Ghost Recon: Desert Siege Review - VGLN.com PC Reviews

This mission pack from Ubi Soft will help quell the Ghost Recon hunger until the next sequel.

Recently, American cinema has seen a myriad of war movies with more serious themes than usual. One of the more noteworthy flicks was "Blackhawk Down" from Jerry Bruckheimer and Ridley Scott. It told of the story of over a hundred U.S Army Rangers, Delta Force, and Nightstalker operatives who went into Somalia to stop a warlord from destablilizing the region, and sending the country into famine. Serious as the situation was in 1993, no one would ever hope for another situation as the one suffered by Task Force Ranger in Somalia. A game though is another story. The premise of Ghost Recon: Desert Siege is eerily similar to what the real-life story was in Somalia, 1993, and this time you play the hero.

In short, an Ethiopian Warlord has taken over the country in a bloody coup (has there ever been a bloodless one?) and now the Warlod has "expansionism" on his mind. His first target, the small northern African nation of Eritrea. As the Warlord starts his movement into Eritrea, the United States decides to send the elite military unit known as the "Green Berets" into the region to conduct fast, surgical, strike missions in an effort to stop the Ethiopian Warlord. That's where you step in.

Over the course of 8 fully fledged missions, you work to stop the Warlord's forces at every corner. Whether they are setting up beach-side bases to recieve supplies or moving armor across the border, your job is to stop them and inflict as much damage as possible.

Not much has changed gameplay wise in the Ghost Recon series. For the most part, it features the same graphics engine which is just an improved "Rainbox Six: Rogue Spear" Engine in reality. Gameplay wise, the game features the same improvements in the movement and positioning of troops. In fact, if you read our previous review of Ghost Recon, you probably have a pretty good overview of what this game is about. That isn't necessarily a bad thing given that Ghost Recon was rated fairly high by our standards. However, one thing Desert Siege is not is a "fully blown sequel". The game is a mission pack plain and simple, and if you don't have the original Ghost Recon, then you're out of luck if you want to play these missions alone (just go out and buy the original Ghost Recon, it's worth it anyway).

This tango is going down in the name of freedom.

Although not much is new, there are a few interesting twist to the enemy A.I. Noticably, the A.I has improved ever so slightly in Desert Siege. Not only does the A.I have use of vehicles (not armor), but they also now have a new script that allows them to "sneak" up on you. I'm not sure whether this was newly added or existing in the previous game, but the A.I consistently was able to sneak up behind my team and take one of two of us out before we could retaliate. Very clever A.I indeed.

The missions themselves have nice new maps and they have the trademark "Red Storm" quality to them. The desert refinery mission is one of the best maps made by Red Storm. It features a smoky refiniery, complete with heat vent blast from huge towering furnaces. The maze of oil pipes and fuel storage facilities provide a forboding and dangerous environment even for the "Ghosts".

The oil refiniery is a large and menacing map. Dangerous for even the most seasoned Ghost Recon veteran.

The multiplayer aspect of the game has also gotten a slight boost. A team-based siege mode, and domination mode. It's kind of like capture the castle, but more deadly. It's really fun and Red Storm has included added value by making these new multiplayer modes compatible with the original 15 maps of the previous game.

So in the end, a review is ultimately a recommendation of purchase. Is Desert Siege a sure sell? The opinion of this reviewer would be "yes". At $19.99, the mission pack is less half the price of most new PC games. If you have the original, picking this up is a no-brainer. If you haven't bought the original Ghost Recon, it can be found at some stores for $30-$40 now. If you buy the mission pack and the original as a tandem, it won't run you more than $60 which is what most new games will go for now days anyway. 23 missions, 8 multiplayer modes, and two different continents worth of gameplay isn't bad at all. Pick it up and let the special forces soldier in you enjoy a little bit.

--- Jolex Del Pilar, E3 Lackey

	Gameplay: [8.8] Identical to the original Ghost Recon, which isn't a bad thing at all.
	Graphics: [8.0] Same graphics engine. Not exactly going to blow you away but it will serve the purpose.
	Sound: [9.0] Bill Brown's music is fantastic. Him and Hanz Zimmer rule the action music genre.
	Presentation: [9.0] Sweet introduction sequence. Brings back memories of "Blackhawk Down".
	Replay Value: [9.5] 2 new multiplayer modes add life to what already was a diverse experience.
	Global Score: [8.8] Ghost Recon is slowly replacing Rainbow Six as my action game of choice. Desert Siege only reinforces that feeling.

Click here for an explaination of our "hit and miss"rating system.

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