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Tom Clancy has been building himself quite a name in
videogaming over the past five years. With the series Tom
Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six and Tom
Clancy’s Ghost Recon all under his belt, across multiple
formats,  a few million sales for Ubi Soft can only have done him
good. Now, in the grace of a dawning of a new era in videogaming,
the man returns in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced
Warfighter for the Xbox360.
The title is a Squad-based Shooter with the emphasis on
realism. In an utter contrast to the disciplines of THQ’s The
Outfit: Destruction On Demand, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon:
Advanced Warfighter pits you in a living, breathing city, in a
war-torn world. Set in the near-future, you play as the commander of
America’s most highly trained military outfits. In Mexico, rebels are attempting an assassination of their President, armed
with the actual US Military prototype Integrated Warfighter
System and prototype weapons, you may yet live to see victory.
The title is orchestrated around city combat. Each of the
title’s lengthy yet exhaustible Missions will see you challenging
rebel Mexican forces in locals screened by buildings, parks  and
highways for as far as the-eye-can-see. Occasional diversions to
less densely claustrophobic areas are applicable, but still clearly
purveying their urban attachment. The game provides a simulation of
“real-war”, but not as such that the hype and British games
press may have you believe; the title remains with the ethos of
videogaming at all times – squad commands are simple, yet
effective, flicks of the D-Pad, extra reinforcements are controlled
by AI alone and never become part of your fleet. In addition to
this, the title is punishing – but always fair.
Missions are challenging, whether they be simple
point-to-point activities or more complicated infiltration affairs,
and while only a few stray bullets can lead to your demise, it never
feels like there’s a case to question when you fall.  The enemy AI
is very well balanced, but is far from achieving an unbelievable
standard for the ultra-realism the game’s ideals lead you to
believe it attempts to create. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon:
Advanced Warfighter is a cunningly crafted piece of
entertainment and escapism which can captivate wholly, but never
fails to realise its own essence and stand-point; a videogame, and
one which a mainstream audience will be at ease to play.
As a war-based title Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced
Warfighter faces some stiff competition on the Xbox360. Amongst
the seemingly endless spew of First-Person Shooters we see the PC
port Call
Of Duty 2, which has been wooing gamers since the
Xbox360’s Launch, and it too has received much gratification for
its realistic portrayal of war. Forthcoming releases such as The
Outfit: Destruction On Demand, Medal Of Honor: Airborne
and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and helping to fill a void
already brimming, each intent on offering their own interpretation
of war; whether it be intended as a simulation or otherwise. It’s
hard to say where Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
comes into the spectrum – as it certainly carves a niche in it’s
own right – but  seemingly is the master of it’s own demise, as
it’s complacency about it’s decision for hardcore gaming in a
mainstream audience seems a little too rational when compared to
some other combat offerings.
The title pushes many boundaries graphically, with the
opening stages of the game taking place on public highways and
downtown arenas, you are simple positioned in a city which but two
hours ago was brimming with life, yet is now feeling the shadow of
the hand of war. Litter and leaves rustle on the warm concrete and
solar glare casts not only a difference on player perspective, but
enhances gameplay also. It’s clear that Tom Clancy’s Ghost
Recon: Advanced Warfighter is no slouch when honing its Graphics
Engine, however, the game built around this code-construct seems as
though it may have suffered from some rather brief post-production
analysis, as many of the locals feature texture-based errors and
occasional flights of  distant Polygon Pop-Up. The draw distance is
undoubtedly astounding often featuring hundreds of fully realised
buildings in every direction, while the sound-scape isn’t a
misdemeanour either. Pleasing aural attributes are crafted by
sweeping orchestral movements in times of panic and subtle,
background echoes when slowly whispering through back streets and
casually plucking individuals with that single-bullet tradition
handed down through the GoldenEye 007 life-line, till its
inevitable frustrating demise in Perfect Dark Zero.
The title has been crafted by skilled hands and is destined
to be one of the Xbox360’s early big-hitters, but in the face of
such stiff competition it’s a wonder whether it deserves to be.
Everything is present and correct for an adaptation of a series to a
new console format; but this in itself occasionally seems little
more than going-through-the-motions. Once more of the competition
has arrived we’ll have a clearer picture of whether any of these
titles keep their promises (and, with two of them under EA’s
control, I’m not keeping my hopes up) but, in the mean time, Tom
Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter assures you a
well-produced Squad-Based Shooter war game, and a reliably
refreshing one at that.
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