Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

28/05/2012

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Developers: Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Red Storm, Ubisoft Romania
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), Playstation 3, PC
Genre: Third Person Shooter
Modes: Single player, 2-4 co-op, 2-12 online multiplayer
 

Throw on your invisible cape, pick up your machine gun and come with us as we explore the world of Ghost Recon: Future Solider. In a generation where the first person shooter has reigned supreme and great third person games like Socom failed to make a real dent in the market, the team behind Ghost Recon look to buck that trend and after what seems like forever waiting, we finally have it.

Welcome ladies, gentleman and little blue blobs to Ghost Recon: Future Solider; the thinking man’s shooter with a futuristic feel.

Gameplay
Ghost Recon, like most shooters lately, has 3 main modes; the multiplayer, the campaign and the 'Horde/Zombie' variant, known here as Guerrilla mode. Every mode available to you is available with a Co-op experience, something that has really helped extend the life of a few games this gen.

The Co-op is a feature that really blends well with the campaign here, as good as any game before it and the best of any war game out today. Teamwork and stealth play a massive part and if you want to finish, you need to trust the guys you play with.  The story moves at a steady pace and while it's no Michael Bay-esque action game, it does pace itself well and for a lot of gamers that's more than they ask for.

On the competitive multiplayer front you're present with a choice of four game modes.

Siege – This consists of varying objectives spread over a best-of-three-rounds battle. Swapping between attacking and defending your goal and all with no respawns.

Conflict – This is the closest thing you have to a team Deathmatch game mode. While still given objectives to complete like EMP Blast(Set off the emp), Supply point(Capture ammo point), HVT (High Value Target) and Intel Sweep (Capture an Intel sweep) both sides battle it out over a 15 minute single round game and yes, with respawns.

Saboteur – Think 'Search and Destroy' but with respawns and the carrier unable to sprint or use their secondary weapon.

Decoy Mode – This one is fun. Set over a best-of-three-rounds battle, the attacking team must attack an objective known as 'The Key' to unlock their final objective. The catch however, is there are 3 initial objectives and only one is The Key, the other two are purely a decoy. The defending team’s job is simple; stop the attack.

My favourite mode however, is one I mentioned earlier, 'Guerrilla' – the Zombies/Horde mode of Ghost Recon. Playing with up to three mates, your goal is to last the entire 50 waves and do it as skilfully as possible. Like everything else in Ghost Recon: Future Solider thought, this isn't just black and white gameplay. Within the mode you’re given a base that you must first take from the enemy and then defend for the remaining waves. So not only must you all stay alive, you must also do your best to make sure the base remains in Ghost hands. While stealth is rewarded in this mode just like in every other mode, I found while playing with Lax, Baxy and community member TaperBamBam, that even when you think it's all quiet things can turn around very quickly and what was once a silent battleground breaks out in all out warfare where right down to the final kill, every second is tense.

Now overall my experience with Ghost Recon Future Solider has been a pleasant one. I expected a quality thinking man's game and I got one. From the melee kills to the headshots, each kill is satisfying and every death is heartbreaking. However even the best of experiences can be ruined by something so simple and even the best developed game can have its bugs. Those with a strict or even moderate NAT setting will struggle to find a game online at times and connecting to your mates can be an issue.  We also experienced our fair share of graphical errors and a handful of glitches that resulted in one of us having to restart our console. Those who generally don't install their games on the Xbox 360 might want to consider taking that extra time to do it for this one as from experience, the issues decrease greatly once the game is installed.

Oh and let's not forget the Gunsmith mode and the wide variety of weapon customisations, but I'll tell you about that one below.

Graphics
This is a gorgeous game and while the art style won't stand up alongside games like Gears of War 3 and Uncharted 2, it fits the environment it's designed for well. This is one of those rare games where the gameplay outdoes the cut scenes, making the entire game attractive and fitting. As you get into the second chapter of the campaign you also begin to become immersed in some wonderful environmental design and some well laid out levels that leave little room for silly 'barriers' and instead make room for a clean horizon with no 'they wouldn't put that there' thoughts as you head out to explore.

Sound
For Ghost Recon, the sound is an area a few people will be interested in, mainly due to the fact an install on the Xbox 360 version was required to fix some issues upon first load of the title. For the most part the sound works well and helps immerse you directly into the environment better than most shooters on the market. There are less cap gun sounding shots and more realistic hits from a huge variety of weapons.

Is It Better With?
Kinect? As a whole the game is no different with Kinect as it is without it. The developers aren't forcing it down your throat as some might have you believe and at no point does it feel like they left stuff out just to add it.

The main feature and purpose of Kinect is the extensive Gunsmith mode, while you can use it with a controller as well I feel the developers put this in because of the Kinect. The weapons in Ghost Recon can be customised beyond your imagination, from the gas chambers to the side rail and back up to the scopes – every aspect of your weapon can be improved and designed around your own play style. Don't like the fire rate? Swap the trigger to something that allows movement closer to how you play. Every part of your gun that matters can be modified and upgraded, allowing you to feel closer to your weapon and once you've got the gun pimped out you can jump on in to the firing range and test it out using either your controller or for a little bit of play time you can use the Kinect.

Almost everything that can be done with the Kinect can be done with your controller, with the voice commands allowing you to tell the gunsmith what kind of gun you want being the only option you can't do... But again you can just hit a button and tell him anyway. So while the Kinect has added something onto the game, nothing has been removed for those without one. Is it Better with Kinect? No difference at all really.

Stay tuned for our 'Better with Move?' feature, to be added soon!

Keep It?

• Guerrilla mode is amazing and chasing a better round will keep you going.
• If you want to succeed online you'll need to keep on playing.

Ditch It?

• Massive learning curve that for a casual gamer is a major throw off.
• A few sound issues, should be patched again.
• On launch the Multiplayer had a lot of issue and downtime

Anything Else?
For the general shooter fan, Ghost Recon Future Solider might seem a bit daunting to begin with and this will throw a lot of new fans off. Persistence will pay off however and that makes this game a 'Buy it, don't rent it.' If you're tired of the same run and gun game-play and want a thinking man's shooter, grab your mates and jump on in.

Score: 8/10

Written by Twin