Review: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

While Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 has been out for the Xbox 360 for a while, the newly released PlayStation 3 version brings some welcome changes.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 or GRAW 2 as it’s more commonly known puts you in the shiny boots of fictional character Captain Scott Mitchell of the 5th Special Forces Group, or The Ghosts. When you last left him in the original Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, a battle was beginning to rage in the Mexican civil war. Well that war is continuing and you’re going to be put back into the thick of it. Unfortunately, the original GRAW doesn’t exist on the PlayStation 3 so you might feel as if you’ve been put in the middle of a battle to which you’ve got no history of. Ultimately, you don’t have to worry too much about this as the back story is given early in the game and it’s hinted that you’re pretty much a big hero and you’ll be blowing stuff up in no time.

And really, that’s one area where GRAW 2 shines: blowing stuff up and ordering team-mates to blow stuff up is just so much fun.

While the Xbox 360 version has been out for some time, the new PlayStation 3 brings some fresh new changes. One of the talked about features is the use of the PlayStation 3’s SixAxis motion controls. To give you an idea of what we’re talking about, when you’re running in-game, you can flick the controller to the left and your character will roll to the left. If you need to crouch, simply tilt your controller down and Mitchell will crouch down.

In all honesty, the motion controls probably need a bit of tweaking to get right, but if you’re like me and you really enjoy getting into game – twisting and weaving your controller as if it’s going to help the game – then you’ll really get into GRAW 2 for the PS3.

The graphics absolutely shine. It really does look and perform like a true next-generation game. Likewise the sound is fantastic. The music could be a lot better often feeling like someone has flogged a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, but gun sounds, explosions, and voice work are all excellent.

And then there’s the gameplay which plays beautifully in both single- and multi-player. While the single-player experience is over pretty quickly, the fire fights you’ll have with ground troops are a blast to play again and again. Likewise the extra maps in multi-player over the Xbox 360 version give you more to do online, especially if you’re in for a true squad based game that really gives you a feel for intense situations.

Ultimately we can only criticize GRAW 2 for its control schemes. We found that there are just way too many controls and often you’ll find that you’re forgetting what various buttons actually do. There are however a pretty decent amount of control schemes but none of them really change the issue we have with the complex button combinations that are crucial for getting the job done.

Even with the control scheme’s learning curve, Ubisoft have done a great job making GRAW 2 more interesting for the PlayStation 3. The extra SixAxis controls, maps, and other features really do make it a must have for any shooter fan and anyone who wants a truly excellent game for the PlayStation 3. And it’s about time that someone brought out a great new title for the PS3.

Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Classification: MA15+
Formats: PlayStation 3
URL: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

Reviewed by Leigh D. Stark