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Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (3DS)
Sunday, 8 May 2011 11:38 amBeing stuck in bed, means I have had quite a bit of time to play games. My current favourite being Ghost Recon, which I really did not see happening at all.
This is the first Tom Clancy game I've played, so I can't compare to any of the other games.
The basic story is fairly straight forward: You control the members of an elite American team of "problem solvers" named Ghosts. They have been sent to Kazakhstan as a response to a request to the UN by the Kazakhstan government to help with their raider issues. However, it turns out that their raider issues are far more serious than your Ghost team had anticipated and they are rather taken by surprise when getting shot out of mid-air by a missile or some such thing. It is time to investigate and find out what is really going on!
The gameplay:
The game is a turn based strategy game. If you enjoyed the game play in Advanced Wars and Fire Emblem, you are likely to enjoy this. Unlike Advanced Wars though, you can't produce units and are really just stuck with your main team members - and if one of them dies it is game over. They all have fairly specific and straight forward roles such as heavy support, sniper, assault and medic. The conversations between the team members are fairly entertaining and the story moves on at a reasonable pace. Unlike Fire Emblem you won't have to content with pages and pages of reading material or hours of conversations, however the customizability on the other hand is also miles away from Fire Emblem where you could tailor your team more or less just as you wanted it. To be precise the customizability more or less does not exist. Surprisingly enough that hasn't bothered me much so far, as you have few enough team members that you have to have certain key roles, which is precisely what the game provides you with. You can choose who you want to level up in which order, but that is as far as character decisions go. Hp upgrades, skill upgrades and better weapons come in a pre-set order.
4/5
The graphics:
The 3D works exceptionally well in this game. It is fairly understated, so don't expect surprise explosions to blast out of your screen, but the canyon landscape looks excellent and the smoke effects are amazing. At the same time the graphics are clear and fuss free enough to not get in your way. The characters however look a little plump compared to the very pretty surroundings and telling them apart can be a challenge. Thankfully the game provides you with a convenient little icon next to each person to help with the identification, but I feel that the character graphics let the game down a bit.
4/5
The sound:
The sound is very nice. Not amazing enough to want it on CD, but atmospheric and subtle enough that you don't want to turn it off (and as I usually play all my games without sound that should mean something).
4/5
The story:
...is fairly cliché. Garry assures me that there will be some twists and turns to come, but so far there are the American rescuers with the cool one liners, the mysterious and sexy outside agent who's motives are unclear, the evil Russian politician with wealthy and powerful allies and a right wing agenda... you get the idea. I am not exactly blown away, but it feels a bit like a piece of fluff you might read at the airport when you've just found out that your flight will be at least 3 hours late. It is entertaining enough to not send you to sleep and not stupid enough that you feel like shooting the author, but you are likely to keep playing because of the entertaining character interactions, nice graphics and great game play, rather than because you are desperate to find out what will happen next. If you love spy fluff though, you just might love this.
3/5
Fun factor:
I've been really enjoying it. The game is challenging without being frustrating, the characters are entertaining despite being fairly stereotypical (token black guy anyone?) and factors like line of sight, cover and up to three different terrain levels keep the game strategic. The mission goals are fairly varied although fans of the strategy genre will be unlikely to be surprised by any of them. The missions themselves are of a comfortable length and it is possible to save at any point, thus making it a good bus ride game and fairly convenient for small breaks. Three difficulty levels also make sure that both novices and veterans get their enjoyment - although I must admit to finding the game fairly forgiving even at the highest difficulty.
4/5
Multiplayer:
The multiplayer is played on one console, by handing the game back and forth. The missions are fairly straight forward and the result makes one feel a bit as if playing a board game. It is fun, but I feel a lot more could have been done.
2/5
Bug alert!
Ghost Recon has a nasty bug that leads to the dreaded "an error has occurred" screen. There are two ways around it: Either save every turn, which isn't as much fuss as it sounds and means when your 3DS freezes up, you'll be able to log back in the game where you were originally. Alternatively you can just turn off the Wifi at the console, which also seems to prevent the error. Hopefully there will be a patch soon to make this one go away.
Overall:
85/100
This is the first Tom Clancy game I've played, so I can't compare to any of the other games.
The basic story is fairly straight forward: You control the members of an elite American team of "problem solvers" named Ghosts. They have been sent to Kazakhstan as a response to a request to the UN by the Kazakhstan government to help with their raider issues. However, it turns out that their raider issues are far more serious than your Ghost team had anticipated and they are rather taken by surprise when getting shot out of mid-air by a missile or some such thing. It is time to investigate and find out what is really going on!
The gameplay:
The game is a turn based strategy game. If you enjoyed the game play in Advanced Wars and Fire Emblem, you are likely to enjoy this. Unlike Advanced Wars though, you can't produce units and are really just stuck with your main team members - and if one of them dies it is game over. They all have fairly specific and straight forward roles such as heavy support, sniper, assault and medic. The conversations between the team members are fairly entertaining and the story moves on at a reasonable pace. Unlike Fire Emblem you won't have to content with pages and pages of reading material or hours of conversations, however the customizability on the other hand is also miles away from Fire Emblem where you could tailor your team more or less just as you wanted it. To be precise the customizability more or less does not exist. Surprisingly enough that hasn't bothered me much so far, as you have few enough team members that you have to have certain key roles, which is precisely what the game provides you with. You can choose who you want to level up in which order, but that is as far as character decisions go. Hp upgrades, skill upgrades and better weapons come in a pre-set order.
4/5
The graphics:
The 3D works exceptionally well in this game. It is fairly understated, so don't expect surprise explosions to blast out of your screen, but the canyon landscape looks excellent and the smoke effects are amazing. At the same time the graphics are clear and fuss free enough to not get in your way. The characters however look a little plump compared to the very pretty surroundings and telling them apart can be a challenge. Thankfully the game provides you with a convenient little icon next to each person to help with the identification, but I feel that the character graphics let the game down a bit.
4/5
The sound:
The sound is very nice. Not amazing enough to want it on CD, but atmospheric and subtle enough that you don't want to turn it off (and as I usually play all my games without sound that should mean something).
4/5
The story:
...is fairly cliché. Garry assures me that there will be some twists and turns to come, but so far there are the American rescuers with the cool one liners, the mysterious and sexy outside agent who's motives are unclear, the evil Russian politician with wealthy and powerful allies and a right wing agenda... you get the idea. I am not exactly blown away, but it feels a bit like a piece of fluff you might read at the airport when you've just found out that your flight will be at least 3 hours late. It is entertaining enough to not send you to sleep and not stupid enough that you feel like shooting the author, but you are likely to keep playing because of the entertaining character interactions, nice graphics and great game play, rather than because you are desperate to find out what will happen next. If you love spy fluff though, you just might love this.
3/5
Fun factor:
I've been really enjoying it. The game is challenging without being frustrating, the characters are entertaining despite being fairly stereotypical (token black guy anyone?) and factors like line of sight, cover and up to three different terrain levels keep the game strategic. The mission goals are fairly varied although fans of the strategy genre will be unlikely to be surprised by any of them. The missions themselves are of a comfortable length and it is possible to save at any point, thus making it a good bus ride game and fairly convenient for small breaks. Three difficulty levels also make sure that both novices and veterans get their enjoyment - although I must admit to finding the game fairly forgiving even at the highest difficulty.
4/5
Multiplayer:
The multiplayer is played on one console, by handing the game back and forth. The missions are fairly straight forward and the result makes one feel a bit as if playing a board game. It is fun, but I feel a lot more could have been done.
2/5
Bug alert!
Ghost Recon has a nasty bug that leads to the dreaded "an error has occurred" screen. There are two ways around it: Either save every turn, which isn't as much fuss as it sounds and means when your 3DS freezes up, you'll be able to log back in the game where you were originally. Alternatively you can just turn off the Wifi at the console, which also seems to prevent the error. Hopefully there will be a patch soon to make this one go away.
Overall:
85/100
