Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Xbox 360, 2007)

Okay, Capt. Mitchell is back. Let's see how he stacks up.

LOOKS: If GRAW looked amazing, then the #2 should obviously be a masterpiece, and it's one of the closest so far to it, like some games! The sp missions+ mp levels look almost top-notch. You the player will also shoot your way in an assortment of varied levels that look crisp, clear, and make us drool…especially with the lighting that can keep a gamer's attention (isn't lighting what most 360 games are known for in visuals?). Few levels pit you in a desert, some put you in deserted forest regions, but the bulk are urban areas; like the US/ Mexico border.

SOUNDS: Although the same as GRAW, this game is decent on sound. The voiceovers in the game are not so bad, and the weapons/vehicles sound like real life counterparts. A pro here is the ambience sounds that you play w/ the game. There were even times when I felt like a hero, or was scared in the process of a mission because of this! But, hey, don't you forget the explosions; the look of them added with the sound can make you cringe, yep.

FEEL+CONTROLS: GRAW fans like me may say, “ Why are the controls on this game no different than the last one?!?” #2 is the same as #1, with some features here and there, and don't get me wrong, this is why some people say that it's more of an expansion pack…you sick people. This is still awesome in ways. WHY CHANGE A FORMULA FOR A GAME THAT'S GOOD ALREADY? So, on to the goods; and the only one is the command system, which is better. Now you can control your support, move your mule, scan w/ a UAV drone, and command your ghosts in each of their own 1st person perspective; like having to be God on the army! That's the only feature, + how the game paces itself, and #2 also has better pacing. Even w/ the low features, it's fine by me. You get the GRAW 1 package, but improved here and there. There's still a ton of fun factor for #2, because of the formula. O yeah, btw, did I tell you there are awesome weapons? This includes the godly FAMAS, an ambidextrous 2ndary weapon, and the punch-packing satchel. Those are just some out of 40-something new weapons, I don't know…

SOLO CAMPAIGN: You maybe can get some replay value from the campaign, but I wouldn't count on that so much! Playing on low risk can get you passed the story in 6-8 hrs. tops, which turning it up a notch can take 2-4 more hrs. Speaking of the story; just under a year after Capt. Mitchell busted his butt with Chapultapek, Guardrail IX, a “football”, and Ontiveros, rebels have some big weapons in their control, nukes they say! So General Martin sends you to Juarez, Mexico to stop the activating of the nukes in the process of killing more rebels to get to your primary objective (even if he says you've done enough for 1 man”. Hey, Ubisoft executes the story well. It's not too hard to understand, and it's simple so you don't forget why you're playing the campaign. Also, you play in beautiful environments as it varies in acts, and the day/ night effect is here too. You're in control in every advanced technology the Ghosts have, so it's good to be a Captain; you're pretty much getting all the credit! One more thing I like about this, is the “Ghost" phrases Scotty says. He's wonderful!

I would definitely recommend buying this game. I rate it EXCELLENT.

Let me start by saying that I got GRAW 2 because a friend of mine did who had been budget game shopping due to the economy. As such, we had already played Rainbow Six: Vegas 1 and 2 online a great deal, and a lot of my impression of this game is based on what it does better and/or worse.

Having never played GRAW 2, I can't say much for the story, but who really plays a Tom Clancy game for the plot? The single player game allowes you to give orders to your team, and much like in earlier R6 games, and the excellent SWAT games, you can see things from their point of view. GRAW 2 also adds (which was probably in GRAW 1) the UAV satellite that you can send to get an aerial view of the tactical situation. I recognize that this would be unrealistic to have in R6, and also useless considering how much of R6 is indoors, but I still give extra points to GRAW 2 for such a cool mechanic, especially since it retains most of it's functionality in multiplayer co-op. The enemy AI isn't bad, and in fact online my friends and I have been flanked, sniped, and even ambushed by the enemy.

Positive:
Co-op allows for more than 4 players, I think the limit is 8, but we've never had more than 6.

combines local co-op with online. My friend had a friend over and they both played on our team.

Enemy AI is intelligent, but not omniscient.

Co-op missions are just as complex as single player. Perhaps more so, since you can have secondary missions based on your performance.

You can only see enemy markers when they are in range of the UAV, which forces you to really pay attention.

Negative:
1st person view is nearly an afterthought, with no actual gun appearing in the display or anything.

3rd person cover system disappears online. No online cover system.

There's no way to tell where your teammates are without them also being in the view of the UAV, or if they call for help.


In all, for a bargain purchase, this is a no brainer for people who like Co-Op games.

This Game is wonderful, and a must have for tactical gamers. If you like Third-person/over the shoulder view, this is the game for you on Xbox 360. It is very similar to the game Socom series on the Playstation platform. This game is so good, it has been out for quite some time now, and people play it like crazy still in the multiplayer modes online. I personally have been playing online, if you have this game and want to play, my gamertag is TheTrustyOldVet. Oh, this game also has A LOT of downloadable content that expands its much farther in the multiplayer modes, and a lot of the maps you can get are free! So, for the seventeen dollars that I spent, I have gotten more use out of this game than I have out of a lot of others that I have spent more money on. I highly recommend this game, I give it a 9.0 out of 10.

Ok im going to start splitting up my game reviews in sections.Gameplay which will include much of what you need to know. Graphics which is something important in the next gen consoles! Sound for all the audio buffs..and multiplayer for all the run and gun with a friend type people

Gameplay 8 out of 10: Do you like being thrown into situation in a game in which you actually have to think? well this game does just that! Not only does it do that,but it throws you into situations that will have you running for cover! The least thing you would expect is to all of a sudden be confronted with numerous enemies while having freaking attack helicopters shooting thousands of bullets at you from the gattling gun! and having to control a squad makes it a crazy task.the thing about having all this stuff going on at once really draws you into the game.you will feel like your really contolling a squad and fighting terrorists!!!

pros: in all the game play is great and will have you glued to the tv with your eyes popping out of your head because a freaking barrage of bullets are hurling towards your face.

cons: at points you will have to control many allies causing complete confusion.

Multiplayer 9 out of 10: awesome! its just as great as the first if not better!!! altho there seems to be alot of moron hosts who hold up the room for just 2 extra guys. COME on people 5 on 5 is just as fun... start the game!!!! :P

Graphics 7 out of 10: Basically if you played GR:AW 1 then you will be seeing amped up version of its graphics.explosions are deffenetly something to gawk over.

Sound 7 out of 10: nothing really amazing here. everything pretty much sounds how you would expect. -note- its not a bad thing.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 picks up where AW1 left off - and brings in a higher level of graphics as well as some new changes to the physics engine. This means if you loved AW1 you'll be thrilled - and if you weren't fond of AW1, you probably won't change your mind here.

To start with, the overall graphics are really quite nice here. The level of detail on individual characters is quite impressive, with the guns, radio, ammo, sunglasses etc. that they carry. A HUD video will pop up with news transmissions or personal broadcasts. The mini-map is in three dimensions to help you with urban assault. Pieces of paper blow down the street. Heat waves and dust storms impair your vision. You really get the sense that this world you move through is barren, dusty, hot and ominous.

The sound fits in very well with this real-world atmosphere. When you're roaming the streets of Mexico, the locals are calling out Spanish dialogue. Bullet shots zing past your head, and the voice acting, while not stellar, is not wooden either.

You're not alone on your missions. You have up to three teammates with you. You can choose from a limited selection of individuals and can make some basic choices - medic, rifleman, antitank gunner. It matches your team up with your personal style of gameplay. I also like that they have some female players in here, and that they aren't the traditional "hide in the back nurses" games that some games offer!

Firing seems a bit slow - when you hit the trigger, it seems like there's a delay before the shot is made. So your own personal actions can get a bit frustrating. On the other hand, team control is well done. You can have your team taking cover alongside you, helping you to wipe out the enemy in well coordinated movement.

You can't go Rambo here and expect to survive. Full out running frontal assaults typically spell doom. Instead, you need to survey your surroundings, creep up slowly, peer around the rock and headshot your enemy before he spots you.

We're generally not fans of "make your squad do things" games - we tend to enjoy games like Splinter Cell where you are directly in control of all actions. But we were very pleasantly surprised with how smoothly and easily this game let you work with your team. The levels that involved alternate styles of gameplay - like riding in a chopper and shooting down enemies as you passed by - were a nice variation as well.

There are a few issues that you just have to accept - for example, in the chopper level - surely someone down there had a rocket launcher and could have shot you down pretty quickly! If the situation was reversed, and you were guarding a convoy under assault from a group of helicopters - you would easily have taken them down.

Still, that's how a game works, and in general we really enjoyed this one. It was fun to play - and fun for others to watch, which is a good indication of how well paced, voiced and "drawn" a game is. It was like watching an interesting war movie, and you got swept up in the events as they rolled out.

Recommended!