by
Ted Kritsonis
Faze Video Game Editor

I’m sure most gamers would agree with me when I suggest that Ghost Recon is a franchise that you either really like or really don’t care to play again after a mission or two. The original game had its issues, and Island Thunder, which was an expansion pack of sorts for the original, didn’t make much more than cosmetic changes. All that’s changed with Ghost Recon 2, a far better achievement for the folks at Red Storm and Ubisoft.

The year is 2011 and famine riots have rocked rural North Korea, prompting a ruthless North Korean general to take matters into his own hands and mount a coup to take over the country. By diverting food shipments to feed his armed forces, he maintains a devout loyalty from his troops, even though his ambitions are likely to doom them all. It seems the megalomaniacal general wants to invade Chinese territory across the border, which could lead to a disastrous regional war. In response, U.S. and British Special Forces are sent deep into North Korean territory to take the general out.

Unlike the previous game, the system in place here does away with controlling two squads and placing waypoints on maps. Instead, the AI tends to make a lot of the moves you probably would’ve ordered anyway. Plus, your view has changed from first-person to third-person, which makes for a much better presentation. This doesn’t mean that you can’t tell your squad what to do, only that it’s much more seamless this time around. There’s no need for pausing and then looking at a map, since you can now order your squad to advance, hold or flank from either left or right by a simple push of the Y button.

The new system also allows for you to order your squad to attack a vehicle, use a mounted machine gun or plant explosives on a target. Even more than that, you can only use one character, so the days of switching to a different character after dying are over. This makes the game tougher and more realistic, since a few hits will put you out for good, meaning that finding cover will be a necessity the whole way through. And if that’s not enough, the new save feature allows you to save the game at any point in a mission, which I’m sure more than a few people would love.

In a nice touch, the story is told cleverly through a documentary-style program where you and the members of your squad talk about the missions you went through.

On the multiplayer side of things, co-op play, system link and split-screen are all viable offline options, while Xbox Live is also open for those who play online. There’s nothing here that really stands out, but it can be a very fun experience if you have a few friends playing with you against another squad.

Ghost Recon 2 is a big change from the original, but suffice it to say, the changes were well worth it since this has arguably been the weakest of the Tom Clancy series’. With an engaging story that has plenty of relevance to today’s news, a solid and crafty presentation and a revamped gameplay system that should make it easier to bring new fans onboard, Ghost Recon 2 is a game well worth a look.

Publisher:
Ubisoft
Developer:
Red Storm

Platform:
PS2

Rating: 9/10