Scrolling through my Facebook feed, I kept seeing coverage for a new "Ghost Recon" game. It looked pretty interesting, and then I noticed the PlayStation Store had the beta for the game before its release on March 7th. "Ghost Recon Wildlands" is the new title, and by just reading the synopsis and playing the first few minutes of the game, I was pretty intrigued.
First of all, total customization of the main character was a new experience for me. That is pretty cool, and kind of reminded me of custom skaters in the "Tony Hawk Pro Skater" series. Also, the story begins in Bolivia as a covert operation to take out the Latin American Drug Cartel. That idea is pretty revolutionary, and shows a lot of promise. Then comes the game layout, where you are the leader of a four-man squad and give commands. This really opens the game up for online co-op. So far, this game sounds super fun and revolutionary.
Then come the annoyances. Now, this is why I am such a huge fan of beta testing, because it allows the production team to tinker and toy with things and also allow for potential buyer feedback. But there are a couple of flaws that have made me decide to not buy this game. First of all, as a third-person shooter, this game is very far behind the dominant FPS games like "Battlefield" and "Call of Duty." The third-person didn’t seem to bother me as much in this game as some other titles do, but the interface itself struggles. When you aim down your rifle, the iron sights are so miniscule they don’t allow you to guide your shot. Also, after playing "Metal Gear Solid V" again, I have come accustomed to the guns moving more realistically rather than the solider being a steady shot.
Then there is the aspect of having to lead a squad (I only did this in single-player) and the A.I. is that of a storm trooper in "Star Wars" at best. But the enemy A.I. is lethal and also has great precision, even with a spray-and-play sub machine gun.
Then there is the driving/flying in the open world. Perhaps I am just spoiled by the marvelous "Grand Theft Auto V" physics, but the game feels very forced and not responsive. But to give this game some credit, it did give me a little bit of the original "Mercenaries" vibe from my gameplay. For those not familiar with the game, it is a third-person shooter set in the Demilitarized zone between North and South Korea where you have to strategically take out the ‘Deck of 52’ in including the ‘Aces’ of the deck. But that really just makes me want to petition to get a "Mercenaries 3" or just a remaster.
So, to wrap up, if you can get over some technical details in the game, it is for sure worth perusing. The story looks intriguing and almost drives me to buy it.
My Rating: 7.5/10.
If I am missing something in the game or got this review totally wrong, let me know!
