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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Gold Edition (PC DVD)
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5/5 |
Old but excellent, and don't forget the mods
(February 01, 2008) |
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Ghost Recon (and its two expansion packs) for under a tenner? That just has to be one of the best gaming bargains around.
In GR you take control of up to 6 soldiers in up to three squads. You can switch between each man and control him individually, with his squad-mates following along under AI power.
So - select you men, tool them up and get going on some very lovely maps. Clearly the graphics are no longer cutting edge, but little touches (such as swaying trees) make a big difference. As do the size of the maps - large. Lots to explore and a good bit of sniping to do.
The missions in the three games are quite varied although I was disappointed with the Island Thunder pack.
However this game really scores in two areas - expandability and gameplay.
It is one of the very few games (along with Half-Life (first one), Hidden and Dangerous (first one, again), The Regiment and Call of Duty (yup - the original one)) that I play over and over again and get fully immersed.
But while the other examples I've given are quite linear (indeed, some are very scripted) GR is much less so. It's a free-form game. Take whatever path you want to victory.
I'm wary of using the word "realism" about these games but the ballistics are convincing, and the sounds are gorgeous. It's also a game where you can take very few wounds before you die. No health packs here, so be careful.
There are some drawbacks - the lack of point of view weapon graphics is annoying at first, but one lives with it.
The AI is not great, especially if you programme squads to do their own thing. I tend to take control of each squad in turn. Set up my MG squad to cover my advance. Pop a sniper somewhere unexpected and then move up my assault squad under direct control. Works well except where the mission has a time-critical element.
However the main plus point for this game is the dozens of mods that are freely available. Some are basically full expansion packs - new maps, missions and weapons. Download these and you'll soon have hundreds (I'm not joking) of weapon kits to select from. I can thoroughly recommend Icebreaker, New Cold War, Free Russia, Free Libya, and Postcards from Peru. There are also various "realism mods" that tweak ballistics and improve wound decals. Gunslinger's Realism Mod (GRM4 and GRM6) are particularly recommended.
I've played this game for years and it's the one I still go back to. Give it a go! |
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4/5 |
Excellent game, with only one big problem
(January 16, 2008) |
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In spite of the Ghost Recon series having been popular for a long time, I only got round to buying this game a couple of weeks ago.
The enemy AI is good, sometimes a little too good to be realistic. I'm not sure most untrained militants / terrorists are capable of putting a bullet between the eyes of a specops soldier at 100 feet away within a second of spotting them.
Your team AI is pretty good too. They know when to take cover, how to USE available cover, and you can generally rely on them to move through the map and look after themselves, whilst you take on the role of sniper.
The maps look fantastic, you can go anywhere you like, there are plenty of well thought out vantage points and areas of cover to use effectively.
The only thing that lets this game down is the weaponry. You don't actually see your weapon from the first person perspective. You get a cross hair but you don't see the gun. I cannot begin to understand why on earth they did this. It lets down a game that would otherwise be flawless. The choices of weapons are pretty poor too. There aren't many guns to choose from and you can only have specific kits, you can't mix and match your primary weapon, side arm etc. You can't customise with different scopes, silencers etc as per the rainbow 6 games, which is a great pity.
In spite of this rather large let down, it's an excellent game and well worth the money, especially with the expansion packs included. |
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5/5 |
Old but sound strategic shooter
(November 17, 2006) |
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This is a rare thing a game I have actually finished!Not only that but a game I have eagerly purchased all the expansion packs for and finished those aswell. This is recommendartion enough as I rarely have the time or the patience to spend hours completing games.If I can't grasp the basics quickly then forget it. There is something about the effort gone into producing this game-it just feels so well thought out. The control interface is pure class.Even though you control a small squad of ghosts it is a joy to pick up.A few years down ther line the graphics are old yes but strategy is still aplenty. Quite a steep learning curve at first but once the strategy of using covering fire is mastered the planning and execution of the missions is challenging but importantly fun.AI is a bit dodgy but once you learn how dumb your squad can be you anticipate this and know their limitations.
A game for thinking action fans.Slow and steady wins the game!At this price this is a huge ammount of entertainment particularly if tyou have a low spec. PC. |
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