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Listen up, you miserable sacks of puke! I’m here to give you my expert evaluation of Red Storm’s new realistic action game Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon. But before we get started, let’s make sure we get one thing clear: you will respect my authority. I’ve been in the shit. I’ve cut my teeth in the trenches of Rainbow Six, Rogue Spear, Operation Flashpoint, and everything in-between. And I will go on record right now and say that Ghost Recon is hands down the best tactical shooter this veteran gamer has seen in his entire ass-kicking, name-taking, tango-stalking life. Get it? Tickets

“WE DON’T NEED SISSY RAINBOWS”
It could be easy to dismiss Ghost Recon as just another Rainbow Six game. Do not make that mistake, maggot! This is a whole new battlefield. While some of the play mechanics and controls have carried over from Red Storm’s previous games, every other aspect of Ghost Recon has been enhanced and better streamlined to kick the gameplay to unparalleled heights.

You’re now part of the United States military, the greatest fighting force on Earth. You’re the tip of the spear of America’s might; you are the best of the best. And the best of the best are called “Ghosts” — elite commandos who make no sound before springing their lethal trap.

The story takes place seven years in the future. The Reds are at it again and are starting a Communist revolution in Russia. All hell is breaking loose and it’s up to you and your team to fix the situation by assisting the embattled democratic government in subduing the Red insurrection in any way possible. Might is right.

“TOYS FOR BIG BOYS”
Because you’re in the Army this time around, you won’t have to worry about law-enforcement concerns like “rules of engagement” or “civilian hostages.” The gear at your disposal reflects this new mentality, putting in your hands some of the most powerful handheld weapons ever devised. M203 grenade launchers, M249 SAW machine guns, claymore mines, and M136 anti-tank rockets are just some of the new toys available.

One of the highlights is the OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon). This high-tech piece of death-dealing badness is a marriage of a 5.56mm assault rifle and a 20mm semi-automatic grenade launcher. Anyone facing the business end of an OICW knows he’ll be dog food in an instant. Also in the mix are three different sniper rifles, including the Barret M82A1 .50 caliber, for when you really need to reach out and cap someone. (In real life, the M82A1 can hit a target up to a mile away. Ghost Recon maps get as big as 400 square meters.)

All the weapons are so effective, they’re scary. The actual rate of fire for each rifle and machinegun is faithful to the real deal, and it shows when you rip off 200 rounds with the SAW. I’ve seen this puppy annihilate entire platoons. The blooming reticule from the past Rainbow Six games is back, but this time it allows for even more realistic targeting. Now you’ll be able to walk your fire onto enemy targets, and full-auto fire won’t be a completely futile action. You’ll actually be able to hit targets while laying on the trigger. It’s time to rock ’n’ roll!

“THE CALL OF DUTY”
Before I go on, let me hear your war cry! That’s not a war cry. Arrrghhh! Now that’s a war cry!

While in the service of our great country, you and your six-man team will be asked to achieve goals that would be near-impossible for the average soldier. The 15 missions are challenging and varied, and you’ll never be bored. Your first assignment is to neutralize a rebel camp in a dense forest and capture their leader.

From the drop zone, what you do next is completely up to you. Here’s where you find out if you can lead worth a damn. Do you take out the rebel encampment first and then capture the leader hiding in the caves? Do you organize search-and-destroy teams to wipe out all resistance and then grab the leader? Don’t screw up, soldier! This freedom sets the trend for the other levels. In one mission you’re tasked with rescuing a downed F/A-18 pilot and his co-pilot from a rebel camp in the dead of night. The very next mission commands you to stop a Russkie armored advance through a mountainous pass.

Other missions include breaking into a POW camp to rescue captured comrades, sneaking into an enemy shipyard to blow up submarines, and clearing a mountain of all hostile elements. My favorite involved ambushing a tank column moving through a narrow valley. Few games have captured the tension and ferocity of war, but this mission comes about as close as you’ll ever want to get. You’ll quickly find yourself outnumbered by at least four-to-one, and if you’re not smart the enemy will out-flank you and cut you to ribbons. Ammo will run low, your squadmates will die horrible deaths, tracers and machinegun fire will rake your positions, and that’s before you encounter the tanks. And crying to mama won’t help. A smart team leader will take to the high ground and catch the tanks in a withering blaze of crossfire, and then bring out the anti-tank missiles for the coup-de-grace.

Many missions will be pitched firefights in which you’ll have to throw every round of ammo and every ounce of sweat into tactical thinking just to make it out alive. Lucky for you, Red Storm had the foresight to include a save-game option. You can save and load at any time, giving you and your boys a distinct tactical advantage. Use this often, you ape!

“ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?”
Now listen up, soldier — this is important! As you progress through the campaign, each member of your squad who survives a mission will be awarded one Combat Point. Think of these as the equivalent of experience points you’d find with all the pixies, fairies, and fat little dwarves from those wussy roleplaying games. These are points for hard-as-nails military men.

Each of your troops has four attributes: Weapon, Stealth, Endurance, and Leadership. Weapon and Stealth are both self-explanatory. Endurance makes troops tougher and less likely to drop when hit, and also enables them to carry more gear without being encumbered.

The Leadership attribute requires more brainpower than you can muster, but I’ll try to explain it to you sorry sods anyway. For every three points in leadership that a soldier has, he’ll boost the skills of every soldier in his squad by one point. For instance, if Pvt. Doe has six Combat Points in leadership, the other five soldiers in his six-man squad will each gain two additional points to their Weapon, Stealth, and Endurance. However, if Pvt. Doe is killed in action, that boost in skills is lost.

The introduction of these Combat Points gives a renewed incentive to keep your men alive. It also adds a strategic element, since you have to decide which soldiers need boosts in which areas. Since the Combat Points are given only to surviving members of your team at the end of your mission, it’s important to use these points wisely. Fresh recruits will fill in the gaps on your roster, but they’ll be green, and you’ll have to start building up their skills from scratch.

“THE SPECIALISTS”
Green recruits aren’t the only soldiers added to your roster. As you accomplish missions and any of the optional objectives, highly trained specialists are assigned to your team. These guys are tough and come with plenty more Combat Points than most of the soldiers in your platoon. They each have distinct outfits and skills, and even unique weapons and tools.

Alas, there are some unrealistic requirements. Weapons such as the OICW and .50-caliber sniper rifle are available for use only by certain specialists, as are certain inventory items such as motion sensors. That’s a gameplay decision I don’t agree with. You’re telling me these crack troops can’t pick up a SAW and rock ’n’ roll if necessary? Drop and give me twenty, Red Storm!

“I just LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER”
A good commander must know how to give orders and make sure that those are the right orders. Instead of planning missions ahead of time as in Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear, you’ll be giving commands on the fly through a Command Map. This screen shows a top-down map of the entire situation. From here you’ll be able to issue waypoints to your squad and tell them when to shoot and where. And that’s all you can do — nothing too complex. It’s kept simple so even you pathetic grunts can figure it out.

Your Command Map also tells you the status of your troops, such as their current orders and whether they’re alive or dead. Just like in Rogue Spear, if you happen to step into the path of an enemy round and eat it (it only takes one good shot to the head or the heart to end your miserable excuse for a life), you instantly take control of the next guy in your squad. You can also take direct control of any member of your squad anytime at the touch of a button. This option is very useful for precise positioning of your troops when setting up an ambush.

“KNOW YOURSELF, KNOW YOUR ENEMY even better”
If the Command Map control seems a little too simple, you’re an outright moron. Your troops know when to take cover, and can handle themselves just fine in a firefight. Try not to issue orders that’ll get them slaughtered and they’ll make you proud. Sadly, they’re not all perfect. They do get stuck indoors and on stairs, forcing you to take direct control to get them moving again.

The enemy AI is just as smart, if not smarter. These guys are the hardest, brightest enemies you’ve ever faced. They understand the principles of cover and evasion. If they’re under fire from your team, they’ll take cover. If a sniper pins them down, they’ll send units to flank you and kill your sniper from behind. Do not make the mistake of underestimating your opponents, or your journey home will be in a pine box!

“YOU’RE NOT ALONE”
Ghost Recon has support for up to 36 players in multiplay. The game comes with six multiplayer-only maps that are more fun than a night alone with your mother. Trust me, I know. These maps include a valley with a river running through the middle, a night map with a lone house on a hill, and other creative sneak and combat scenarios. Multiplayer modes include cooperative play, in which you and your buddies can play all the single-player missions together, and adversarial teamplay.

Hamburger Hill mode is basically King of the Hill, where one team tries to hold a certain area for as long as possible. Search and Rescue mode has up to four teams looking for three hostages scattered across the map; the objective is to be the first team to rescue all three hostages. Ghost also includes the standard deathmatch and team-deathmatch scenarios. One brilliant touch is that you can play team deathmatch and have each human player control an AI squad. All the single-player maps are available for multiplay as well, and the six multiplayer-only maps look and play beautifully.

Setting up a game is every bit as easy as it was in Rogue Spear. Few moments have topped going into a decimated battlefield with five of your best buddies on your team. Actual tactics come into use, flanking maneuvers are paramount, and covering fire is a necessity. My only gripe is that in cooperative play, you can have only six men on a team. For all other modes, you can have up to the full 36-player festival of destruction.

“KEEP YOUR EYES AND EARS OPEN at all times”
Environmental awareness is the key to surviving combat: if you know where your enemy is, you’ll be able to kill him. Red Storm has really outdone itself in this regard with Ghost Recon. Trees and bushes rustle and sway in the wind, rain splatters off rooftops, and explosions look and sound as deadly as they should. If I could, I’d recommend the sound-effects team at Red Storm for a special commendation. Likewise, all the units are superbly detailed, especially the snipers in their ghillie suits. Get one into a bush and the enemy will never know what hit them.

The graphics are so detailed, you’ll feel like you’re in the middle of a war movie. One second you’re admiring the beauty and serenity of a forest, and the next moment the sky’s ablaze with explosions and gunfire, and you’re in the middle of the biggest firefight of your life.

“BEST OF THE BEST”
Consider that Editors’ Choice a badge of honor. Ghost Recon has officially become my favorite tactical action game of all time. It’s easily the best-looking and best-sounding game ever to come from those boys in North Carolina. Once again, Red Storm has impressed me with its game design, and that makes me happy. So happy, in fact, that Red Storm can come over to my house and date my sister any day as far as I’m concerned. You, on the other hand, will be too busy trying to unlock all the specialists. But you owe it to your strategic, military-minded self to pick this one up. It’s a doozy.

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