Who ya gonna call? Ghost Recon!
It’s been quite a while since the last Ghost Recon game, which were good but mixed games in my opinion. The series goes in a slightly different direction with Future Soldier, which adds future tech to add in the battle to stop terrorists. But can a few fancy gizmos be enough to reinvent the series?
It’s a more tactical and thoughtful shooter than most, so it’s got its work cut out. The story starts out well with soldiers killed by an explosion in Nicaragua and a chase around the world to find the people responsible, but it never sets up a major antagonist. The cutscenes don’t help either with cheesy dialogue, including one Ghost singing along to “I Shot The Sheriff”. The campaign itself has some nice tricks up its sleeve and can be tackled with 4 players via co-op, but it does drag after the first few missions.
You get a nice arsenal of weapons and gadgets like drones and sensor grenades to highlight the enemies around the area. You can also tackle objectives in a few different ways, although some missions require you not to be detected or you’ll fail. This can be brutally frustrating since you don’t know if you’re at fault or if it’s the AI or your co-op buddies. Multiplayer is the main focus, but it lacks the content variety of its predecessor. Instead of team deathmatches, you get objective based missions, usually resulting in capturing/defending areas. There is a horde-like mode for 4 players also, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
Future Soldier does have one of the best cover systems in the genre, which makes up for a lot of its shortcomings. As a whole, the campaign isn’t too bad…it just frustrates at times, while the multiplayer can be very addictive for those who love military shooters. Just be prepared that this is very different to the likes of Call of Duty multiplayer.
There is Move support, but it’s really not worth bothering with for any reason other than curiosity. There is a nice level of authenticity when it comes to the weapons and the parts that you customise them with, showing you the pros and cons of your choices. As a whole, Future Soldier is a competent shooter that does well in bringing the series back, it’s just a shame that it feels sparse compared to the last game.
In terms of visuals, Future Soldier runs at a steady rate but does lack polish. As a whole though, it is a nice looking game and the load times aren’t too bad. Voice-acting is a mixed bag, but the music is decent for the most part.
The Verdict
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier isn’t the best tactical shooter out there, but it is a nice game overall. The campaign although not great, sets you up for multiplayer nicely and you’ll be playing it for quite some time.
