Ghost Recon 2: One of the best games of the year!!!

 - Pete

Dude, Tom Clancy's new GR2 just came out, like, last week I think, or the week before that, anyway it is so awesome looking!!!! They have improved a ton on the graphics, the game play, its more of an intense action third person shooter game (sort of like the Socom US Navy Seals games), it is supposed to have an excellent multi-player mode, and you can even get the new M8 carbine assault rifle!!!! It received an overall grade of 8.5 at, www.gamespot.com, which is a Great!!! (And if you prefer the good 'old' fashioned first person view, you can simply just go to options and press the button.)
It is supposed to be one of the best games of the year next to Grand theft auto: San Andreas and, of course...Halo 2.

There is only one minor detail that kind of stinks..and that is, you can't switch to different soldiers in your squad. If you die.....The mission does to. (But thats just a small point). But you can still give your fellow teammates direct orders, and their AI( Artificial intelligence) is also supposed to be very good.

The Storyline:

The game's storyline is straight-up Tom Clancy, and although it takes place in the year 2011, there are elements that feel like they've been ripped out of today's headlines. A megalomaniacal, yet oddly charismatic, North Korean general has decided that he doesn't like the way that his superiors have been handling the country's affairs. Taking matters into his own hands, he stages a coup with the help of his disgruntled countrymen, wresting control of the government, as well as the nation's sizable nuclear arsenal. With the free world in jeopardy, the Ghost Recon squad is sent in to clean up the mess and save the world. The way the story is presented is very interesting, told via flashbacks and interviews courtesy of a documentary that one might see on the History channel. Before each mission, you'll meet the team that was involved, and they'll tell you about their objectives and the challenges they faced. It pays to listen, as you can pick up some tips that might mean the difference between life and death. There are a lot of changes in Ghost Recon 2 the biggest of which is the change in perspective. The previous game was played from a tight first-person view, with only a reticule and minimal information, such as health and ammunition, on the screen. It was often too close, offering very little in the way of peripheral vision, and it was tough to know if you were fully protected by any cover you were hiding behind. Thankfully, the developers decided to make this the focus of the game play changes, and you can now see your soldier's body, with the camera positioned just behind his shoulder. This dramatically changes the game play, allowing you to confidently take cover, peek around corners, and generally see more of the environment around you. You can still zoom in with the left trigger, at which point you'll go into a first person view. The move to third person is a welcome change, but the Ghost Recon purists out there will be happy to know that you can switch to the original first-person view by pausing the game. Another major upgrade is in the game's command system. In the last game, you were forced to bring up a map, set points for your men to travel to, then tell each individual soldier what to do when they go to that point. It was cumbersome and annoying, but the worst part was having to take yourself out of the action to set everything up. It really hurt the flow of the game, and it made giving commands during firefights a potentially deadly exercise. Everything has changed this time around, and the new system is effective, efficient, and more importantly, a breeze to use. The commands are almost all context sensitive, so all you have to do is point your reticle in a direction (or at an object) and hit the button to give the command. Pointing at at location will tell your team to advance, while moving the reticle over an object will bring up the possible command. You can order your men to man mounted turrets, attack vehicles, place charges, or even open doors and clear rooms, Rainbow Six-style. It's an extremely well designed system, allowing you to give commands on the fly, even when you're pinned down by enemy fire.

Pretty cool, huh? You can also go to www.ghostrecon2.com to view everything.

Get this game!!!