Pretty Advanced Warfighting
To tell you the truth, I’ve never played a previous Ghost Recon game. GRAW 1 on the 360 got some good scores, but it didn’t spark my interest at that time, and all the previous games were released back in the days when I wasn’t really into gaming. However, I was quite impressed with GRAW 2, though I did manage to find some faults.
Starting with gameplay, I thought it was very good in that department. I’m told it’s stayed pretty similar to GRAW 1, and I really did enjoy it. The weapons feel very realistic, and the cross-cam is very useful. The cross-cam is basically your way of controlling the other members of your squad and any other stuff you may have under your control, such as jets and tanks. It’s shows as a little box at the top of your screen which gives you a view of what you’re currently tuned in on. Hold LB and you get the full-screen view. You can move from one thing to the next with the d-pad. It’s all very simple and well done, and it really freshens up the gameplay. Both Ally and Enemy AI are really smart. Your teammates will take cover without your command if they come under fire, though if you want them in the best positions you’ll have to place them there yourself. The one quibble I had with the AI is if you come within a certain range of an enemy, they will suddenly notice you, so there’s no room for stealth kills. The multiplayer carries on from the strengths of single player in gameplay aspects. There’s plenty to do in both the split-screen and online facets of multiplayer, so it’s definitely a title that will hold your attention for some time. I did find it annoying how you’re unable to take cover in multiplayer, but that’s really the only flaw in it’s gameplay. Otherwise it all feels superbly polished and you can feel the great deal of time and effort that has been put in to make sure that everything is as good as possible.
it’s definitely a title that will hold your attention for some time
Graphically, GRAW 2 isn’t incredible. It doesn’t have the style and flair of a Bioshock or the raw power of a Call of Duty 4, but it’s certainly not ugly. Explosions are especially impressive However, I was never truly wowed by anything it showed me. It’s all very bland, as the environments are made up of a mixture of browns and greys. A major annoyance I had with it was the severe drop in aesthetics the game received in multiplayer. It goes from a decent looking next-gen title in single player to a slightly better than average last-gen title in multiplayer. I’m definitely not saying that it’s graphically challenged or anything, but if you’re the type of gamer who enjoys playing games with the most incredible graphics, this probably isn’t for you.
When it comes to sound, GRAW 2 is frustrating. Don’t take this to mean that it sounds bad, because for the most part the sound is really high quality. However, once you reach cutscenes and the characters start to talk, that soon becomes a very different matter. Simply put, the voice acting is awful. It’s infuriating because the rest of the game sounds absolutely brilliant. The weapons sound as if they’re actually spewing out hot lead at a rate of knots and the explosions are so mind-blowingly realistic you’ll think someone actually did just let off a grenade in your living room. However, once you get to the end of a mission your reward is some of the most woefully stereotypical voice acting I’ve ever heard. The soldiers are gung-ho and the rebels all have horrible accents. Oh, and the Generals last little speech to Mitchell at the very end of the game- I’ve never laughed so hard at something that wasn’t meant to be funny in my entire life. Basically, hit mute every time someone is about to speak and you’ll be treated to one great sounding game. Otherwise, be prepared to both laugh and cry at some of the most dreadful voice acting you’ve ever heard.
All in all, GRAW 2 is a pretty good package. The controls are pretty much spot-on, the multiplayer is addicting and overall it’s very well polished. There are some let-downs, such as the graphics and the voice acting, but if you’re looking for a shooter to fill the gap between your next big title, I wouldn’t look much further than this.
The Bad: Horrible voice acting; Pretty easy single player;
