Title: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Format: PS3
Release Date: May 22, 2012
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Price: $59.99
ESRB Rating: MIts been quite some time since we have seen a Ghost Recon title hit store shelves and enter our respective consoles, the wait was definitely long, but it was well worth the long wait.
Presentation and Story:Future Soldier sports your typical war game narrative, lots of cheesy one liners and big explosions. The story never really interests you like it wants to do, I found myself wanting to get ready for the next explosive mission. The game does have a nice cast of voice actors that do a good job with the script in hand, they all sound great and try to make you believe in your overall mission, but ultimately falls short. The graphics in GRFS are gorgeous for the most part, but occasionally you'll notice certain things that just don't look right. You'll be sniping unsuspecting enemies in beautiful blizzards and snowstorms, but then you'll see glaciers with no textures what so ever, that just stands out. This happens all around the globe as you trek your way through Asia, Africa, and mother Russia. There are a lot of locales that keep things fresh. The lush rain forests offer deep greens and dry deserts include drab browns, the vast amount of diversity is nothing less than impressive. Another feature that impresses me is the sheer number of animations that go into your player. 2500 character animations really bring your Ghost to life. The models of the Ghosts themselves are stellar, but other character models suffer, including civilians, that just look wierd.
Core Gameplay and Multiplayer: Ghost Recon Future Soldier, at its core, is a third person shooter. It has many similarities to others like Gears of War and Uncharted. The gameplay is fast and hectic, and that is when its the most fun. Trying to shoot enemies in the city streets with dozens of civilians running for dear life, and your Ghost screaming at them to get out of the way, is pure bliss. The cover system is fast paced as well, allowing you to cover large amounts of ground while staying low. There is a lot of stealth gameplay in Future, allowing you to utilize your adaptive camo and a slew of other handy gadgets, including drones, sensors, and mobile war mechs. The stealth is fun, and executed beautifully, thanks to the tagging system. Its similar to the latest Splinter Cell game, allowing you to tag enemies, one by one, then coordinating your attacks with your fellow Ghosts. The campaign will last you a surprisingly long 10 hours. The multiplayer is robust, offering a wide variety of competitive and co-op modes.
You can tackle the campaign with three other friends if you like, you can also try out the Guerilla mode. Its Future Soldiers' take on a Horde style mode, its a good time waiting to happen, unless you have friends who don't work together. Competitive modes include 4 distinct modes including standard deathmatch with the return of the classic mode Siege. The progression system allows you to rank up your Rifleman, Engineer and Scout classes. The Gunsmith mode offers you maybe the deepest customization options I have seen in any game. You can literally trick out your gun in your own way, changing your gun's barrel, optics, triggers and muzzles.
Final Thoughts:GRFS is a complete package and a blast from beginning to end. Offering you many different modes outside of the lengthy single player campaign. The option to complete the campaign with friends locally, and online, is always a welcome addition. A few minor bugs doesn't stop this game from becoming one of the years top shooters.
Final Rating: 9/10 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @iSamKulii Apps: S&S Reviews on Apple and Android Stores
