Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter review

Such a resounding success, it's almost unfair to other squad-based, tactical shooters

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GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Riveting plot

  • +

    Eye-shattering visuals

  • +

    Many paths for completing objectives

Cons

  • -

    Not enough control over your squad

  • -

    Paralytically challenging

  • -

    Moral quandary over so much killing

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You're pinned down, crouched low behind a car while bullets play a tinny percussion on the mangled remnants of the car's bumper. One of your men screams a cry of pain into your headset as he drops to the ground writhing. The dusty, sun-drenched pavement of Mexico City begins to look more and more like the most likely site for your headstone -but as long as there is one ounce of fight left in you, you must reach your objective and pull your men the hell out of here.

Sending the remainder of your battered squad behind a pile of smoking rubble, you lob a smoke grenade and drop onto your belly in a commando crawl and begin inching your way over to the safety of a cement planter box. Your injured man needs a medic, but first you've got to overcome the intense shelling these Mexican rebels are giving you.

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Your man Ramirez gets a shot off from behind the rubble, dropping an enemy rifleman just as you poke your head out from behind the planter. And that's when it hits you: the audible punch of the bullet through your helmet indicating only a fraction of a second too late the presence of a sniper on the roof of another building. The world sinks into inky blackness as your commanding officer yells into your ear, "Mitchell: status? Mitchell ... Mitchell!"

There is no choice at this point but to hit the A button and try to remember the placement of that sniper for your next try. Putting the controller down is not an option because the fate of the free world sits astride your shoulders ... and who wants to quit playing one of the greatest tactical shooters of all time anyway? Without question, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter compels you through each level, thanks to a primal-feeling plot, tons of options for executing your missions and a tremendously tweakable multiplayer component.