PlayStation 2

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon

Le shoot d'action-tactique fait son entrée sur consoles avec brio. Certains lui reprocheront sa prise de tête, sa progression pas à pas, il n'en reste pas moins que Ghost Recon est un must pour ceux qui veulent vraiment s'essayer au genre, même s'il est encore perfectible.

Ghost Recon is another fine Clancy shooter, and should satisfy fans of the series while remaining accessible enough to win a few new fans as well. But it's not quite forward-thinking enough to be remarkable, only a solid game that is perhaps a bit too similar to the previous Clancy games. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Raven Shield.

Boris please, vul nou eens een keer die 450 woorden, schrijf er nou gewoon bij dat het een mooie shooter is, die soms erg realistisch aandoet en soms ook weer een beetje verouderd lijkt. Dat het spel z'n hoogtepunt heeft beleefd op de PC en nu wanhopig op zoek is naar een tweede leven op de console of zoiets.

This game has some problems that deter it from being an involving Clancy/Red Storm title. The Rainbow Six games were much better at team controls, and while the scope of mapboards may not have been as large, the game play was more immersive. This title does have challenge but also delivers its share of frustration.

The only real bright spot in Ghost Recon for the PlayStation 2 is the extra content it features over the Xbox version. Eight exclusive single player missions, five (really boring) "boot camp" levels and a plethora of production materials are available to partake of. Alas, it's really hard to care about these things when the actual gameplay is in all ways inferior to that of its Xbox brethren. Multiplayer, control, graphics, HUD, you name it -- the PS2 version loses. Even if you ignore the Xbox version it's not very good. If you've got both systems, by all means seek out the great Xbox version.

Another wound to the game is that there?s no online component like in the PC and Xbox versions there's only a dull, two-player split-screen game. Still, with 23 missions in the single-player mode, Ghost Recon is a decent squad-based shooter to try just don't expect the quality to be the same as that of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs.

Ghost Recon for the PlayStation 2 is simply not a very fun game. Its unchallenging gameplay mechanics, substandard graphics, and lack of any real multiplayer modes make it the worst iteration of the game yet. If tactical first-person shooting is your game, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs is a much better choice on the PlayStation 2.

Some reactions to the PS2 version have focused on the lack of online play -- myself, I consider that a pretty minor point. I found the PC version's single-player game more than enough value for the money, and the PS2 version provides the Desert Siege expansion campaign along with all of those missions. There's also a substantial archive of DVD-style extras covering the making of the game -- dedicated Red Storm fans might actually want to grab the PS2 version just to get those, if it drops down to a budget price any time soon.

Normally I don't see games get this butchered unless they try to go to the Game Boy Advance. What was once a proud and shining title has now been stripped of everything that made it great. Gone is the strategy, the difficulty, the intensity, and worst of all, the online component that keeps PC gamers playing even today. Ghost Recon is a great game on the PC and the Xbox, but the PS2 port in no way represents the true potential of this title. Avoid it at all costs.