Ubisoft have been my staple in the world of video games. If it's Ubisoft, “just buy it”, has been my mantra. Why- Because they always deliver quality. Especially graphically…well, not this time. I have been looking forward to this game for a long time and have been a long-running fan of the series since its original conception. So where did it all go wrong- Well, to say the graphics are shocking would be an understatement. Splinter Cell Conviction…which is now 2 years old (another Ubisoft title) laughs out loud at the quality of this game. Assassin's Creed 2 even wants to jump from up high and embed a hidden dagger in a future soldiers back. Honestly, you will have to see it to believe it, but the graphics are so sub-par it's not even funny. The characters look ridiculous. The cut-scenes are stupid and don't progress the story at all. They will try to add some humour by having them act tough and mysterious around other soldiers, who don't seem to know who they are (ohhhh, the silent saviour, my hero) or add some human element to the story by having someone randomly phone their kid at his birthday party right after an intense mission while in a helicopter. It makes no sense, and serves the story nil. The story is lame to say the least. If you have played any first person shooter over the last 10 years…then you have already played these levels. The gameplay is poor and unfulfilling. They try to get you to mark out the enemies and do team takedowns. This is fine. Except that your team is expected to kill almost 75% of the enemies in the levels…and this is not really that funny. You can actually hover around in your drone marking all the enemies and executing the kill orders and make your way through entire levels without firing a shot. (Of course, you don't have to do this, but the game presents the best way of dealing with the situation, so why would you opt to not use what is at your disposal. The same could be said about the ridiculous camo-suits that make you almost invisible and have you walking through an African encampment during the middle of the day with enemies all around you. They have taken the ‘ghost’ in ghost recon to a whole new level. It's not fun though, you feel like the scenario is unbelievable. Why would you go in during the day when you could just as easily infiltrate the base at night. This game plays out more like a run-and-gun-shooter, but then plays against it's own nature by asking you to try and be stealthy. The game is also very easy to beat on veteran difficulty. Someone else here said something about dying all the time in their review. This only happens if you don't play the game the way it was intended to be played. You have to use your team and mark the enemies. You have to shoot from cover and try to be stealthy. Having said this, the last mission where you have to chase someone down with a time-limit, severely alters the game-mechanics that you have mastered over the last, lame, 11 levels – But can still be done with relative ease. I played the multiplayer. This is no big whoop either. Of course it's fun when you are playing cooperatively. But there are a bunch of games that already do this and are actually good games to boot. The fun comes from my friends online…not from what Ghost Recon is doing. Ultimately I would not buy this game. I have beaten it and am going to sell it now. I would recommend hiring it or waiting for it to drop in price before you play it. It isn't worth the money. Which brings me back to my opening statement. I thought this was a Ubisoft title- Now I'm not sure what to do with the next Ubisoft title. They clearly are not as reliable as they once were. But being a fan, I will give them the benefit of the doubt. They do have multiple production companies and for the record this game was produced by Ubisoft Paris…and my fav has always been Ubisoft Montreal…but if McDonald's can have global standards then really there is no excuse.
