Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Not that long ago, I made my move into the next generation of video game consoles with the XBOX 360. And, since I am a fan of first person shooters, I decided to go with Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter as I was impressed by the outstanding graphics and the very positive scores and reviews that players were awarding it. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, also known as GRAW, is perhaps the best example of what lays ahead for the future of gaming! This beauty cannot be compared with any games I had played thus far---this is war at its finest and most realistic form. It took me almost two weeks before I could finally put down the controller and actually write a review!

The year is 2013 and the location is Mexico. You find yourself in the role of Captain Scott Mitchell, who is in full command of the elite Ghost Team. The Canadian prime minister has been killed and our American president is missing! It is up to you, and your team of course, to rescue our president and destroy the source of all this geopolitical madness centered within Mexico---all within 48 hours no less! Does this sound exciting? Well you haven't heard anything yet because, as you progress deeper into the game, more events will take place that really up the ante! Be it with your team, or even solo, you are guaranteed to find challenges and action everywhere you go, experiencing the best of what this new generation of gaming can offer!

Clearly, (graphical) realism was Ubisoft's main priority and they did a fine job achieving such a difficult goal. GRAW can definitely be called "hardcore gaming". Upon loading the game, I quickly found myself enjoying a movie that involved my team infiltrating a city by air. Suddenly the movie stopped and I was allowed to control Captain Mitchellm making me marvel at that absolutely seamless transition from opening cinematic to actual gameplay! Well done! From that point on, the game offers amazing graphics which are completely life-like in every way. There are snazzy lighting effects on just about everything, from walls, to mirrors and car windows, as well as wonderful environmental effects such as sandstorms, wind, and other weather phenomena. Did I mention the completely believable bullet strikes as well? How much better can it get? What is truly amazing is that with all this graphical beauty, I don't recall any performance hits, not even while engaging in intense combat. Furthermore, when switching from one mission to another, or when saving a game, there were no long loading delays which are typical of such glitzy games. Clearly, the XBOX 360's hardware capabilities were able to run GRAW beautifully.

Sound effects also add to the excitement---this game will have you screaming every time you get shot! The soundtrack is quite decent and wisely plays background music only when needed (i.e., such as during important sequences). Voice-overs were excellent---not just for Captain Scott Mitchell and his team-mates and allies, but also the Spanish-speaking enemies (who actually utter "real" Spanish sentences and insults!). Likewise, gunfire effects, screams of war, radios, dogs, even crying babies were all completely convincing in their realism. Simply put, when speaking about sound effects, GRAW surely pierced the term "next-generation" to its very core!

This game also has one of the biggest arsenals of weaponry I've ever seen: AK-45's, SA-80's, Sniper Rifles, pistols, grenades, rocket launchers…even helicopters and other vehicles! Name any weapon, and GRAW has it. To better utilize some of these weapons, the game offers a convenient way to switch from third-person to first-person views.

Giving commands to your team members had never been easier! Want 'em to approach the enemy with caution? Or attack aggressively? To stick close? Or spread out? It is all possible now. In fact, I'm sure that with a little practice, you could figure out a way for your teammates to bring you a glass of milk with Oreo cookies (okay, maybe I am exaggerating there….)! You can also order your mates to heal injuries, peek over fences and walls, and to accomplish all those "cool" actions that you were never able to accomplish with other games of this type. It all combines to give you a tactical freedom never before enjoyed, the freedom to move and react the way you think is best.

Finally, tying all this up into a nice, neat package is the enemy AI (Artificial Intelligence). On the most difficult setting, they can offer you the challenging experience you crave. However, because of the powerful commands you can order, as well as the easy to learn control scheme, you will soon be looking for some online action---which is one of the best aspects of GRAW, making it well-worth the $59.99 price tag.

GRAW utilizes TrueSkill Rankings, making it easy to know who's a rookie and who's a master of the game (so as to avoid a serious rear-kicking session). This is done in the intelligent and intuitive fashion of measuring a player's skills at GRAW by ranking them from one to twenty-five and bestowing titles such as Marksman, First Class Private, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, and, of course, General. Needless to say, you benefit more by beating players with higher ranks than yourself. Likewise, you can also loose rank if you are beaten too much, or by someone with a much lower rank than your own.

There are also a large number of game-modes available, including: Team Elimination (kill everyone on the opposing team), Solo Elimination (free-for-all madness), and the always popular Capture the Flag, to name but a few, with each mode allowing up to 16 players to compete. You can also verbally issue commands to your online teammates, via a headset (again, just like in real life), as you fight opponents across a large selection of maps with varying difficulty levels. Needless to say, online play requires a high-speed connection, but if you do have broadband, you can be assured of a good, seamless online play. Beautiful isn't it?