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Ghost Recon
by
Jolex Del Pilar
Thursday, December 27, 2001
Red Storm's take on the covert arts is both beautiful and deadly. Read about it in our full review.
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Title:
Ghost Recon
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Platform:
PC, Pentium 450 minimum, 128 megs of RAM |
Publisher:
Ubi Soft
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Developer:
Red Storm Entertainment
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#
of Players: Online capable, 1-16
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Genre:
Action
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Origin:
United States
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Expected
Release: November 2001
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Grapevine:
"Although not that dissimilar from its brethren in Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon puts the player in the shoes of an elite military unit, rather than an elite counter-terrorist unit. " |
About three years ago, a small company from North Carolina decided to release a first person shooter that didn't have fancy graphics, no nail gun, and definitely no "quad-damage". A recipe for failure? Not exactly.
Red Storm's debut title Rainbow Six featured counter-terrorist realism above all else. One shot kills, real world weaponry, and real world situations. The idea was new and unique, and ultimately, successful. Thousands of gamers today dedicate themselves to the practice of counter-terrorism in the make-believe world of Rainbow Six. Save the hostages, disarm the bomb, rescue the diplomat, these were the type of missions required of Team Rainbow. A certain degree of honor was felt by the gamer in partaking in such a mission, make believe or not. The cold exactness of death could envelope a game, or the warm feeling of victory could be reason for celebration. Rainbow Six was not simply a game, but it became an art.
Now in 2001, Red Storm hasn't said much about the next installment of the Rainbow Six series. Even with successful sequels like Rogue Spear and the endless amount of expansion packs, Rainbow Six gamers desired more. In comes Ghost Recon
Ghost Recon is an evolution of sorts in the Red Storm line of gaming. Although not that dissimilar from its brethren in Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon puts the player in the shoes of an elite military unit, rather than an elite counter-terrorist unit. What does this mean? Well, for one thing, a lot of that fancy gear from Rainbow Six will be absent. No more flashbang, no giant selection of weaponry (the military has budget to keep), and even more lethal missions to partake in. In Rainbow you had to deal with terrorist who knew little about combat and relied on their unpredictability to shoot you down. In Ghost Recon, most of your enemies will be battle-hardened soldiers from places like the Balkans, who have endured conflict after conflict and will not hesitate to coldly put you down. So why you? Who are the Ghosts?
The Ghosts
The "Ghosts" as they are referred to in the opening game animation, are an elite military unit of crack-shots, demo specialist, and recon experts from all branches of the United States military. Some of them are decorated, many are veterans, but all are heroes, and you will need every one of them. The Ghosts are sent everywhere to assist and evaluate hot spots in the troubled areas of the world. Sometimes they are asked to go into combat, many times, they are asked to simply observe silently. Like ghost. The games main plot revolves around a renewed Russian expansionism. This new Russian government seeks to reclaim the former soviet satellites, including places such as the Ukraine. Obviously this causes a problem for the United States as it could lead to prolonged conflict, even nuclear conflict. So the Ghosts are sent in to help resolve the problem.
How does it play?
Through 15 missions, the Ghost will travel throughout Eastern Europe, and deep into Russia to help stop this new Russian militarism. The game plays much like Rainbow Six (point and shoot, hide and snipe) with a few key differences. There is now the new "prone" position, which allows you to lie flat on your stomach, a feature sorely missing from Rainbow Six, and enthusiastically welcome here in Ghost Recon. The prone position allows for the player to hide behind foliage easier, and also makes you a very small target, very useful in the large and open levels of Ghost Recon. Also, there is a new command system that is fully dynamic. In Rainbow Six, your missions took place in enclosed areas of which you had expert intelligence on, floor plans, and terrorist locations. So the creation system was very in-depth and technical. In Ghost Recon, your missions reflect on the evolving situations that can take place in military missions, hence your command system is suited to that type of command. You bring up your command console (default is by pressing CTRL) and point and click to where one of three teams should go. You can also stipulate whether they can fire at will, or holster their weapons in a sort of "Recon" mode. You can also tell them how important it is for them to get there, which determines whether your team jogs there or runs through bullets to get to their destination.
Another important aspect of Ghost Recon is your use of the terrain. The missions take place in a variety of places from urban sprawl to dense forest. Using your terrain is very important to the success of your mission. Whether you use foliage to hide and setup ambushes, or go building-to-building clearing out enemy soldiers, the terrain changes with each mission.
One thing you'll find about Ghost Recon is that the enemy A.I has been vastly improved from Rainbow Six and Rouge Spear. The enemy soldiers will try and find cover when under fire, and will even setup ambushes by jumping out at "just the right moment". They will even send out scouts as bait to find out exactly where you are. The deadly nature of your enemy requires an even more careful demeanor from you and your team. You must be both careful and exact; the room for error in this game is very, very small. Which might even scare away Rainbow Six fanatics. Ghost Recon is NOT an easy game. Even the first couple of missions of the game on the medium difficulty setting had a Rainbow Six "veteran" such as myself thinking I had just gotten out of boot camp. One can imagine how a complete newbie might feel when first playing this game.
Graphics, sound, and a recommendation...
Graphically, Ghost Recon is the superior of Rogue Spear and Rainbow Six, and it will cost you. The minimum system requirements of the game are a Pentium 450, with 128 megs of RAM. All of you still stuck in the ancient days of 1997, need not apply. But the increase in visual splendor is worth the cost. Ghost Recon's levels are simply amazing. Large, and varied, it's like having your own paintball field right inside your computer, except in this game they play for keeps. The high-res textures will slow down your machine at the highest setting unless you have one heck of a gaming rig. The character models are super detailed even on the medium setting, which is good for you mid-level system owners. Overall, very solid visuals from this game.
In the sound arena, Ghost Recon also shines. The new gun sounds are even more beefier than in Rogue Spear and are a vast improvement over the original Rainbow Six. I've never heard an M249 fired in real life, but I'm almost positive they probably sound like they do in Ghost Recon.
Ghost Recon is NOT the sequel to Rogue Spear. Rather, it's a whole new direction for the small unit tactics games that have been the trademark for Red Storm Entertainment. It's a good game with some slight imperfections (long loading times on a mid-level system, quirky friendly A.I occasionally), but it will satisfy Rainbow Six fans who have been clamoring for some new missions types and new map variety. Whether Ghost Recon stands as a game on its own, devoid of the Rainbow Six shadow is still unknown. I wouldn't mind a sequel.
--- Jolex Del Pilar, VGLN Warlord
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