Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

The Sniper isn't anywhere near so much of a killing machine - instead functioning primarily as a spotter, thanks to his heartbeat sensor. This uber-tracker can locate enemies in the far distance, in hiding, through multiple walls, then share it with his team's CrossCom heads-up display. With a sniper in your gang, it's unlikely that anyone will get the jump on you.

The fourth class is weirder. It's an all-terrain robotic drone known as Dog - a nod to the mobile ammo dump/cover drone from the GRAWs, but now an active part of the fight. It's not simply an overweight remote control car anymore, but a machinegun-toting AI tank with its own set of controls and able to soak up a ton of damage before going explodey-bye-bye. It's expensive, but it's infinitely more replaceable than a human life with decades of military training. If things get too hot, Dog's your fall guy.

All these omni-death abilities mean Ghost Recon is no longer a game of skulking behind rocks, picking people off from great distances. Combat is much more close quarters, enemies far more plentiful and the cover system is far more like the one in Gears of War. While the use of gadgetry and teamwork means it's not a straightforward corridor-pounder, it's definitely much more of an action shooter than a tactical shooter.

Certain corners of the internet will be upset, and likely to use a certain phrase beginning with 'd' and ending with 'umbed-down'. True, accessibility in the name of larger audiences seems to underpin Future Soldier, but there's a good chance that'll make for a more enjoyable, bombastic game too.

Especially in multiplayer, where Ubi is trying something new to lure in players who traditionally fear being repeatedly shot in the back of the head and staring at respawn screens for hours. The Link-Up system is intended to evoke two highly-trained soldiers navigating through a war-torn environment back-to-back, ensuring 360 degree coverage of the battlefield. Select a team mate, hit a button and you'll be paired with him - wherever he goes, you go, with your brain left free to worry about finding guys to shoot rather than deal with navigation et al.

In other words, if you're a multiplayer greenhorn, this is your way in. It's a little like sharing a tank in something like Battlefield - one guy's driving, the other's manning the rocket launcher. "It saves you ten years of training in first person shooters," claims creative director Olivier Dauba.

Link-Up is worth it for more veteran guys too, as being paired with anyone grants a mega-buff and additional abilities - such as the Engineer's EMP shield and the Commando's fatter firepower. More power equals more points, and that's what even the most selfish player craves above all.

Does this, then, spell the end of lone wolves, the problem that dogs the likes of Battlefield and MAG? Link-Up is certainly going to shake-up GRFS's 8v8 multiplayer as well as its coop. Dauba calls it "a revolution", though we won't know until we've tried the thing ourselves whether that's anything more than standard press-release newspeak.

This latest instalment in the Ghost Recon series may be faster and flashier than its measured, belly-crawling predecessors, but its military hardware is so new and so different that there's no way a whole new clutch and concept of tactics won't spin out of it. Whether Future Soldier is armchair soldiers' future remains to be seen, but its wonderful toys definitely demand to be played with.