Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Review
Back to the Future
by Gregory Squires
reviewed on X360
What Chapter are we on?
I extremely enjoyed the feeling of revenge for my fallen Ghost’s as I hunted various terrorist throughout the campaign, but I had a nagging sensation that I had done this all before… and that’s because I have.
The story of Future Soldier is simple enough, terrorists kill a squad of Ghost’s and then threaten the world with war, so you must stop them while keeping your thirst for revenge at bay. Unfortunately it feels like most shooters nowadays are set in a similar time period with almost exactly the same plotline. Even though we’ve done this all before, I was surprised at the lack of storytelling ability that was displayed in the game.
Ok, we have to save this guy, kill that guy, etc. But the game fails to connect these events. I soon found myself completely uninterested with the story, waiting to get back to stealth killing. An overall goal was never presented, but not to be suspenseful, because the last-minute plot shift was unimportant and disconnected.
This coupled along with a massive difficulty shift between levels occasionally made me want to put the game down for a little bit, but my hunger for new equipment and more stealth missions pushed me forward.
Innovate, infiltrate and… assassinate?
Perhaps one of the most refreshing aspects of Future Soldier is the fact that every level is different in some way. It’s not just hostage rescue and high-target assassination. Every two or three levels the play mechanics take a U-Turn to present the player with a different style every time.
In one level you may be completely solo, trying to infiltrate an enemy compound, but the next you might be guiding a tank to its explosive target. This is one of the reasons Future Soldier is so fun to play, considering the negative things I’ve said about it. Because you never know what to expect.
The game doesn’t simply give you the same guns every time either. In fact, aside from giving you a basic suggestion, the game lets you pick whatever you want. Besides the standard grenade load out, Future Soldier allows you to custom make your own gun in ‘Gunsmith’, right down to what kind of barrel you want on it. If you want a 3 round burst trigger, go for it. Laser sights? Go for it. The game allows you to easily create the perfect gun, amongst a variety of customizable options, helping you to further immerse yourself in Future Soldiers addictive gameplay.
Welcome to the Future
If it’s not obvious, the point of Future Soldier is to deliver the player a realistic experience of future warfare. A perfect example of this is the cloaking feature for stealth. If you are moving slowly and crouching, a basic camouflage will cover your body, rendering you obscured but not completely invisible. This is a great example because within the next 50 years, we probably will have active camouflage for our soldiers, but it will be nowhere close to perfect.
A series of augmented reality visuals such as the amount of ammo in your gun, target marking and threat tracking also display just how close we are to actually having technology like this.
When all is said and done, Future Soldier delivers a fun and engaging shooter experience unlike many on the market today. The game forces you to think more about stealth and tactics; and less about Rambo-style shooting, while still allowing you to play it however you choose. Ubisoft opened up new channels and mechanics of gameplay with Future Soldier, something I’m sure fans and new gamers will appreciate.
8.0
fun score
Pros
Sync Shots are fun to set up and execute, gadgets are new and don't feel overused. New Equipment is introduced slowly, allowing you to adjust and learn to use it.
Cons
Firefights feel long and dragged out, multiplayer is hard to 'jump into' and story is cliché and scrambled, never presents player with a clear and concise plot line.
