Ghost Recon: Future Soldier review (Xbox 360)

Whoa, whoa. Before you start reading this review, I need to know if you’re a fanboy or not. You know, one of those zealous Call of Duty fanatics or, even worse, a Ghost Recon purist. Because if you’re either then this review will probably anger you, and I have too little faith in whatever the South African equivalent of the Witness Protection Programme is to be incensing such an unforgiving bunch.

You see, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is not going to appeal to everyone. It does not feature noob tubes. It does not allow cadets to call in nuclear strikes on their first day. It does not approve of heroics and spray-and-pray gunplay, nor does it frown upon campers so brazen they arrive on the battlefield with a modest Venter trailer. It does not play well with belligerent tweens who chase their Ritalin with Red Bull.

And, it most certainly does not stick to the traditional Ghost Recon formula that got us all so hyped up about this game in the first place.

Instead, Future Soldier is a third-person squad shooter more akin to Gears of War and Splinter Cell: Conviction than the exacting, tactics-heavy entries in the series that predate it. In fact, it’s almost an exact amalgamation of the two aforementioned games, with cover-based fire-fights supplemented by rudimentary squad control, and mixed in with plenty of stealth and gadgetry to justify its title. Fortunately then for people that enjoy playing good games instead of bitching about them, Future Soldier steals from the best to make you feel like one heck of a kickass fighter of the near-future.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier

Discussing the narrative in a military shooter would be like breaking down the complex shooting mechanics in Super Mario Kart, but suffice it to say that those pesky Russian ultra-nationalists are up to their nuke-nicking shenanigans yet again, and it’s up to your team of four elite Ghosts to chase them across Africa, the Middle East and Europe to bring them to justice.

The tone of the campaign is a tad heavy-handed too, with events like an awkwardly misplaced foiling of a rape attempt or character histrionics after returning from a “village of dead kids” firmly forcing the sanctimonious hero role down your throat; combined with the limp storyline and tepid dialogue, everything in Future Soldier that’s not cutting throats or blasting baddies feels a little stale.

So it’s a good thing then that the gameplay sits comfortably on the right side of awesome. Stalking through the well-designed levels, fading in and out of optical camo and plotting carefully synced kills all play just as cool as they sound. Small touches, such as a shaky camera when you’re under suppressive fire or even 3D titles projected in the game world (ala Conviction) flesh out an immersive and appropriately high-tech experience. Stealth kills are slow and methodical but always tense, and when the defecation inevitably hits the rotation you’ll find the fire-fights explosive but never out of your control.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier

A notable feature is the impressive Gunsmith weapon customization system which lets you tweak the ridiculous selection of firearms at your disposal right down to their gas systems, stocks and triggers, and simply browsing through the slick 3D interface and watching each weapon disassemble into hundreds of components is exceptionally cool. There’s even a simple system to optimize your gun for specific performance like enhanced control or extended range, and although the game always recommends kit for each mission, you’ll enjoy the experience that much more for spending a few minutes fiddling with your gear before you head out, even if it is just changing the pattern on your sidearm’s camo.

Also worth mentioning are Future Soldier’s Challenges, a set of optional goals for each mission that rewards new guns and a sense of accomplishment for the more obsessive player. These tasks range from killing a certain number of enemies with a single burst of fire to using a limited amount of ammo, and while you’ll complete some of these without even trying, there are plenty of difficult ones that’ll see you replaying sections repeatedly in order to score that glorious 100% completion. One Challenge I particularly enjoyed was killing a large group of mercenaries playing soccer near their base, with the trick being to figure out in which order to execute them in to avoid detection; tasks like this sound simplistic, but they do a great job of varying the pace of the shoot/stealth combo.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier

Multiplayer is present too alongside the short but pacey campaign, with traditional deathmatch and capture modes and three play classes beefed up by the more interesting Decoy (securing a real objective among several decoys) and Saboteur (essentially reverse Capture The Flag). Unfortunately there’s a conspicuously absent split-screen co-op campaign, so those keen on playing on the same couch with a friend will have to be content with the unexciting Guerrilla (horde) mode. This blow isn’t exactly softened by the lack of matchmaking either, but unless you’re the type of gamer mentioned in this review’s first paragraph you’ll likely find these issues forgiveable.

Actually, unless you really are a die-hard FPS traditionalist, Future Soldier is the kind of quality game I can recommend to almost any type of player. The gameplay flows smoothly between hectic shootouts and satisfying stealth setups, the set pieces are refreshingly exciting, and the extra challenges almost guarantee you’ll play through the entire campaign at least twice. Even though the game has veered away from its heritage, the sheer fun factor and considered play (not to mention obvious lack of pandering to genre norms or fanboy demands) means Ghost Recon’s future is indeed looking exceptionally bright.

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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier review (Xbox 360)

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