Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

By Oli Welsh Published 6 February, 2007

Spookily familiar.

Soldiering is hard work. So is being an Ubisoft franchise hero, a Tom Clancy one especially. The French publisher demands its action stars march to the same annual beat as most virtual sportsmen, no matter how taxing and ambitious their adventures, whether they're grizzled spies or foppish Iranian acrobats. After Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter delivered an early hit on 360 in March of last year, 2007 was always likely to find Ubi demanding its brave men hit the (pay)dirt on the double.

All the same, squad leader Captain Scott Mitchell is being rushed back into battle with so much haste it's unseemly. Never mind a vacation; he doesn't even get much of a change of scene. Taking place a mere 24 hours after the end of last year's game, GRAW 2 sees Mitchell still suppressing the Mexican rebellion. After being routed from Mexico City, the plucky rebels are gathering in and around Juarez, near the US border, and actually preparing to invade Texas. Needless to say, it's time to load up with cutting-edge death gadgetry, assemble a few gruff team-mates, ride a Blackhawk in and 'neutralise' their 'threat'. No rest for the wicked.

It has to be said, a change of setting would have been nice. GRAW was a very impressive-looking game, one of the first titles on 360 to really show some next-gen leg. It goes without saying that GRAW 2 will follow suit, although the preview version we've played - much more extensive but less polished than the current marketplace demo - still has a lot of rough graphical edges for a game so near release (it's due 9th March on 360 and later in the month on PS3 and PC). But the dust-blown landscapes and crumbling barrios smouldering and smoking in that moody late-evening sun are a little over-familiar, no matter how seductively real they are, and how convincing the explosions.

'Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2' Screenshot 1

Macho super-soldiers aren't known for contemplating beautiful sunsets, but in GRAW 2, you'll be doing it all the time.

You'll be fighting the same enemies with the same tactics, too, either alone or commanding a squad of three, using cover heavily and relying on flanking manoeuvres and suppressing fire in typical Ghost Recon style. As before, the game is more about the feeling of tactical squad deployment than the actual strategic reality of it, and is at heart a mostly just a very slick, tense, slow-paced shooter with some simple squad options - no bad thing, of course. From what we've played, GRAW 2's single-player leans even more towards carefully planned, flashy cinematic action (and away from true strategic depth) than its predecessor did.

After a training level, Mitchell is raced by Humvee to a desert location outside Juarez where he uses the Cypher, an aerial drone, to scout ahead and help him destroy some rebel gun emplacements and clear a bridge on his own. Although so little has changed since the first GRAW, military technology has certainly moved on some in the last 24 hours. Drone control is much improved, with the cross-com camera feed, previously restricted to a tiny window in the top left, now available in an excellent full-screen view (this goes for your team-mates' camera too). As before, the aerial drone can be commanded like a squad member to scout ahead and feed information on distant enemies back to your futuristic HUD.

'Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2' Screenshot 2

Only Call of Duty is as hopelessly addicted to smoke as GRAW.

This really comes into play at the start of the second mission in conjunction with a new gun and a new ground-level drone, the Mule. The Mule is a robotic weapons stash on wheels, basically - strongly resembling a Big Trak, for all you nostalgic thirtysomethings out there. Not only does it provide access to your full armoury wherever you want in the level if you can keep it intact, but it also serves as some invaluable portable cover. Like the drone, it can be controlled directly or commanded.

The new gun is a sniper rifle with armour-piercing rounds that can smash through thinner walls. Paring it with the Cypher in the mission in question means you can get a bead on enemies you can't even see - your HUD sketching out their outlines cowering behind the crumbling walls of a derelict hillside village - and take them down, once again using the left trigger to hold your breath and steady your aim. Most satisfying.

After that you finally meet up with your squad and use them to clean out a rebel camp while being bombarded by mortar fire and stirring, militaristic music. The big change here, and a welcome relief to GRAW players, is the addition of a medic unit. This relieves you as captain of the onus of running around the battlefield to heal your team-mates, often putting yourself at undue risk in the process, although the option to perform first aid yourself is still there. The medic saps your unit of firepower to some extent, but overall will make the game much more flexible and forgiving to play.

'Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2' Screenshot 3

You're backed up by Mexican regulars in many missions, though this one just seems to be taking a nap.

More than that we cannot discuss, sadly - details of subsequent missions are on a need-to-know basis only, and General Ubi has declared that you, consumer, sorry soldier, do not need to know. Suffice to say there will be some on-rails set-piece relief from the squad action, a little more drama and fun, maybe a little less white-knuckle tension. There's a little more care evident in the level design too, especially in areas such as check-pointing, which GRAW players will be glad to hear.

There's every sign that GRAW 2 will deliver the crowd-pleasing soldiering that saw its predecessor nab BAFTA's Game of the Year gong last year, and we haven't even seen the co-op and competitive multiplayer modes yet - which most agree are the stronger half of the package. There are two major causes for concern, though. One is that it's simply far too close in appearance, content and well, everything, to GRAW to feel like anything other than re-treading old ground. Sometimes with yearly updates, you have to question their reason for existing in the first place, and this is very much one of those times.

The other is time. Has Ubisoft given itself enough breathing space to give GRAW 2 the layer of polish that was notably lacking from the original? We won't have to wait too long to find out.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Rambaldi #1 5 years ago

    If it ain't broke...

  • bioreit #2 5 years ago

    "Paring it with the Cypher"

    You strip it down, layer by layer?

  • Xerx3s #3 5 years ago

    ...rape it by adding all kinds of new crap things.

  • trevd72 #4 5 years ago

    so is this going to be cheap like ubi have done with the other partial sequels/mission pack?

  • lambtron #5 5 years ago

    "...rape it by adding all kinds of new crap things."

    It is the Ubi way.

    See POPWW.

  • azwipe #6 5 years ago

    '...preparing to invade Texas.'

    lol. Half the *civilians* in Texas have guns.

  • DDevil #7 5 years ago

    I think I'll give this one a miss. Sounds more like an expansion pack than anything really :-(

  • AtomicBanana #8 5 years ago

    There was a 'counter sniper rifle' in the first game that could shoot through walls? Spent the latter half of the game shooting red outlines through walls :p

  • peterfll #9 5 years ago

    Played the demo the other night and found it perfectly....... playable. And very like last years game. But as it's been said already, some people just want more of the same........

  • Darren #10 5 years ago

    I didn't think much to the demo, far too similar to the previous game which itself was a disappointment for me as a solo player (sorry but I was never interested in playing it online)... poor A.I., "wobbly" visuals and too many silly glitches and bugs just spoilt the game for me (like how come you and your teammates can walk *through* each other?) and I have to confess that I enjoyed Ghost Recon 2 far more on the Xbox!

    I could never understand why the game won a BAFTA as it's only notable feature is its pretty high-definition graphics otherwise it was nothing special. There were far, far better games out last year on the Xbox 360 and other platforms. :?

  • LeD #11 5 years ago

    Much to my shame, I have to admit that I actually did enjoy that demo very much, and I will probably not be able to resist pick this 'expansion pack'. I know I shouldn't encourage them with these yearly updates, but...
    BTW, according to Penny Arcade, this one includes proper clan support.

  • SBfistfun #12 5 years ago

    keep on shovelling in the free world....

  • Kuma #13 5 years ago

    Demo just feels clunky and slow and the targeting and red reticule highlight around enemies and percentage counting down when they are hit just make the combat feel uninvolving and dull. Just seems so sluggish compared to Rainbow, reminded me why i never bothered finishing the first one. One good thing i was going to pick this up but wont now.
    Edited by 1 at 06/02/07 @ 14:54

  • space_ace #14 5 years ago

    pendejos

  • Donny #15 5 years ago

    Get it on the PS3. Teh real next-gen.

  • reality_cheque #16 5 years ago

    As far as I'm concerned the most important question is - does it support freaky control styles? If it does then I'll buy it just so me and my housemate can play something other than Halo, damn him and his legacy control freakery.

  • BadBoyBonner #17 5 years ago

    There was a 'counter sniper rifle' in the first game that could shoot through walls? Spent the latter half of the game shooting red outlines through walls :p

    It is in the demo - so happy days! lol

  • captainrentboy #18 5 years ago

    Totally unrelated,but was I the last gamer in the world to know that Marcus Fenix's (Gears Of War) voice is performed by the same guy who does Bender's voice on Futurama.Just saw it on IMDB.
    Bender + G.O.W's massive underlying homosexual vibe.It all makes sense in a non PC way.

  • RobertFoster #19 5 years ago

    I really should finish the first one...or at least get past the 3rd mission.

  • major_tom #20 5 years ago

    /echoes sentiment about the counter-snipe rifle being in the first game

    I wish smug gaming journos would stop going on about the counter-snipe rifle as if its a new thing just because ubi's press release told them it was.

  • Rambaldi #21 5 years ago

    Guns that shoot through walls are for Viva Pinata playing girls ;)

  • JediMasterMalik #22 5 years ago

    There's a PSP version? o_O

  • FTM #23 5 years ago

    I freely admit to liking the first one so I will probably end up getting this as well

    but the biggest plus point for me was having a sub machine gun as a secondary weapon whilst having a sniper rifle as primary...no more being caught in close combat with just a pistol and a few rounds of ammo!

  • DUFFKING #24 5 years ago

    But will it be fun this time?

    /plays demo

    Oh.

    I guess not.

  • SBfistfun #25 5 years ago

    lol

    I only played the PS2 version and it was a shambles.

  • cyber_nicco #26 5 years ago

    I like Viva Pinata...

  • rhinoxious #27 5 years ago

    Multi-player options look like making everyone happy. loads of game modes, almost endless customising of game types, and even the ability to change lighting from day to night on the maps. Even without the single player, I'd get this for the online alone.

  • TheJanitor #28 5 years ago

    ubisoft sucks.

  • Bitkari #29 5 years ago

    I'm not sure if the series will continue to improve. If we look at my highly subjective views on how ClancySoft titles progress:

    1 Rainbow Six - fair
    2 Rainbow Six Rogue Spear - good
    3 Rainbow Six Raven Shield - excellent
    4 Rainbow Six Lockdown - unmitigated rubbish
    5 Rainbow Six Vegas - good

    1 Splinter Cell - good
    2 Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - very good
    3 Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - excellent
    4 Splinter Cell Double Agent - good

    1 Ghost Recon - good
    2 Ghost Recon 2 - very good
    3 Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter - very good
    4 Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - ???

    Actually, there's no real pattern here at all, is there? Oh well, at least I got to point out how awful Rainbow Six Lockdown is. Gah!

  • Tomo #30 5 years ago

    $ $ bills y'allll

  • Dr.Mott #31 5 years ago

    @ Bitkari

    Swap round Chaos Theory and Double Agent, then I agree. But how you've got it now is just wrong. :p

  • Scimarad #32 5 years ago

    I really enjoyed GRAW when I first got it but since I went back to it I've just found it too damned irritating. You just have to be too slow and cautious for my tastes...

  • BigHairyBear #33 5 years ago

    If only they had changed the location then it would be a definate buy.....but as has already been said, mexico again? Expansion at full price..don't think so :(

  • EmiliasHorse #34 5 years ago

    Loved GRAW, wanted more. Here is more.

    /Happy

  • Introspectre #35 5 years ago

    A lot of people like these games. Some of the people who like these games are surprisingly nice people.

  • Pulsar_t #36 5 years ago

    ^ Indeed. Isn't it a bit surprising?

    Anyway the people I know (me included) got bored with the first GRAW pretty quickly. Tiresome samey environments and little variety. I'll pass this glossy tosh.