First Impressions: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

I’m going to confess straight away that I’m a pretty big fan of the Tom Clancy shooters. At least, the ones I’ve played. In fact, I’ve played GRAW 2 on the consoles before. Let me tell you now, the PC version is not at all like the console version.

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The console version always felt like an arcade game more than anything. Yes it was fun and had a slight tinge of realism around it, but it never seemed to be trying to be anything more than a faintly dumb shooter. That’s no bad thing, and the co-op was especially enjoyable. It’s just that GRAW 2 on PC feels like it wants to be a game that people remember, and have experiences with.

And so far it’s doing a pretty decent job of it. It isn’t anything spectacular, and the AI seems to lack any particular smarts, but it’s fun and requires a little bit of thought. I also feel like the idea of being an ‘Advanced’ soldier comes across a lot better in this version. The interface does a really good job of pretending to be whatever that monocle thing is, and the overhead view is actually occasionally useful.

It's also a surprisingly open game. I seem to remember (possibly incorrectly) that the console version was pretty much linear. Up to this point on PC, the set up seems to be a large level with a few objectives you have to run around to. It's a refreshing look at how shooters could have (and probably should have) evolved.

So far the squad commands haven’t been a huge help, as it’s often easier to just have your guys follow you around. However, I can imagine that later on, when I’m more comfortable with the system, it could be a useful and cool feature.

I’ve certainly not played enough for a proper judgement yet, but so far it’s looking strong as a fun game which straddles the middle-ground between accessibility and realism.