Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
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| Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Ubisoft Paris (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable version) GRIN (PC version) |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
| Engine | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable versions: YETI engine (modified UE2.5) PC version: GRIN Diesel Engine version 7 |
| Platform(s) | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable |
| Release date | Xbox 360
PC
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Portable |
| Genre(s) | Tactical shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T OFLC: MA15+, USK: 18 |
| Media | DVD, DVD-DL, Blu-ray Disc, UMD |
| Input methods | Gamepad, keyboard, mouse, joystick |
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW 2) is the sequel to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It expands on the game play of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and is the fourth installment in the popular Ghost Recon tactical shooter video game series, published by Ubisoft.
The game takes place in 2014, just one day after the events of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW), just south of the United States border, and deals with the conflict between a Mexican rebel group, Mexican loyalists, and the U.S. Army for a time span of 72 hours. A wide array of location types are included, featuring mountains, small towns, urban environments, and a large hydro-electric dam just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Xbox 360 and PS3 versions
The gameplay is similar to the first GRAW, although some new features have been added to improve gameplay. One significant change is the addition of the improved cross-com system, a battlefield information interlink between all friendly units, that now allows a full screen view of what any unit is seeing. This makes the direction of friendly units much more accurate and effective. The squad A.I. is improved, with fewer problems occurring than in the last GRAW. Units will actively seek cover and descriptively call out targets (i.e. "behind the red car", or "under the green roof")
[edit] PC version
The overall game play has stayed the same, however, friendly AI units are now much more intelligent. This makes them less of a handicap in the single player campaign. Friendly AI are now much quicker to respond to commands given by the Ghost Leader in comparison to the original Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. The crosscom has also been updated to "Cross Com 2.0" The interface allows you to give orders from your squadmates' point of view. It also adds many new commands including "Recon" and "Assault."
[edit] Plot
[edit] Xbox 360 and PS3
The game begins in Ciudad Juárez after the events of the first GRAW, where rebel activity has caused civil unrest throughout Mexico. Despite the death of Carlos Ontiveros in the first game, the insurgency has continued under the leadership of Juan de la Varrera, even spreading into other Latin American states, including Panama, Chile and Ecuador where rebel forces have effectively shut down the Panama Canal. The Ghosts are sent to Mexico by General Keating to investigate claims that the rebels are in possession of a dirty bomb, as well as prevent the rebellion from directly assaulting US soil. Immediately after arriving in Mexico, the Ghosts are put to work destroying a sizeable rebel position guarded by two large artillery pieces, enabling additional American forces to reach the main battle-zone. Shortly thereafter, Mitchell aids in an aerial attack against a rebel supply base from Blackhawk 5, annihilating two enemy weapons convoys in the process. The Ghosts also learn that de la Barrera has obtained old Ukrainian Red Star IV nuclear warheads. Combined with several medium-range, Pakistani-built Kashmira-II missiles stolen from cargo ships in the Canal, the rebels now possess the ability to destroy any major city in the United States.
With the WMD threat confirmed, the Ghosts travel to Ciudad Juárez to search for the nukes, and link up with loyalist Mexican Army troopers led by Colonel Jimenez. Aided by Mexican armoured vehicles and American fighters, the Ghosts and their allies clear out much of the rebel presence from the city, neutralizing several checkpoints before crushing a rebel stronghold in the local marketplace. As the Mexican troops advance to secure the marketplace, however, an underground explosion rips through the district, killing the loyalist vanguard and flooding the area with deadly radiation. Realizing that the market held one of the missing Red Star IV's and containment was lost, Keating orders a retreat. After linking back up with Jimenez and his soldiers, intelligence arrives suggesting that a local journalist with inside access to the rebel leadership knows the location of the remaining two nukes, and is willing to come forward and assist the Americans. Working with Jimenez's most elite troopers, the Ghosts destroy a series of anti-aircraft batteries and hold off a devastating rebel counterattack, enabling the journalist to be extracted safely, and the information she holds preserved. With all other assets devoted to protecting the reporter, Mitchell and his squad link up with Blackhawk 5 in front of a local church for evacuation.
Disaster strikes when Blackhawk 5 is crippled by enemy RPG fire and brought down, and the Ghosts, now cut off from rescue, are forced to defend themselves against a group of heavily-armed and highly-trained mercenaries assisting the rebels. Barely escaping the immediate warzone via Humvee, the vehicle is hunted down and destroyed by a rebel Havoc helicopter, killing both the driver, PFC Provenanzo, and incapacitating the Ghost squad. The only survivor of the wreck, Mitchell manages to escape aboard Blackhawk 9 with the aid of a friendly Mexican soldier, before providing air support for the American salvage convoy sent to recover Blackhawk 5. Having captured both Lieutenant Rosen (Mitchell's friend and field runner) along with the remains of the helicopter, the rebels attempt to use this victory as a propaganda tool. Unfortunately for the rebels, the Ghosts shut down their attempts at media manipulation by destroying the Blackhawk wreckage (removing the evidence of the American loss), before storming a heavily-defended, mercenary-controlled hacienda to rescue Lieutenant Rosen, weathering a powerful reprisal from mercenary reinforcements before they can be extracted.
With the intelligence gathered from both the Mexican journalist and Lieutenant Rosen, the Americans finally have the location of the last two nukes, back in Ciudad Juárez. Destroying additional enemy anti-air defences around the site, Mitchell leads one team of Ghosts to secure the exterior of the target building while a second unit of Ghosts, lead by Derrick Parker, assaults the site directly. As Mitchell and his team bravely battles off a strong force of rebels, Bravo Team secures one of the nuclear weapons, but are stymied by de la Barrera, who escapes with the last warhead. Fighting through a densely-packed urban warzone, often faced with rebel APCs, machine-gun nests and anti-tank units along with the mercenaries, the Ghosts eventually punch through the enemy lines and kill de la Barrera, removing the rebel leadership...but do not find the last nuke. Oblivious to the defeat of their rebel employers, the mercenaries have taken the last nuke and intend on using it against the United States in a final act of revenge.
US intelligence finds out that the mercenaries plan to take the nukes to El Paso, Texas, in order to destroy a large dam and the city around it. The dam turns out to be on top of a major American military installation where the mercenaries successfully hacked the US anti-ballistic missile defense grid, leaving the country vulnerable to nuclear attack. Discovering that the nukes are not, in fact, in El Paso, the Ghosts return to Ciudad Juárez, fighting through the last, desperate enemy forces to discover the last warhead has been armed and installed in one of the Khasmira-II missiles. Mitchell and his team end up pinned down on a balcony overlooking the launch site. With little time to spare, and President Ballentine unwilling to destroy the entire city in order to neutralize the threat, the Americans try to use an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) missile fired by air support to disable the launchers. However, Mitchell and his team are still in range of the blast, and General Keating hesitates on authorizing air support with friendly soldiers in the blast area. Keating tells Mitchell "Son, I can't ask you to do this," but Mitchell says "Sir, it's why you sent me here, you know this is the only way." An American fighter fires the EMP missile, eliminating the threat but catching the Ghosts directly in the blast. The view cuts to Mitchell falling back by the explosion, with faint voices from Mitchell's crosscom. Lieutenant Rosen's Blackhawk can be seen from this view, and while Keating and Rosen plead with him to stay alive, President Ballantine thanks him for saving the nation. Rosen's chopper hovers over Mitchell, Rosen appears on the crosscom saying "Soldier, you're going home" and the game then cuts to the credits.
A TeamXbox Article confirms that Captain Scott Mitchell survives, as the article states that Mitchell leads the JSF Forces in Tom Clancy's EndWar, which takes place sometime after the events in Advanced Warfighter 2. However, it does not state whether or not Mitchell's team survived.[3]
[edit] Multiplayer
Unlike the first GRAW, players in the online multiplayer mode can be "downed", or critically injured, instead of killed. This gives teammates the opportunity to heal a downed teammate and prevent the other team from getting the point, although downed players can be shot and killed by players from the opposing team before they are healed. The mechanics in the multiplayer mode have also been improved, and characters can now "slide" into a crouched position while running, where in the first GRAW this was only available in the single player mode. The ability to use cover like in the singleplayer mode has still not been added to the multiplayer mode. In multiplayer the player can choose from four weapon classes, including Rifleman, Grenadier, Automatic Rifleman, and Marksman. Choosing the rifleman class makes the player more proficient with rifles, the automatic rifleman more proficient with machine guns, and so on. Another new feature added to multiplayer was full-screen cross-com. As in singleplayer mode, the player can hold down the right button and bring up the fullscreen view. This can be used to view friendly players' views as well as the Drone, but cannot be used to give commands or manually fly the drone.
Games are created by Xbox live users and can be up to 16 players, common game types are headquarters 8 vs 8 or headquarters 5 v 5 pistols only. Split Screen is available. When playing in the split screen mode you can have up to 4 people playing.
[edit] Team selection
In this addition, the player can select each NPC to bring along for each mission rather than choosing a preselected team, as in Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Choosing the correct teammates plays an important role as certain teammates perform better on certain missions (e.g., choosing the anti-tank gunner to combat enemy armored vehicles). This decision is aided by an Intel screen that gives your objective and a rough estimation of the enemies your team will face. Each time a new mission is started or the player regroups with the command vehicles over the course of the mission, the player will receive new Intel and can choose new teammates and rearm. Another feature is that the Riflemen have a different Assault Rifle each.
[edit] Unit descriptions
Rifleman - At least one rifleman is present in any team. They are versatile soldiers, effective against enemy infantry and armed with scoped assault rifles.
(Machine) Gunner - Better armoured soldier, armed with a light machine gun, capable of pinning down enemy forces and destroying light/civilian vehicles (which may provide cover for enemies). They are inaccurate at long range but are able to prevent enemy troop movement in a wide section of the battle zone they are covering.
Grenadier - Grenadiers are armed with underbarrel grenade launchers. This enables them to quickly destroy light armoured/civilian vehicles and deal with enemies behind cover, or in groups.
Medic - The medic is the only team member able to heal Captain Mitchell, and having him in your team allows you to carry 3 additional medkits, which is often vital. The rest of the team are trained to heal an unconscious teammate to "red" (injured) health, but only the medic can fully heal them. This is particularly useful before a major firefight. The medic is only armed with a submachinegun, and therefore is ineffective in medium to long range contacts. The Medic was cut from the PC version of the game. This class is not available in multiplayer.
Marksman - The marksman is capable of killing enemies at extreme range or behind cover with a sniper rifle, and is useful in recon missions. However, she/he is not the best choice in large scale fights.
Anti-tank Gunner - The anti-tank gunner is armed with a lethal Rocket launcher, and is vital for defending the team from heavy armor (main battle tanks, helicopter gunships). He can deliver massive power over long range, however it is usually best to use your support units in this role, since the anti-tank gunner has no other use. A medic or additional rifleman is usually more popular. Although this class is not available in multiplayer, you may still select the rocket launcher as your starting weapon.
Note: Through the choice of his initial starting weapon the team leader can perform any of these roles himself, and is always a medic as well. However Captain Mitchell cannot carry additional Medikits or heal other team mates to 100% Health. In the PC version of the game, however, nobody is capable of healing.
[edit] Support units
AH-64 Apache Helicopter Gunship - The AH-64 Apache is by far the most effective support unit. Its 30 mm gun and 2.75" rockets are capable of annihilating any enemy, and is quite resilient to small-arms fire. However it should try to avoid enemy anti-tank gunners.
AH-6 "Little Bird" Gunship - The Little Bird is similar in capability to the Apache, however it is far more fragile and should be used with support to protect it from RPGs or machine gun fire.
F-15E Strike Eagle - The F-15 fighter jet delivers enough power to destroy just about anything. There is a delay between uses, the pilot notifies the player when he is standing by.
Sikorsky Cypher UAV - The UAV is able to scan an area and feed intel directly to Captain Mitchell's HUD. It is vital in missions where little support is available, and allows the Ghosts the advantage of being able to plan an attack in detail before going in. The UAV can scan an area (at low altitude) for around 5 seconds before being spotted and shot down, so users should be cautious. The UAV is able to monitor units within its target radius at high altitude, so when positioned over a battle zone it can stop enemies from disappearing from view.
M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank - This tank is almost invincible. The Ghosts need only to deal with enemy RPGs and cover behind it and it can send the enemy running. The Abrams can deal with all enemy ground vehicles and destroy cover. Enemies are forced to remote positions, where riflemen and snipers can deal with them without being at risk of being pinned down. The Abrams must follow a preset route.
Stryker APC - The APC is armored enough to protect those covering behind it from small arms fire. It is armed with a regular cannon with a decent firing rate, and a heavy machine gun on the top. The machine gunner can potentially be killed, effectively limiting its combat ability. The APC requires support from the Ghosts to avoid being surrounded by gunners or grenadiers, and like the M1, is limited to moving along a specific route.
UH-60 Black Hawk - The Blackhawk, which is used to transport the Ghosts between missions and carries re-enforcements and equipment, has an M134 gatling gun mounted on the side, allowing Captain Mitchell to defend the aircraft and clear insertion areas. The UH-60 is manned by a pilot and co-pilot, and usually a logistics support officer to brief the team.
Humvee - The Humvee can transport the team between missions in relative safety, but carries no equipment etc and is unable to safely enter battles. Humvees with gunners sometimes escort the Ghost Truck to rally points.
Infantry - Additional Ghost units and Mexican loyalists can be controlled in some missions, the same as your main team. They are always a pair of riflemen, and allow you to vary your main team more by providing additional firepower that makes up for the specialists' weaknesses. Having additional infantry allows flanking maneuvers. When commanding Mexican loyalists the full-screen cross-com can still be used despite the lack of cross-com equipment on the soldiers.
MULE - The MULE delivers equipment and medkits, which is vital for a soldier working alone. They allow the team leader to change his role and heal himself in battle. Mules are not well armored, and should follow at a safe distance. They can be driven in command-full-view, but this is generally unnecessary. The MULE can also be used as makeshift cover in an emergency. Another less seen use of the MULE is to toss a satchel charge into the front grating of the MULE essentially making a mobile satchel charge, which can be used at times sacrificing the MULE to destroy a group of soldiers or a troop transport. Note that filling your ammo will cause any primed satchel charge to disappear.
[edit] Characters
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High Ranking Officers
Ghost Leader
Riflemen
Gunner
Grenadier
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Marksman
Anti-Tank
Medic
Support personnel
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[edit] Reception and sales
As of April 26, 2007, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 has sold 1 million copies on the Xbox 360.[4]
The game was also named the game of the month by Game Informer.
[edit] Controversy
Controversy surrounded the game when the Mayor of Ciudad Juárez, Héctor Murguía Lardizábal, criticized the game for trying to scare tourists away from going to the town.[5] Chihuahua's governor José Reyes Baeza Terrazas condemned the computer game for insulting Mexico and its people, calling on all authorities to seize the game if it were sold on Mexican soil.[6]
[edit] Additional content
GRAW2 features many items of downloadable content. The songs "Gimme Danger"/The Stooges, "Battle Axe"/The Deftones, "Hero"/Ministry were featured in the game's soundtrack.
[edit] Throwback Pack #1
Seven classic maps from past Ghost Recon games redone for the GRAW 2 engine. The maps are: Bonfires, Desert Gulch, Fishing Village, Jungle Mines, Mountain Base, Mountain Falls, and Peninsula. The Throwback Pack was released to Xbox Live Marketplace on May 9, 2007 for 800 Microsoft Points (US$10). It was re-released for free on August 23, 2007.[7]
Throwback 2 is avalible on GRAW 2 Legacy DVD for Xbox 360 for free...Ubisoft also offers free download of a Exclusive Map Nowhere as a reward for membership on Ubisoft.com
[edit] Throwback Pack #2
Another seven maps from previous Ghost Recon games, ported and enhanced for GRAW2. Features:
- Ghost Town (Ghost Recon: Summit Strike)
- Aral Sea (Ghost Recon: Summit Strike)
- Government District (Ghost Recon: Summit Strike)
[edit] References
- ^ ghostrecon.us.ubi.com/newspost.php?news_id=6062. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/graw2/tech_info.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;techinfo. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ Tom Clancy's EndWar Preview (Xbox 360) (2007-11-30). Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ Kris Graft (2007-04-26). Ubisoft Annual Sales Rise 24%. Next-Gen.biz. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
- ^ Mexican mayor slams GRAW2. Retrieved on January 8, 2008
- ^ Mexican governor orders seizure of GRAW2. Retrieved on January 8, 2008.
- ^ GRAW2 Throwback Pack (2007-05-09). Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
[edit] External links
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