Ghost Recon

**faceoff508** · 05-11-2002

Strategic combat games have been predominantly PC. Times, however, are a'changing. Developer Red Storm seems intent on bridging the gap between PC and console with the upcoming releases of Rainbow Six: Raven Shield, Sum of All Fears, and the newly unveiled Ghost Recon. Of those three, Ghost Recon may surprise you the most. Those of you rolling your eyes and crying out in anguish over "another PC port" need to check yourselves. Ghost Recon isn't a pixel-for-pixel translation of its PC brother. Red Storm took their game of the year hit two steps forward and made it even better.

Features
Fifteen missions

800 motion-captured animations

New weapons only on Xbox!

Includes Desert Siege missions

Sixteen-player deathmatch

Fully online!

Ghost Recon is a continuation on the Tom Clancy series of video games. In case you've been living in a cave the past two decades, Tom Clancy is the world's premiere CIA-action novelist. His books have been made into big screen hits, such as Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Each Clancy game, which bear his name and stamp of approval, is detail-oriented and as realistic as possible, providing gamers with the opportunity to experience life as an elite combat specialist.

Ghost Recon is not to be confused with the Rainbow Six series, which relies more heavily on pre-mission planning. Recon is streamlined with little set-up, making it more accessible to pick-up-and-play gamers. That's not to say the game is an arcade shooter, because it's not. It features realistic military combat with intelligent enemy AI. This is not Metal Gear or Halo -- this is the real deal. And if you can't take the heat, you will be dusted rather quickly.

Each character has a dossier, which stores the character's name and stats. Each platoon features up to six characters, which you select for specific missions. Characters are skilled in one of four specialties: Support, assault, demolitions, or sniper. Choosing the correct mix will go a great way towards successfully pulling off a mission, as you can only directly control one character at a time. Don't worry though, you can still give directions to those you don't control, and with the press of a button can take command of anyone in your platoon.Meeting certain criteria in each mission, such as finishing one of the missions using only a knife, unlocks new Xbox exclusive weapons as well as missions from the Desert Siege expansion pack. Medals, such as the Silver Star and Medal of Honor, can also be earned through superior gameplay. Female characters will also be available, just as in the PC version, but must be unlocked.

Though this may sound in-line with the PC version, the game is not. Each of the missions has been retouched, to make them more challenging and offer a different feel to those who played the original. The AI has also been improved. Enemies are smarter, more resourceful, and deadlier. And there will be twice as many enemies on the game map than in the PC version. Yes, you read that right. Twice as many.

Thanks to the design of the Xbox, Ghost Recon will be able to support better graphics than its PC predecessor. Trees will move more naturally in the wind, weather effects and lighting will be vastly improved, and the character models will be more detailed than the PC version. New cinemas have been added, including new intro and outro movies for each mission, which help set up and resolve every conflict.
While all this is fine and dandy, what really marks Ghost Recon a must-have is the fact that it will be one of the first online games for Xbox. Featuring both co-operative and competitive play, there will be a dozen game-types to explore online. Stat-tracking and a ranking system will be implemented using Xbox' online setup, though details are still not firm on how this will work. Becoming the master of unlocking will be very important for online play, as new weapons can be opened for specific use online.

Outlook
With the same development team as the PC version, Ghost Recon is certain to be a quality title. Red Storm has promised that the game will succeed beyond the original version, offering a new experience for even veteran Ghost Recon players. Ghost Recon was considered by many to be the best game of last year on PC, and Red Storm's goal is that it be the best game on Xbox this year. We'll have much more on Ghost Recon as we near its fall release.

**Tool16** · 05-11-2002

HOLY S$(%* THATS AWESOME *goes and looks for his pc version*

**Xbox Masta 4** · 05-11-2002

This game is very awesome, and I'm looking to get it for my B-day maybe. Which is in may. May 24th that is! HAHA THAT'S The last day of school for us!