Customer Reviews

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Game Of The Year Edition

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ok, be careful playing Ghost Recon because nothing else will satisfy afterward. I've played a lot of games lately... SOFII, MOHAA, JKII, DF:TFD. But nothing, I mean nothing, is like GR. This was my first experience with squad-based gaming and what an intoduction.
The Graphics - Stellar. The terrain is incredibly lifelike. Looking out on a forest of trees and seeing the tops sway in the breeze was awesome. The character movement is smooth and realistic. But all of this is nothing really compared to...
The Sound - Immersive. Bullets whizzing past your head, trees creaking in the quiet forest, snow crunching under your feet, a bird chirps in the distance. You are there, it's awesome. Still more awesome is...
The Details - Perfect. A soldier runs through a river... his pants are wet. Your camoflaged sniper goes prone, you have to squint to see him. When I entered Red Square in the last mission, my jaw dropped. I've been to Red Square, many a time. I've been in the GUM. They got it dead on. I just hung out with my sniper scope for awhile taking it all in. It was exact... distances, locations of buildings, streets, sidewalks... it was perfect. Just like...
The Gameplay - Challenging Fun. After GR I tried RTCW... it was boring. Any other FPS looks tired. The beauty is the building of your characters. Like another reviewer said, it's heart-breaking to be clumsy with a character and get him killed after building his skills and learning his strengths and weaknesses. I had a blast with these guys (and girls) and did not want them to die. And not having a linear objective means replay value is definitely there. The maps are huge and you can go anywhere on them. Unlike a typical FPS that basically has one path that you can take, you can go explore a place before killing everybody and accomplishing the objectives. Plus you can use a different strategy on the same map to test the outcome. It's really incredible.
There is no question this is the Game of the Year!

I was a little apprehensive when I first purchased the game as I am hooked on FPS'ers and don't have the desire to play strategy games where you move people around the board. I tried Warcraft, etc., and quickly lost interest. That all changed with Ghost Recon, which gave me the FPS I needed and blended in the strategy component making this a highly satisfying game!!! I was absolutely hooked on this game from the first night I loaded it. I am still learning the full capabilities of the game and the play, but I rate this game at 5 stars for many reasons. First, the graphics are unbelieveable! The attention to detail is extraordinary. The movement of the people is incredibly lifelike. Once, I accidently fired on one of my own men and managed to hit him on the lower leg. The character actually reached down to the area I hit before falling down. I was actually saying, "Whoa dude, sorry" when I realized what I had done. The enemy movement is very sophisticated, and I especially enjoyed some of the cat and mouse play while hunting them (or, where they hunting me?).

Second, the strategy and gameplay is very realistic and entertaining. It took me a while to get used to the "one hit and you're down" aspect of this game, but that only adds to the realism overall. The concept of taking several hits and then finding health doesn't exist in this game, for good reason. This requires slower, more methodical planning, deployment, and movement. A successful campaign is very rewarding.

Finally, the numerous campaigns are testimony that the creators of this game want people to get their money's worth, and I appreciate that. I suspect this game will occupy my spare time for quite some time!

I can start out by saying, this is the best game i have ever played in my life, period. There is nothing in computer gaming like being in a firefight with your 4 computer controlled squadmates, and sometimes over 20 enemies. You see your machine gunner kill two or three enemies and then you smirk. Then maybe five seconds later you see blood fly from the back of his head after a bullet penetrated his skull. This is the closest that i plan on ever being to war. I almost started to cry when my veteran sniper died after stupidly forgetting to send him behind cover. With i believe 12 missions and an AMAZING multiplay this game has hours of playability. My only gripes are that controls are a little odd to get used to, although they are similar to half-life (plus you can always change them if you are uncomfortable) but DO NOT COMPARE THESE TWO GAMES, two totally different experiences. Also fairly high system specs, but its not that bad, nothing to hinder it from getting a 5

PLUS Desert Sieges missions are great fun + more multiplay maps. Desert Siege is also alot more challenging because of a lack of cover provided by the Forest.

My humble opinion, BUY THIS GAME!!!!

Look no further. You have stumbled upon ONE of the BEST games ever made for any system. I don't even know where to start.
First of all, I am a pretty avid gamer. I own just about every hot game that has come out in the past year or so, from Ghost Recon, to Max Payne, to Jedi Knight II. I don't like to give a seal of approval unless a game really deserves it. THIS one does.

The Graphics: Amazing to say the least. I'm running a Geforce 3 Ti card, and the visuals are a pleasure, at 1024x768 resolution. The outdoor scenes are so complex, yet so detailed. The soliders and their weapons are also done in great detail.

The Sound: I've got the Klipsch Pro-Media 5.1 Sound System, and let me tell you, I've jumped out of my chair a few times after hearing gun shots whiz by my head. Most people will tell you that the sound in Ghost Recon is the best part of the game, and they are probably right.

The Gameplay: Not too hard, once you get the hang of the controls. Obviously theres room for improvement, as always, but its smooth, and once u get into it your gonna LOVE IT.

Overall this game combines amazing realism, with great missions, and awesome weapons. Highly reccomended.

Take care.

Ghost Recon is a super great game but could have been epic if not for a few flaws.
What is great about this game has already been mentioned: Great scenery and character animation. Amazing sound effects! Super fun missions and objectives. There is no better FP tactical shooter out there. However....

Enemy AI unrealistically good. In the Desert Siege pack, enemies are able to kill you with a single shot from an AK-47 on fully automatic 100 yards away. This just does not happen in real life. Enemy grenades are deadly accurate too.

Enemies also do not respond well to covering fire. Even when your entire team is blazing away fully automatic, many enemies will just stand there and fire back - again with deadly accuracy. This does not happen in real life.

Friendly AI leaves something to be desired as well. On many occasions I have been stuck in tight spots, fighting with team members over a tree or rock to hide behind. Members must be puched out of doorways in order to get by and team members frequently get caught up in bushes and left behind, forcing you to take control of them and lead them the right way. This does not happen in real life.

All the weapons seem to do the same thing. Ballistics are a joke. You can choose between a .50 caliber rifle and a 9mm MP5 with silencer and both kill people with one shot. A suppressed 9mm bullet killing a guy wearing body armor and standing 40 yards away? This does not happen in real life. Choosing weapons for the missions becomes a matter of which one looks the coolest.

Ghost Recon touts itself as being the most realistic squad combat simulator yet the most fundamental squad level tactics don't work in the game. There is no use for suppressive fire since the enemies refuse to seek cover. If a US special forces member went and opened up on me with a SAW I would be pissing my pants and screaming and running for cover or at least hitting the deck! Without effective suppressive fire (the most fundamental of all squad level combat tactics), flanking maneuvers are useless (and suicidal) and many firefights devolve into crawling around prone and throwing grenades.

Also - there are three engagement settings for your team: recon, assault and suppress. These settings are supposed to control under what conditions your team fires. That would be great but the settings also control how your team STANDS and MOVES. In recon mode, team members will always immediately go prone and quiet when they spot an enemy. That is fine. In assault mode, your team will take a knee or find cover and shoot at the enemy. That is fine too. The suppress mode is messed up. There is no way to command your team to go prone AND fire in a suppressive manner. When ordered to suppress, your team members will ALWAYS get up from a prone position and pepper the same spot with everything they've got. This is just plain stupid.
This means that when you order a team to suppress, they stand up, all shoot at the same spot and consequently get shot and die (usually by one guy standing 100 yards away in the open).

I am fine with realism, but not at the expense of gameplay. If you want to be successful in this game and return from missions with all of your men alive, you have to use the quicksave button way too much. A typical mission runs like this: Walk towards an objective - get shot at and killed by an unseen enemy - reload game and kill enemy (now that you know where he is) - repeat as needed.

The saving grace of this game is that there are realism modifications that can be downloaded from the internet. I downloaded a simple realism Mod and the improvement in gameplay was amazing. You body armor and helmet actually protect you some from bullets! If shot from afar you tend to get wounded and not killed. A 9mm MP5 becomes useless on the balltefield (how many soldiers do you know that would choose a 9mm MP5 as their main battle rifle?)

Buy this game. It is great fun. But buy it and then download a realism mod and you will be loving it. I can't wait for the sequel.

That's right, real is the key. I have played many games like this and my fav used to be Soldier of Fortune but Ghost Recon takes the lead. Why? First, if you are looking into buying this game it is not for the faint of heart. I went into this game like I always do, jump in and try to kill everything I can. Not going to work in this game and that is what makes it so much fun. The key to this game in my opinion is that you have to play it as if was real. I don't mean loose yourself in the game. Just know to play the game as if it was happening to you. Don't go into this game thinking armor lives and health fixes because they don't exist. If someone were shooting at you what would you do? You would hide and maybe mess your pants. That is the mindset of this game. If you want to win use your head and be cautious around every corner. Use the bushes, hit the deck, and look out. This game is a blast. Just watch for the sniper across the way he's aiming at your head. If you like war games mixed with adventure, a good story line, awesome missions, and feeling like a part of a real team watching out for your brothers. Man you are in for one hell of a time. In short this game rocks. Best I've seen yet.

I bought this after playing a lot of Rogue Spear. There were some things I liked, and some that I didn't. There are a few things that I really like-
1. SNIPING! You're outdoors most of the time, with big maps and plenty of opportunity for sniping. That was one thing I really missed in Rogue Spear.
2. Kneeling and LYING PRONE!
3. The new dynamic planning feature.. You can plan your waypoints in the field instead of doing it all beforehand.

My opinion- If you liked Rogue Spear, then this is a great addition to your game collection. I still play Black Thorn and Ghost Recon a lot, interchangeably, depending on whether I'm in the mood for CQ combat or Ranger-style field combat (SNIPING!!)..

The only reason I give 4 out of 5 stars is that I'm an SQA engineer and could rant to these guys about the things they need to work on. Its still a very good game.

I often question myself when I buy a game, "Was this worth the money I spent?". Tom Clancy's 15 mission single campaign with multiplayer support (hosted by UBI.com), without a doubt, is worth every single penny... and plus some.

If you have played any of the previous Tom Clancy games (such as Rainbow Six, Rogue Spear, Blackthorn etc..) you may think you know what this game is all about. Whatever you're thinking... you're wrong. For example, in Rainbow Six Black Thorn, ... the designers attempted to create outdoor enviornments for a CQB game. And their sad result was a wall with a tree background placed on it. Not my thought of being outdoors....

Ghost Recon's new enviornment makes you feel like you ARE on the battlefield. This game is what gets your heart pumping faster and faster... ducking behind your computer screen, and peeking around corners to find that hidden enemy firing at you from behind the bush 100 yards away. (Not to mention the HIGHLY improved enemy and friendly AI: Enemies now throw grenades, run for cover, attempt to flank you... everything that an enemy would do on a REAL battlefield.)

Tired of getting frusterated with planning your mission beforehand, unable to make tweaks while on the field, or just forget about planning because it takes too long? Well in Ghost Recon... You now plan your mission on the fly so you can change your strategy, when the enemy changes his. It's nothing more than "Point and click" to set waypoints and even set firing arcs so "Squad A can cover Squad B and C".

I run this game on a P4 Processor, 256MB RAM, Riva TNT 2 Graphics Card, Creative sound blaster PCI128, and Windows 98(SE). The graphics are stunning, and the sound is unbelievable!

Without a doubt... this is THE BEST GAME I have EVER bought. And I have bought many games (Unreal Tournament, Empire Earth, Almost all Tom Clancy games, etc...) Don't second guess yourself. You won't be disappointed. I wasn't. Do not delay. Buy this game TODAY! (And once you buy the game ... because I know you will... page me on UBI ... my name's: SEALteam2).

This game is one of the very few that actually forces you to think about your decisions! The enimes have great AI and know what to expect from you. You have to plan out your attack and learn from your mistakes. There are no health kits or body armors in this game, its all realistic...you get shot, you're injured or dead. It's nice to see a strategic shooting game on the market like this. Graphics are impressive and sound is great as well! I highly recommend this game!!

Ghost Recon is far and away the best special forces combat simulation on the market. The realism is great, the graphics are great, and the sound is beyond great. There is nothing quite like the sound of an anti-tank rocket smashing into a truck full of bad guys. The online play is great, and playing in huge matches with 30 and 40 players is crazy fun. I only have 2 gripes about the game: One, there is a severe lack of weapons to choose from for the general infantryman. You can unlock specialists with new weapons by achieving special objectives in each mission, but the tasks are usually outrageously hard. Two, it is REALLY hard. The enemy AI is certainly improved from the previous Red Storm games, like Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear. However, while the enenmy soldiers can no longer hit you in the head from 3 miles out, they now take flanking maneuvers, take cover quickly, and return fire in short bursts, making it very risky, if not suicide, to send your teammates into an uncleared area alone. But besides those two minor gripes of mine, I would say that you simply cannot find a better combat sim.