Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

Tactical shooters maybe a dime a dozen but few have managed to impress me the way Rainbow Six Vegas and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW) have. Vegas was and is still my favorite tactical shooter both online and offline, but GRAW 2 is quickly climbing up the ranks to compete for top spot as well and here’s why…

Released in 2006 as a launch title for the Xbox 360, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter managed to impress pretty much everyone with its mind blowing visuals and revolutionary gameplay. But like all games it did have room for improvement and now after only a year Ubisoft have given us GRAW 2, a game that does improve on its predecessor in every single way but still feels like GRAW at the end of the day (don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing at all).

GRAW 2 takes place immediately after the events of GRAW with Captain Scott Mitchell heading back to a well deserved break when he’s hit with some bad news. It seems that heavily armed rebellious forces have been up to no good plotting all sorts of terrorist activity around the US border and so he has to head back into the heat of the action with his army of highly trained ghosts (not the spirit kind) to put an end to all of that.
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Most of the game takes place in and around the Mexican border but there are certain missions that do spill onto nearby Mexican/American cities providing a certain amount of environmental variety. The gameplay in GRAW 2 is pretty much the same as it was in GRAW; control your squadron and use a certain amount of tact, force and stealth to overcome great odds (which generally involves killing lots of Mexicans). And if you haven’t played the first Ghost Recon game there’s no need to worry as controlling your squad is as simple as eating pie (or whatever it is you find really simple); all you have to do is point to a place on the ground (using the D Pad) and they’ll move to that direction; point to an enemy or a vehicle and they’ll happily annihilate it within seconds. Thankfully, friendly AI has been revamped this time round and your squad isn’t as brainless as the previous game so they won’t just run out into the open to die like (dumb) dogs. They’ll constantly talk to each other, take cover when required and do whatever it takes to get the job done. Enemy AI on the other hand could have improved a bit since most of them fire at you standing at one spot and I rarely came across a group who tried to flank me or suppress my team.

To simplify your life in battle you’re given a couple of spiffy gadgets that most definitely turn the tides in your favor. These gadgets were present in GRAW as well but now you have some new stuff at your disposal, the first being the MULE, a small tank of sorts that serves as a refueling station for weapons and ammunition as well as doubles up as valuable cover in deserted areas. Next, you have the addition of a medic in your squad, a real life saver (literally) who can save your ass on the battlefield seven times (that’s the amount of medpacks he can carry at a time).

Even the much loved Cross Com has received a minor upgrade courtesy of the U.S. Government. In GRAW, the Cross Com was limited to a tiny window on the left side of your screen but in GRAW 2, the Cross Com 2.0 as it’s now called will allow you to see what your squad/units see giving you that added edge in the battlefield. And finally, GRAW 2 now offers you rudimentary control over the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) so you can scope out a particular area in peace before you move in for the kill; just make sure the enemy doesn’t spot the drone or they will try and shoot it down. Scanning a particular area with the UAV will highlight all the enemies in that area and denote them on your map making life easier for you and your squad.
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Through most of the game you’ll be kicking Mexican butt with your squad but during certain missions you’ll be on your own and these can make for some intense moments like the time when you’re supposed to ward off two helicopters armed with nothing but a rocket launcher (good times). Certain missions will also take place at night during which you can use what I can only describe as the best night vision I’ve come across in a video game till date (I hope other developers take note).

As expected, the game’s Multiplayer is killer fun as well and you have plenty of solo as well as team based matches to keep you entertained once you’re done with the relatively short single player campaign. Playing the game in co-op is a blast as well; unfortunately none of the game’s single player missions are available and you’ll have to make do with randomly generated missions but then again this means you have more missions to play.

As far as the visuals go I have no complaints from the game; textures, particle effects, lighting are awesome, the frame rates hold up very well and the game boasts of some of the most mind blowing explosions I’ve seen in a game till date but for some reason death animations are very lame and almost every one you shoot falls down the same way; can we get some ragdoll next time please?

At the end of the day GRAW 2 is a highly polished shooter and improves on its successor in every which way to provide a better experience. Fans of the series will love it but even if you haven’t had the pleasure of playing GRAW, don’t hold back from playing this game. It’s fast paced, intense and above all, tons of fun to play; add in some solid MP and you have a game that’s well worth the steep price tag.

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