Ghost Recon 2 for XBox (PAL)

[Baroque]

Just a quick set of observations, not a review before I dash out the door...

Another month another Tom Clancy game and while this one comes with a cheap Ghost Recon camouflage belt, and has graphics which lean towards poor, it has a couple of nice touches.

Taking out a tank with the rocket launcher is much more satisfying than performing the same action in HALO 2, even though HALO 2 looks prettier when you're doing, well, everything. Muzzle flash in particular looking a bit too animated for my tastes.

Your team are suitably peppy for US troops, One or two team members jumping to their feet after being plied full of drugs by your medic then saying, 'Ouch that stings...Lets go get those guys!', and they haven't been dumb enough to block my path or get in my way while I was filling some Digital North Koreans full of bullet holes either.

Hopefully multiplayer will draw people who really know how to work in teams, which is the inverse of the HALO 2 MP experience, and it looks interesting enough to sustain people's interest with a whole host of co-op and Vs games available.

The training section isn't as tight as it could be, it trying to move you on before you completed a section simply because you might have done something it hadn't expected, but for the most part this hasn't shown up in the game.

Not as arcade like as most FPSs, and a new over the shoulder view, but not as strategy dependent as the Rainbow Six series. (Thankfully.)

More impressions later tonight...

[Uli]

US troops only? what about the unlockable specialists from the other countries?

[Baroque]

Haven't got in that deep yet Uli.
Just calling what I've seen to date.

[PeteJ]

Anything like Opperation Flashpoint? That's the kind of thing I'm after...

Not sure I need this game after Halo2, as that is fulfilling all my online needs at the mo.

[the shape]

Don't mention Op Flashpoint! There's scarcely been a game I've wanted more on Xbox, what with the 200-square mile open island and the use-every-vehicle. Naturally, it continues to look pap at the trade shows and has been delayed about forty times, currently to Summer 2005.

On to GR2, then. For me it's the perfect compliment to Halo 2, to be honest. A dose of gritty military realism to alternate with hours of moon jumps and lasers. Often slow and spacious thanks to those giant outdoor maps, in contrast to Halo 2's breakneck speed.

Been playing since the 17th, and the further I get in, the better it's gotten for me. The odd mission is confined (valley walls, invisible boundaries) but many are nicely open on a scale you just don't see on console shooters.

Certainly has its issues: the menus are ropey, the framerate slows down quite often, and one guy in your team *insists* on bravely standing next to you no matter how often you yell at him to go over there with the others where it's safe while I take out this tank alone please. He's very fond of you, I guess.

Surprised to hear Baroque say it looks gash, as I was impressed with the graphics. Nice sun dappled lighting through the trees, best night vision effect I've seen (proper glowy, rather than just EVERYTHING IS GREEN) and lots of wavy grass. This is how I kind of forgave the drop in fps.

Nice touch: laying prone on the deck, I loved how when reloading the guy would actually roll off his belly to get a fresh clip from his belt. Simple things...

Haven't played online yet as I've been waiting for the Brits to get it, which obviously is happening today. Glee! Particularly interested in the co-op modes, as this is what I've been missing since Halo 2 dropped.

[the shape]

US troops only? what about the unlockable specialists from the other countries?

(apologies for double post)

Doesn't seem to happen, Uli. You "support" British troops here and "relieve" (!) German troops there but as far as I can tell, your team remains the same. I'm on about level 8. (Think there are maybe 15).

The unlocking system is weird. You get points for performance in the missions, but you just use them to buy pictures and information on weapons and personnel, rather than the items/people themselves. Unless I'm missing something terribly obvious.

The mission where we had to hold a front line of trenches against hordes of attacking NKs was just real war.

[PeteJ]

I'm sure I'll end up with this soon, I can't resist shooting things. Can you duel wield and beat people around the head with a sniper rifle? Oh I do hope so.

Op Flashpoint plays pretty well on the Xbox from what I've played, very similar to the PC version. Only got to play one mission, but it was still good fun (it didn't involve running away from a helicopter through a forest though, so it's difficult to see how good it really is next to the classic PC version).

[hankwangford]

Hmm, well, I have the Xbox version sitting here but so far unplayed as I'm making my way through the PS2 version first. Curse the double storyline.

I can tell you one thing, the PS2 version's a ****ing mess. I got grenaded twice by my own troops in the space of 20 seconds. Guess they don't like me so much. Also, all the North Koreans just shoot at me; **** my teammates who are laying the smackdown on them!

Never mind anyway, this isn't the PS2 thread.

[macosx]

Been playing seige online tonight and the maps are absolutely huge and full of detail. Loads of cover and trees. The campers dream!

Nice balance of this game against the more confined Clancy R6 games.

The menus as have been said are a bit clunky and all written in BIG letters however the rest of the games gfx are really good and all the bad points (white button press for tallking etc) have been addressed.

Co-mode plays a bit like Spectrum Warrior as in you'll have to do loads of reloads and trial and error, which probably applies to single player as well.

Only main gripe was no info onscreen when a team mate goes down; you just end up talking to noone for ages and that the name doesn't highlight who is talking in the lobby which makes trying to kick someone harder!

[Baroque]

I've never been a fan of FPSs, more of a platformer guy myself, but I have to say that getting my head around using "the squad" is a bit tough. I tend to try and play the game like I'm the only player and keep the squad safe, but that's not their function now is it.

Hank, I think I took one or two grenades from my own team too. I'm rapidly getting to the place where I think of them as cannon fodder.

[nonny]

16 player co-op man!

I reccomend everyone try it out... its awesome.

[the shape]

Bloody hell, this is in an awful state online! Six or seven times tonight the server fell apart following launch, on a couple of occasions telling me to reset my Xbox when attempting to reconnect!

And if you join a game after it has already launched, you don't get to watch the battle from the perspective of your teammates a la RSix 3 or Halo 2, you get to look at a list of everyone's name in the lobby! In these large co-op missions that can be 15, maybe 20 minutes or more.

The friends list is broken; it keeps popping your cursor back up to the top every few seconds when trying to scroll down and see who's online.

You can send text and voice messages, but only in response to other people's messages! You can't just choose a name off your friends list and send them a message.

When you're in a lobby, going to your Online Features menu doesn't bring up your In Box to, say, respond to a few messages while you're doing nothing but looking at names for 15 minutes. Outside the lobby, the same Online Features menu *does* bring up your In Box.

When it does work, and you're in the game taking out enemies with your mates, it's great. As the man says, the large scale co-op concept is an amazing thing. A little army against the CPU, not just a handful of guys.

In much happier news, I did just discover that the game has been banned in South Korea, presumably to avoid angering their kerayzee despotic neighbor. If it's banned somewhere, I like it more. I'll be online for more punishment tomorrow.

But it'd be nice if Ubi released a huge patch to fix this crap up.

[macosx]

Yeah, it's strange that Ubi having nailed the LIVE experience with R6 have failed to implement the same features and useability in their other titles.

[fragmast3r]

all ghost recom games have been a pain in the arse online with clunky and naff menu systems, but i have to say im loving this, not touched halo/r6 or pes4 much since getting this

[macosx]

with the right people and the right settings it's a fantastic, nervy, stealthy experience. However it takes a good bunch of peeps to get around the lack of polish on the game.
Why doesn't it tell you if a team mate is down and why doesn't the voice com flash wehn someone talks, and why do they love their dark rainy maps?