Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter - Classic (Xbox 360)

Add To Basket Add To Wishlist

RRP £24.99
Save £10.00 £14.99 Delivered!

Available for Immediate Despatch

GAME Reward Card members get up to 150 Reward Points (worth £0.38) with this item. About Reward Card.

Summary

Developer:: Ubi Soft
Publisher:: Ubi Soft

The year is 2013. The U.S. Army has been developing – and can now deploy – the Integrated Warfighter System (IWS), a complex combination of cutting-edge technologies that transforms an individual soldier into the ultimate fighting force. IWS combines advanced weapons systems, satellite communication devices and enhanced survivability into one fully integrated combat system that is finally ready for the true test of the battlefield. Combining the advantages of next-generation console technology with future military technologies, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter includes a wealth of groundbreaking features, including the Cross-Com, a communication device attached to the soldier's monocle and powered by satellite technology, which will deliver constant and complete battlefield awareness seamlessly within the action.

In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, players will embody Captain Scott Mitchell as he commands the Ghosts and Special Forces allies equipped with the IWS in the quest to save the president of the United States, recover stolen nuclear codes and eliminate a vicious band of renegade soldiers hell-bent on unleashing catastrophe. The game unfolds entirely in Mexico City, where numerous, meticulously researched and detailed environments will deliver complete immersion into the future of urban warfare. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter will also include multiplayer and cooperative gameplay with exciting new elements, continuing the Ghost Recon tradition of setting the bar for multiplayer action.

The face of war has changed. Enemy lines blur and there is no longer a clear opponent. New enemies and new threats require a new type of warfare - a new type of soldier. Enter the Ghosts. In 2013, the U.S. Army will implement the Integrated Warfighter System evolving what we know as the modern soldier. IWS combines advanced weapon systems, satellite communication devices and enhanced survivability into one fully integrated combat system. The IWS program has been developed to meet these new threats head on. Now, it can be tested on the battlefield.

Following an insurgence in the heart of Mexico City, the U.S. Army's most elite Special Forces team is deployed to the center of the conflict to regain control of the city. Greatly outnumbered but fully equipped with the IWS, this elite team is the first and last line of defense on the battlefield. They are the "quiet" professionals. They are the Ghosts.

Features:

Next-generation gaming technology: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is built from the ground up for next-generation consoles, maximizing increased power to deliver phenomenal graphics and a host of innovative features. Current-generation versions will be custom-tailored for each platform.
Become the soldier of the future: Gain access to the future of military technology. Using a fully integrated combat system with cutting-edge weapons and communication systems, gamers will embody the soldier of the future. Based on actual military research, the Ghosts give gamers a realistic view of how war will be fought in the next decade.
Revolutionary feature: Use the revolutionary Cross-Com, a communication device powered by satellite technology. Attached to the soldier's monocle, the Cross-Com provides full situational awareness and command of the battlefield. Command the Ghost squad and remote allied forces and drones, and direct artillery and air strikes. See what the squad sees and receive visual and auditory intelligence from allied forces and unmanned drones.
Stunning urban environment: One capital, multiple locations. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter takes place entirely in Mexico City, one of the world's largest cities* A stunning, meticulously detailed universe will provide complete immersion in the urban war of the future.
Top-notch multiplayer experience: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter returns to deliver industry-leading multiplayer and cooperative gameplay for one of the hottest online franchises.

Collapse

Screenshots

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter Review; Author: Jon Austin; Published: 23/03/2006

I am afraid of these ghosts!

That's it, crouch in the grass…no one can see me here. Now, carefully, carefully, poke your head u…

Phut! Phut! *crumple*

GAME OVER.

Dammit!

The above illustrates what has happened each and every time I've tried to play a Ghost Recon title in the past - a couple of minutes of complete confusion, followed by a very fast death. One of the more “realistic” war gaming series, it has tended to downplay drama and spectacle in favour of subtlety and at least a sheen of accuracy. If Black is the Burnout of shooters, then Ghost Recon is Gran Turismo.

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, or GR:AW, marks a bit of a change for the series, keeping its basic values intact, but streamlining the control system for improved accessibility and bringing that missing drama screaming into your consciousness.

A squad-based shooter, GR:AW gives you control over up to four soldiers, plus tanks, choppers, robotic recon units and more, and throws you into the middle of political strife in Central America, with only the best weaponry that the US military of 2013 can spare for company. Which is handy.

streamlines the control system for improved accessibility and brings that missing drama screaming into your consciousness

The complexity has been toned down significantly from earlier instalments while not taking a huge amount away from the depth of the action. Think the strategy-lite blaster stylings of Star Wars: Republic Commando or Full Spectrum Warrior for an idea.

For example - you have a squad of three at your command but can't split it, the vehicles you control can only operate within predefined parameters, and so on. But this is about as much as you can cope with in GR:AW anyway - since once the shooting begins all you really have time to do is panic and hide, at least until you can formulate a better plan involving shooting people with grenade launchers.

Indeed, you'll need to seek cover often, and thankfully the context-sensitive cover mechanic is brilliantly executed. Moving your character up to any surface automatically causes him to press himself against it, from where you can peek around the corner and fight back.

When a firefight does break out the usual slow pace of the game vanishes and is replaced with an uncommon level of intensity. As bullets bludgeon your surroundings and smoke fills the air you can almost revel in it - and when the petrol tank of a nearby car is sparked for the first time the resulting screen-shaking explosion will cause you to catch your breath. It's exhilarating stuff.

taking it up a notch

This atmosphere is the result of some truly stellar work on the graphics and audio - GR:AW has been the game a lot of Xbox 360 owners were hoping would give them a better glimpse of the capabilities of their new console and boy, were they right. The sprawling metropolis into which the Ghosts are dumped looks both stunning and oppressive in its realism, bought to life by spectacular cutting-edge lighting techniques. Visually, everything has been taken up several notches from any Xbox 360 title to date - and the result is breathtaking. The only possible criticism that could be levelled is that when there's a lot going on, the screen can become extremely busy, especially taking into account the video display in one corner and your HUD's overlaid tactical displays.

The sound effects and musical score are of a similar fidelity - especially the banshee-wail of the Blackhawk helicopter-mounted Vulcan cannon. There's just something about massive guns that spin around, for some reason. Also of note is the superb music that fades in during dramatic firefights, evoking scenes from numerous war films.

The solid Live offering provides great scope for the future as well as a unique and thoroughly enjoyable co-op mode.

Visually, everything has been taken up several notches from any Xbox 360 title to date - and the result is breathtaking.

GR:AW rarely falls down, and when it does it's usually the same problem - almost random seeming difficulty spikes that can make progress through the game stilted and frustrating (though if the challenge is what you're after, then the hard mode offers it in spades). The game also features a night vision mode which is simply a joke - it's not even vaguely useful during play. Yes, it is handy that the enemies are picked out in bright green, but not at the expense of seeing…you know…everything else.

For Ubisoft, it's a slight step backwards in terms of its polish when compared to the usual standard of release we've been happy to sing the praises of recently. The sheer daftness of some of the errors (I mean, Ubi practically invented night vision didn't it?) is only so frustrating because this is so close to greatness you can feel its breath on the back of your neck.

Indeed, with another three months in development Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter would have been a truly exceptional title.

Yet this does not detract from what GR:AW is in its final form, and that is the most graphically advanced game in the world today, and the strongest release yet in what has been a very highly-regarded series.