Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

It's not every day you can pull up to the lunch table with the echoes of a heated tactical skirmish still ringing in your head.

	Version Xbox 360, PC	Developer Ubisoft Studios	Publisher Ubisoft	Genre Action

By Kikizo Staff

One of the biggest complements I can give Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter is that it's the first real flex I've come across of the Xbox 360's as-yet un-tapped technical muscle. So far all we've got is last-gen ports with a quick dash of bump-mapping paint, or a thousand extra brain-dead foes chucked in to make use of the extra processing power.

Despite all the PR techno-babble we expect to accompany big-name tactical shooters, Ubisoft really has managed to capture the intensity, aggression and outright chaos of battle.

Advanced Warfighter actually has several of those moments where we've had to step back and saw "wow". The formula is exploited brilliantly in several impressive set-pieces. Approaching massive plaza I'm actually startled into thoroughly scanning the place out, sending in the drone for some air-surveillance before manning the squad and tactically searching for cover.

At that point I'm so immersed that the ripping explosion across the street knocks me, and my virtual solider, flat on our asses. Bullets rip through the air. My ears are muffled by the noise. My squad and I are left behind a small slab of concrete, fending off a hundred foes seemingly flowing from every direction. And when the battle is over, I turned around to find my grenadier limp on the floor. I'm so enwrapped in the battle that I actually feel a little remorse for my explicitly-rendered friend. Either that or I'm a bit sad.

As usual the ghosts need a reason to be causing mischief about town, and expectedly those pesky terrorists have something to do with it. Without getting in to too much detail - because I myself would probably be asleep at the keyboard - there's a bit of a revolution going on in old Mexico, and the US president and Canadian prime minister are stuck in the middle of it. Are you a bad enough dude to save the president?

Advanced Warfighter's single-player campaign takes place over the course of three days, with no chopping up in the middle. Once you've complete a mission in one part of Mexico City, you'll hop inside a chopper or APC and get escorted to the next mission in another part of the town. As you can imagine have every mission linked together works wonders in further immersing you in the story, and sometimes it's just fun to stare out the side of a chopper

The game's new touted feature and the reason you're an 'advanced' warfighter, is the cross-com system. Satellite technology and an air-borne drone help mark out all your objectives and enemies via a very nice heads-up display. The air drone can be ordered around the map and used to scout out enemies and objectives. The drone can be shot down if it's hovering too low, but it can be devastatingly effective when used correctly.

The HUD effects are just a small part of the visceral dazzlement available in this next Xbox 360 package. Mexico City is excellently 'inspired' by the real location, featuring hundreds of variant buildings, districts and landscapes to make a believable, living city. Unlike previous Ghost Recon games, vertical gameplay plays a big part in Advanced Warfighter, with snipers and rooftops requiring acute attention if you're to traverse the street without getting unexpectedly shot in the face.

Arguably Advanced Warfighter is the best looking Xbox 360 game to date. HDR lighting is impressive not only from a technical aspect, but in terms of creating a hot, claustrophobic atmosphere strengthening the feelings of battle I mentioned earlier. A dirty, static filter is also present in the HUD, adding another very subtle layer to the atmosphere.

Mission objectives are not a world apart from what we've seen a hudred times before. 'Secure this person/location', 'destroy these objectives', 'get from A to B' and so-forth. The large variety of locations does well in disguising the fairly by-the-numbers mission structure, and in hindsight, we suppose military operations only get so divergent.

Unfortunately Advanced Warfighter is tarnished a little by the classic action-shooter mistake, the on-rails shooting section. Every now and then - presumably not learning from similar mediocre shooting sections from other games - you're subjected to manning the gun on the side of the Ghost Recon chopper. It's a lovely way to show off the wonderfully crafted city - and just how many houses the 360 can render at once - but we would've been happier keeping the shoot-outs on the ground.

The Ghost Recon series has always been a big hit on Xbox Live, and Advanced Warfighter is no exception. All of the obligatory modes are there, only this time Advanced Warighter's new HUD features only strengthen the series' trademark multiplayer. The cross-com can be used to watch your teammates around the maps, whilst the air-drone can be strategically placed to spy on the opposing team, which if done well can give you a huge advantage.

Another great selling point for the latest Ghost Recon is its no-expense-spared co-operative campaign. Advanced Warfighter's co-op mode hasn't been half-baked in any way; the story follows directly from the single-player campaign. The maps, locals and missions are all completely new. After the stellar single player effort, diving in to the co-op missions with a comrade is almost a necessity.

The technical prowess of the Xbox 360 has forced an almost necessary level of character customization, with a truck-load of helmets, glasses and bandannas available to decorate your soldier with. Whilst the extent of the customization only reaches ten available face models and about 20 decorative 'props', it's a nice way to bring a spot of uniqueness and realism to the battlefield.

Possibly the most important note for this review is that you don't have to be a fan of the Ghost Recon series to click with Advanced Warfighter. It's real a thrill to dive against a wall and immersive yourself in an intense street battle, with the full power of the Xbox 360 singing and dancing in the war-torn streets around you. Advanced Warfighter achieves everything it set out to do, and it does everything it says on the box.

Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation OVERALL 9.0 8.5 8.0 8.5 8.5 8.8

THE VERDICT: There are some stand-out moments, and then there are some disappointing oversights, but the game remains one of the best titles so-far released for Microsoft's next-gen console.