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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier: Will Rogers Was Right

After a lengthy development period rife with delays, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is finally at our doorstep. Fans of squad-based tactical action have seen no shortage of quality titles over the years, but most of them don't quite match up to the majesty of the two Advanced Warfighter installments. When Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction launched two years ago, it came with an invite to participate in a closed beta. That beta recently closed, but I was still able to come away with some impressions.

First things first: this isn't Advanced Warfighter, and it doesn't play like it either. Where GRAW's action was slow, thoughtful, and methodical, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's action is paced much faster. Movement in particular feels completely different; it emphasizes speedy transitions like in Gears of War, but its cover system is more similar to Splinter Cell: Conviction's. If you're in cover and want to make a transition to a new cover point, aim at it and hold the sprint button. Your character beelines straight to the place where you were aiming and snaps into cover. It's simple and elegant.

Tactics are everything in a Ghost Recon game, and the same can be said for Future Soldier. Death finds you more quickly in this game than in most other shooters; you are no bullet sponge. You will drop if a couple of slugs find their way to your fleshy parts. But Ghost Recon has never been about twitch shooting; it's all about positioning and tactics. Intel is the cornerstone of victory in Future Soldier. Knowing the positions of your enemies is just as important as ensuring that your shots will hit their marks. However, it's not just important for you to know their positions: your teammates need to know, as well. Most games have some sort of spotting mechanic these days. Future Soldier takes it a step further. If you successfully stun an enemy, you can hack his equipment. A successful hack results in enemy positions displayed in explicit detail.


The final retail release of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will contain a generous helping of multiplayer modes and customization options, but the beta only allows participation in two of these modes: Conquest and Sabotage.

Most shooters these days offer a mode in which the objective shifts between rounds. Future Soldier's take on this is Conquest. Two teams are pitted against each other as they attempt to complete their own objectives while thwarting the efforts of the opposing team.

Saboteur charges both teams with destroying the opposing team's base. The game places a bomb in the middle of the map and lets the teams duke it out.


As its name implies, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is set in the future. Granted, both GRAW games took place in the future, albeit a future that was much nearer than the one presented here. That being said, don't go in expecting laser guns and jetpacks. However, if you mess around with the Scout class, you might be reminded of Metal Gear Solid. The optical camo is a neat tool that allows you to almost completely blend in with your environment. This will prove a great resource for snipers and campers, but players with keen eyes should be able to notice the visual quirks that accompany a cloaked soldier.

I had a good time with the closed beta for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, but I frequently tangled with some of the worst latency issues I've seen in a shooter. Thankfully, this is just a beta, and it's reasonable to assume that these issues won't be present when the game launches. We're very excited for this one, and you should be too -- especially if you've got a thing for awesome weapons and smart, tactical action. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier deploys on May 22. Be sure to pick up a copy and check back for a full review.



-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications
AKA Jon Carlos
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