK for it's time, but, this is 10 years later!

Is it a fun game to play? Yes.....And I'm not bashing the game, but, when you have extremely "true to life" looking games like SOCOM, anything else is just an "OK" game....Nothing groundbreaking, nothing too fancy...etc

The PROS:
You can be any member in your squad, at any given moment!
Decent weaponry
Decent environments
Realistic "health" (take 1-2 shots and you're out of commission)
Replay value is kinda fun
Every member's stats can increase with each level

The CONS:
Very difficult controls
VERY LAME headset/voice command system
Fairly "cheesy" graphics for a game in 2004
Poor movement per character
Characters say the SAME exact 2 phrases over & over again!

Anyway, here's my conclusion:
It's really a decent game for the $20.00, it's WORTH the $20.00, it has good replay value, and it has it's moments... But please don't pay anything more than the advertised price of $20.00! It's definetely worth it! If you want a DARN GOOD Military game, save up another $20.00 and get SOCOM! It's 10x's better, in graphics, gameplay, controlability, and voice commands! My opinion, SOCOM I and SOCOM II are simply the 2 BEST military games out there on ANY game-console system!

Game Features :

The first ever online Ghost Recon experience for the PS2:
31 multiplayer maps
10 multiplayer modes including cooperative gameplay
Online statistics tracking and ladder ranking
Direct your multiplayer squadmates with full voice chat capabilities
2 distinct single-player campaigns:
All-new 8 mission campaign in Colombia
8 mission single-player campaign, set in post-Castro Cuba
Full support for voice commands via the Sony PS2 Voice Communicator
New cinematics thrust you into the deadly world of Special Forces combat
New, streamlined interface and controls
This game is truly promising

This is an example of a PC game given the short treatment on a console. The first Ghost Recon was a good game, overall. With a PC, you buy the game, then you buy the expansion packs, which basically provide your original game with more missions and a few enhancements. For the console, they have to put out a whole separate game.

I must admit that this is a poor effort compared to the X Box version. Yes, the X Box is a better machine, specs-wise. Island Thunder has better graphics, clearer, sharper, smoother. It also has better sound, much better sound. I can deal with the less souped-up graphics and sounds, but it seems like they hardly made any effort to improve them from the previous game. Also, the PS2 has some infuriating differences, and I can't for the life of me understand why:

- Teen Rating - This is really bogus. Every Ghost Recon game has been rated M for Mature, including Blood. What's with the T rating? It's cuts the realism and feel of the game, sanitizing it for no reason. Folks, this is a war game, not Legend of Zelda. Now the men just fall and the bodies disappear. Lame, really, really lame. I mean, how many more units can they shift when they knock the rating down?

- Combat - Once again, for absolutely no reason I can think of except laziness, or sloppiness, the weapons have no fire selector, meaning they all fire fully automatic all the time. It can't be for controller reasons-the PS2 controller has more buttons than X Box! This negates the variety of weapons, as many of them become the same when you limit the options.

Also, and infuriating, they've removed the ability to change players on the fly in the middle of combat(!) You have to bring up the map and command screens, and the controls are just plain clunky. Again, I can't understand this at all. You could change on the fly in the original PS2 version, now instead you have to ability to `peek', which is practically useless here. I do like the change of some of the buttons, however the Robocop whirring sound you get whenever you zoom in with your scope is really annoying and unnecessary.

- Missions Options - Lame. Perhaps I haven't unlocked everything, but you cannot play the 3-man fire teams during Defend Mode, or Sharp Shooter (which is essentially Deathmatch). Everything is one-on-one.

The main attraction of this game is the whole new, exclusive campaign-Jungle Storm. It's basically a sequel to Island Thunder with the US now involved on the ground in Colombia (after the designers cynically suggested the US would be battling in the streets of Cuba in the previous game.) There are some great boards here; the missions are in the best Ghost Recon tradition, one of the highlights being the abandoned boat harbor. You also get the entire Island Thunder campaign, plus many of the multiplayer boards from the previous Ghost Recon games.

Overall, the AI is a little bit better; the enemies are a little bit sharper and have slightly better aim. Your own fire teams are kind of bumbling, and the inability to toggle between members quickly hurts you. However, I just found the overall effort to be really underwhelming. They've hardly done a thing with the graphics or the sound, which is a shame. This game heavily relies on camouflage, and the graphics are, at times, not good enough for one to see very far.

I would definitely recommend this to people who were addicted to the original Ghost Recon. For the PS2, they're good games of their kind, and the multiplayer options-death match, co-op missions including defends-are a lot of fun. I think Socom II is much better in many respects, including the AI of both the enemy and your team members.

I think Jungle Storm and Island Thunder are almost the same. Niether of them are better than one other,but they are such great games.If you own a Xbox you will say Island Thunder is better and PS2 owners will say that Jungle Storm is better!!! Hey I once was a biased Xbox gamer,but then I bought a PS2 and now I'm an unbiased gamer So I'm in the middle here and saying each game has it's own qualites to go by!!!Well if you want to solve all of your problems buy both systems well if you have enough money that is!!!So here's the facts Island Thunder has slightly better missions while Jungle Storm has better multi-player options.

Game Play: Great!!! 4/5

Graphics: Just like Island Thunder awesome!!!5/5

Muti-Player: Mega Awesome!!!5/5*****

Replay Value: Something you will always remember!!!5/5

I personaly give this game 4.8/5!!!An awesome game!!!

I also reccomend:

Ghost Recon Island Thunder: 4.8/5 Xbox

Ghost Recon Desert Siege: 4.8/5 PC

This game is an example of what not to do! The graphics are poor; the environments are almost as blocky & pixilated as Super Mario brothers. All of the natural foliage is totally devoid of detail. The A.I. is sub-par at best as the enemies react to shooting only part of the time. Hit detection is also poor, as one shot in the mid section can bring enemies down while other's miss their mark completely. Weapon selection is severely limited as you can only pick from two primary weapons and either have a hand gun OR grenades. To offset the poor weapon selection, Ubisoft made all of the weapons fire at a full auto rate, even the M16. The full auto weapons will really tick a lot of people off, especially the people who actually know what the real life counter parts are capable of and what they are not capable of. With all of the GREAT shooters out, game designer's really need to make the games look and feel real to compete, and this one just does not have what it takes. The missions could have been great but, the poor environment detail and overall reality just cannot be overlooked. I had this game on pre-order and wish that I had waited to purchase it until after all of the reviews came out. While people will compare it to SOCOM II, that simply is not fair to Ghost Recon. Ghost Recon is merely an idea or concept of what a great shooter should be. IF, Ubisoft plans to compete in the very tough market of shooter's, they need to take a long, hard look at the other titles and take plenty of notes. OVERALL RATING: POOR! I would advise renting first if you are a die hard fan