Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Reviews

Clancy, oh Clancy, where for art thou plot, Clancy? This seems to be the running theme in Tom Clancy games. Do something extraordinarily complicated just so people won't look at your left hand, all while in the midst of what is a solid shooter.

My biggest complaint with Tom Clancy will always be his plots. Whether it be Rainbow Six vegas where a mercenary army invades Las Vegas so no one notices the ICBM sitting at hoover dam, to his favorite fall back of "something terrible just happened in Latin America...again", Tom Clancy always seems to take a genre that needs very little plot and distracts from what is extremely solid gameplay. In this regard Tom Clancy's name means two things when I see it: 1. The plot is going to distract and 2. The gameplay is going to be solid.

GRAW 2 does not disappoint.

GRAW 2 offers up a clean tactical shooter that feels far more polished than its predecessor, that falls somewhere between the Vegas games and the Splinter Cell games in terms of patience and planning needed. You can't get away with the run and gun that seems to be creeping into the Rainbow Six series(which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I enjoy the new ones) but you won't find yourself sitting for several seconds every minute or so waiting for someone to walk by like you would in Splinter Cell. You find cover, you shoot, you advance. All the time controlling your AI allies.

The AI allies are really what distinguish this game from the Vegas series. Rather than having a pair of supporting characters, you're in command of small segments of a much larger battle, though the way the game plays out you wouldn't really ever notice the larger battle if not for the news reels that pop up on your hud. This level of depth in command can be fun, attempting to advance with as few casaulties as possible by giving orders to ghosts, tanks and the occasional helicopter. This sometimes chess board match does slow down the gameplay at times as you try and find the right position to move your men into without getting them slaughtered. An inch by inch crawl forward along a street or an abandoned building gets dull before it gets intense.

But I suppose that is what war is. Moments of boredom seperated by moments of sheer terror, or in this case, intense firefights. The inch by inch crawl may leave you ready to shut the game off, but it does have a pay off in the end. Once everything is in place, your team is in cover, your helicopters are overhead, and you engage, the battles will immediately suck you in. As you try and pop your head up to fire without getting shot and see the stream of crossfire as your men rip into the entrenched enemy, or watch your foes fall one by one as you draw them into the open only to be taken out by the team's sniper, you'll find yourself instantly drawn in, forgetting about the world around you.

This mix of boredom and intense action follows through into the multiplayer. GRAW 2 is the kind of game where you can run and gun, if you don't mind spending more time waiting to respawn than fighting. People are easily killed, and assault rifles do a lot of damage. The multiplayer is better suited for players with patience, though there are a handful of meat grinder levels. A great sense of satisfaction will follow once you've found that perfect spot and torn apart a few hapless enemies that dare to cross past you.

GRAW 2 is an enjoyable experience, with a decently long single player experience. If you're hoping to find a great story, and perhaps a protagonist you care about, I'd be sure to check those hopes and dreams at the door. But if what you're looking for is a more realistic(I imagine, I actually have no idea what real combat is like) shooter experience and have a bit of patience you can spend, GRAW 2 is definitely worth checking out. After the single player is nothing more than a memory, the multiplayer will keep you coming back for a couple of weeks if you're anything like me. For its modest price tag these days, GRAW 2 is definitely worth checking out for the shooter fan.

P.S.: No disrespect to Tom Clancy fans :-p.

GRAW 2...

If you are starting this game out without playing GRAW 1 then STOP!

This game starts litteraly minutes after GRAW 1 finishes...

The gameplay:
Ubisoft have made probably the most intense 1st/3rd person shooter ever, the music is absolutely astonashingly perfect to the action, it will make your hands sweat, your face red and you heart pump! I haven't known a game outside of mass effect and halo to do this other than graw!
The gun handling is perfect, this game promotes single shot behavior, you have to plan your shots, be tactical and think on the fly, the game doesnt force you to think like this, you just find yourself being a god of warfrom being completely immersed into the whole environment that is GRAW.

The Music:
Put the game in, listen to that tittle music, even before starting the game you feel hooked on this sound!
the music for the levels feels like it was written for each shot you make, each encounter you face and each negative scenario that faces you ahead! it fits the game perfectly, the music is so unfluential on the gameplay that many people turn the music off on tricky parts so they can calm their nerves down!

The Multiplayer:
Well, its good... the maps make the human vs human experience a good one or bad one, its very unforgiving, if you love to think and check your corners you will love this, if you would prefere something a bit more arcadey or straight forward this really wouldn't be the game for you.
Co-op is utterly fantastic on this game... there are more co-op modes in this game than any other game on the 360, it co-op terms this game was years before its time! only recently have people realised co-op is the future of big-party gaming, 16 people working as a small army is still one of the best online experiences i have had and tom clancy gets this right in all of the games!

The Sound effects:
I find the game is made to be played through a decent quality audio system. The gun noises are full spectrum so through a television it cant sound tinny and horrid, but through something a bit more elaborate than a tv you will find yourself gawping at the sound of the silenced m468 SD. Although this game is no where near the gun sound quality of battlefield, it is the only game to get a silencer sound to be correct, it more like someone slamming a car door shut in realy life rather than that little tweet you hear in games and GRAW 2 is bang on the buck!

Overall...
Overall its not a pick-up-and-play game... you really have to give this time to even start to play it well, i think this is what made the GRAW games dissappear quit quickly.
There is still quite a healthy collection of players still playing online so those GAWJUSS online co-op missions can still be done!
so if you want to chill out and play something epic, grab halo 3, but if you want to sink your teeth into a truly immersful experience then tell the girlfriend to go out or shut up and lock yourself away with this baby for hours! one of the best games i have ever played, if you dont own it, pick it up on ebay for £6!

My all time favorite game!!! But it is not a typical shooter like Halo or the sort. It is more a thinking mans shooter, and as an Ex Marine I can appreciate it making you use tactics when playing Co-op. I had so many memories and fun playing this online with my older brother it litterley brought us close again !!



The multiplayer is just ;like any other shooter. And the campaign is alright but graphically beautiful!!

I love getting all my achievements, they hard but not impossible to get, and give you a sense of accomplishment.Had alot of fun with this and still pick it up from time to time, theres alot of maps for this out there for free and a great online community full of mature gamers. If you see this in the bargain bin I would highley suggest picking it up!!