Thread: Ghost Recon Future Soldier

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier First Look
Taking the tactical shooter back to the future.

War never changes. Well, sometimes it does; over nine years Ubisoft has transformed the Ghost Recon series from a serious-minded tactical shooter to one of the HD generation's early trailblazers and now to this, a game that accentuates the action and introduces an all-new co-op mechanic. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a departure from what has gone before, and it's a refresh that's as radical as Sam Fisher's recent turn in Splinter Cell Conviction.

Over four years have passed since Advanced Warfighter and much has changed on the virtual battlefield ? back in March 2006, Marcus and Dom had yet to get sweaty together and Modern Warfare had yet to break out. It's no shock, then, that Future Soldier is different to its immediate predecessor, but just how different it is can still be a little surprising.

Another aspect of the Clancy universe that returns is a reliably hokey storyline. Russia finds its leader deposed by a group of extreme nationalists who take the country on a war-mongering spree throughout North Europe. Enter the Ghosts, led by Edward 'Kozak' Kachenko, a new boy who finds himself in charge of what's promised to be a colourful outfit. Perspectives will change as the player's afforded an insight into every viewpoint in the conflict, be that a civilian on the ground as the first blows in the war are struck or a bodyguard charged with protecting the Russian President.

The Northern European setting means that visually this is far removed from the dust and concrete that defined both Advanced Warfighter games, and the Norwegian Fjord the in-game presentation takes place next to is certainly a long way away from Mexico. While the demonstration, which takes place under grey skies along a grey road that winds up the side of a grey hill, doesn't quite hit home visually ? understandable given the youth of the code ? it's got the potential to look great thanks to a 60fps frame-rate that doesn't falter once.

Future Soldier is punchier and faster paced than past Ghost Recons, its tactics now played out in milliseconds rather than minutes and its combat pushed firmly into the player's face. Showing a Ghost sprinting from cover to cover behind a road of parked cars, pausing only briefly to bring a helicopter down with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, it's proof that while Future Soldier is still a cover-based action game that blends first- and third-person play, it's a world away from the measured tactical tempo of Advanced Warfighter.

"We didn't want to reproduce what we had done with previous titles," creative director Olivier Dauba tells us in a sweltering meeting room at Ubisoft's Paris base, that's thick with the scent of a hundred games journalist's sweaty anticipation. "We thought it was time for us to move onto something new, something else




Some things will never change though. Like every Ghost Recon game - and indeed nearly every Tom Clancy branded game - Future Soldier's got a serious hard-on for hardware. Taking place well beyond Advanced Warfighter's 2014 timeline, Future Soldier's technology teeters on the realms of science fiction ? although Ubisoft maintains that everything in the game simply builds upon existing prototypes.

Optical camo ? or the predator suit as it's known to anyone outside of Ubisoft - is the most instantly dazzling of the new tools, and it is indeed an area that's being pursued by men in white coats right now. Future Soldier jumps straight to the conclusion of all the real-life research, transforming players into a shimmering haze that's near invisible to the opposition. On the battlefield it ensures that the player can sneak behind enemy lines with consummate ease.

Which means that combat in Future Soldier will more often than not involve getting up close and personal, and that's where the new Exoskeleton comes in handy. Again, Ubisoft has run with existing technology and come up with an all-singing, all-dancing version that grants the wearer astounding agility even as they carry up to 300 lbs of equipment, and frees them up to engage in a little Krav Maga should things get too intimate.

A large part of that extra weight is doubtless down to the new mortar that every Ghost has strapped to their back. It's no less than a portable rocket launcher, firing guided missiles that, as you'd expect, pack a hell of a punch. Elsewhere, the arsenal's been stripped and streamlined, with one gun ? the MR-B Assault Rifle ? proving versatile enough to deal with most situations. It comes kitted out with its own shotgun attachment, holographic sights and even a titanium hook that can be used for prising open doors. There's probably a corkscrew to get to any discarded bottles of Bordeaux on the battlefield too, though we didn't see it in action.

Favourites from Ghost Recons past also return. The cross-com is back, its primary purpose being the control of UAVs or to pilot the enhanced Drones. Unlike previous games, these scuttling machines now pack heat making them a much more effective part of the player's arsenal, and helpfully those that find themselves linked up as part of a squad can take charge of one.

Likewise, there's much more to be revealed before we can get a hold on exactly how successful this shift in direction will be for Ghost Recon, not least of which concerns the multiplayer. Unlike past entries, this side of Future Soldier is being handled under the same roof as the single-player, meaning there will be a consistency of tone that was lacking from Advanced Warfighter ? and obviously the link-up mechanic could have some fascinating repercussions for the eight-versus-eight competitive play.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is shooting for a release in the fourth quarter of this year, with a multiplayer beta coming this summer.

Bring it the fuk on

I usually struggle on Ghost Recon games but i think i will be able to do Graw 1 no problem, but Graw 2 is a problem coz there is no guide to move me further

I like the new game, it look really interesting

I bet they will make it a bit less hardcore to suit the MW crowd. Fuck that hardcore is the way forward

Originally Posted by tcg joey

I bet they will make it a bit less hardcore to suit the MW crowd. Fuck that hardcore is the way forward

i agree, make it hardcore, sod the MW lot, they have a game