Author: scharfschutze
Type: PS2 Game
Released: 2002
Designer: Red Storm Entertainment
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: First-person shooter
One of the biggest crazes to sweep the gaming world was porting. Beginning with the N64 and extending sequentially to the Playstation, Playstation 2, and Xbox, it suddenly became very popular around 1999 to bring the best and brightest of the PC world to console gamers. As with everything else, the reaction was mixed. Some games, commonly first-person shooters or role-playing games, converted quite well to a console format; others, like real-time strategy, proved almost useless on a console.
Into this environment, Tom Clancy's Red Storm Entertainment attempted to bring their vision of the squad-based shooter. Their first attempt was the N64 version of Rainbow Six - a decided failure from a gaming perspective. After contracting with Montreal's Ubisoft, and shifting to the much more versatile PS2 platform, Red Storm decided to try again with a ported version of Ghost Recon. Seeing as I've never played the PC version of the game, I can't offer much opinion on the differences between the two, but I've played the PS2 version inside and out.
The game is set in 2008. A very right-wing party called the Ultranationalists have taken power in Russia, and are attempting to forcibly rebuild the old Soviet Empire. Systematically, the Russian Army has instigated "incidents" as pretext for invasion in the Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan; now they're after Georgia. Enter the Ghosts, a company of US Army Green Berets deployed to Georgia on "peacekeeping" missions. Playing as these elite soldiers, you attempt to thwart the schemes of the Ultranationalists and restore peace to Eastern Europe before things get nuclear.
The fundamentals of Ghost Recon actually set it apart from other team-based shooters like SOCOM and SOCOM II, using a system created for Rainbow Six. For starters, there is no "you": the player has up to six different soldiers in each mission, and can control any one of them at any given moment. This makes your battles quite interesting; for example, you can be leading your men as a sniper, only to quickly switch to your anti-tank gunner when enemy armour is spotted. And if the person you were controlling is killed, you simply switch to the nearest character. Each soldier carries a different weapon "kit" based on his or her class. There are four: Riflemen, who carry M16 assault rifles; Demolitions, who carry M4 carbines and various heavy explosives; Support, who carry M249 SAW machine-guns; and Snipers, who carry M24 sniper rifles. As well, there is a pool of "specialists", characters who carry different weapons than the norm, ranging from the silenced MP 5SD submachine-gun to the truly nasty OICW assault rifle.
The mechanics of the game are very different from other FPS titles; they are, at first, very disconcerting. There is nothing on the screen in terms of graphics, just the crosshairs (or targeting reticule, depending on how anal you want to be), the radar, and the ammo gauge. I can't quite comment on this decision: on the one hand, having no distractions on your screen is a plus; on the other, a well-modelled set of weapons on-screen can be quite a boost to gameplay. The weapon selection is just as interesting. There are only two weapon slots, primary and secondary. While this is highly unrealistic and even a bit annoying, it does force the player to capitalize on the various strengths of each class and character, rather than going "gung-ho" and finishing the level having only used one character. One of the crucial areas where this system tends to lead to problems is the Rifleman. His strength is the combination of M16 rifle and M203 grenade launcher, but if you want the guy to carry hand grenades or a pistol, you have to forfeit the launcher. Again, it takes some getting used to.
The maps and levels are, as opposed to the interface, well thought out and very thorough. The PS2 game actually incorporates two of the computer releases: Ghost Recon, and the add-on campaign Desert Siege. As a result, you get several very different styles of map, ranging from Russian semi-tundra through Baltic swamps and the Ethiopian desert, with a little urban warfare and beach landing thrown in for good measure. The urban warfare is especially satisfying, with one of my personal favourite levels requiring your team to escort a trio of M1 Abrams tanks through the blasted streets of Vilnius (the Lithuanian capital, for geographic neophytes), all the while avoiding or eliminating tanks, anti-tank rocket launchers, and roving patrols of Russian troops.
The campaign structure features some interesting elements, including the method required to access Specialists, and the character improvement interface. The game always provides you with six Riflemen, two Snipers, two Demolitions, and two Support troopers; if one of these gets killed, he's simply replaced by a new soldier. However, the game does force you to mind your casualties through a somewhat innovative system of experience. With each level completed, a soldier receives a "character improvement point" that can be put towards one of the four categories by which the characters are evaluated: Weapons, Stealth, Endurance, and Leadership. The Weapons category simply improves the character's skill with a weapon, mainly in terms of moving accuracy - the better his Weapons skill is, the quicker his crosshairs return to normal after running. Stealth is a skill that I actually never use; supposedly, the better his skill, the closer he can get to an enemy without being spotted. Endurance is health - the higher his skill, the more minor hits (i.e., the leg, arm, etc.) he can take before getting killed. Leadership is an important skill to use effectively - for every three points a soldier has in leadership, all soldiers in the same "element" as him gain one point in all their skills (except Leadership). It's important to have at least one soldier in each element with high Leadership skills.
As a ported version of an earlier game, Ubisoft and Red Storm didn't attempt to improve the graphics of the original PC version. The graphics are very limited, with very angular modeling and a large use of 2-D sprites to simulate texture. However, the map effects are quite well thought-out, with rivers, buildings, and trees.
Effects: 8/10Each weapon featured in the game has its own unique sound, making it easier to identify just what is coming your way in a firefight. However, the lack of onscreen weapons and their accompanying effects detracts from an otherwise well-done category.
Gameplay: 9/10Despite some minor hiccoughs, this is where Ghost Recon really shines. The multiple terrain levels, numerous buildings (most of which are fully usable, i.e. you can go in them) and varying foliage truly give the game a tactical flair. The necessity to use each teammate's weapon set to the fullest in order to complete the mission gives it a strategic edge as well.
Replayability: 8/10The game possesses two campaigns, one of 15 missions, one of 8 missions, both of which are enjoyable, but the fun starts in split-screen co-op mode, where there are only two of you to complete the entire mission, but each of you can choose from a much wider variety of weapons (every gun in the game, in fact) to get the job done. As well, you can play split-screen deathmatch mode, but this is hampered by the usual console drawback of both players on the same screen, allowing you to see every move the other person is making.
Overall: 8.5/10Ghost Recon, while possessing some flaws, is a solid contender in the squad-based tactical combat genre. The nature of the team system, while affording rather limited command styles, forces the player to capitalize on all their team, not just the flashy machine-gunners or snipers. A definite must-try if you can get it from a rental store.