Mag compares GRAW tech to real-life inspiration

  • By TimSpot, GameSpot
  • Posted Apr 20, 2007 3:59 pm PT

The Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter series has been called one of the most realistic shooters in gaming today. With its emphasis on tactics, attention to detail in equipment, and scenarios situated in real-world locations, the games are more than a run-of-the-mill twitch shooter...

The Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter series has been called one of the most realistic shooters in gaming today. With its emphasis on tactics, attention to detail in equipment, and scenarios situated in real-world locations, the games are more than a run-of-the-mill twitch shooter.

The series has always taken place in the future--the original Ghost Recon, released in 2002, was set in 2008--but the franchise's most recent incarnations have leaned particularly heavily on the high-tech equipment in the game. The Advanced Warfighter games are set in 2013 and feature military equipment based on cutting-edge technology of today.

Popular Mechanics decided to investigate just how realistic the game's equipment actually is. An article compares the game's cross-com system--which includes a flip-down screen showing locations of enemies and teammates--and the M4 camera attachment to the real-life equipment used by the military's Land Warrior System, currently being tested in Iraq.

In short, Popular Mechanics finds that the developers at Ubisoft have crafted equipment that--while based on exisiting technology--is still far beyond anything currently in use today. However, the author does note that the equipment is bound to get smaller and lighter and that a new wave of military satellites scheduled to launch in 2010 may just make GRAW a reality.

In a related article, Popular Mechanics speaks to soldiers currently testing the equipment, and it doesn't appear that the grunts are taking a liking to the extra high-tech weight. Sergeant James Young told the magazine, "It's just a bunch of stuff we don't use, taking the place of useful stuff like guns."

124 Comments

  • TobbanSWE

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 8:32 pm PT

    Clancy's games are allways so realistic... Thats what I love about his games

  • KingOfTheNubeis

    Posted Jul 21, 2007 8:46 am PT

    Their on mark 1 version of this stuff.
    I remember when the first lazer designators came out they were like @!!!z!! suit cases no one wanted to use them .
    By mark 4 no unit calling in air support wanted to be without one
    after they became smaller and they got to see how effect they
    can be.

  • fratos

    Posted Jun 26, 2007 12:46 pm PT

    If Napoleon would be able to see what war has become , he would probably go mad of happyness But what i don't understand is how FU**ing idiot the human is... Why would you invest so much money in war wich only leads to death of large numbers of inocent people and soldiers ,when you can use these money for something better , like medical research , clearing the environment of polution , etc. Maybe people where designed to self-distruct . Or maybe war was specialy created for Tom Clancy to write his novels so that UBI can make awesome games... in that case , war has it's bright side

  • fusionx3

    Posted Jun 10, 2007 9:56 am PT

    actually, concurrent with US beta test on such system, Singapore Armed Forces also focus on 3G battlefield, a cheaper yet efficient way to command battle, somewad close to GRAW2 where drone fly high and capture the whole battlefield, detect enemies and call in all resources from either Air, Land attacks on it. Info will be sent thru customised PDA.

    But no matter how powerful technology can become, war now is not abt open space warfare, it has changed to gurillea warfare or urban warfare where even with drone, you can't identify who's friend n who's foe....

  • pdmatera

    Posted May 17, 2007 4:13 pm PT

    0aw some display of a game

  • pdmatera

    Posted May 17, 2007 4:11 pm PT

    0awsome display of a game

  • 1upMushroomX6

    Posted May 1, 2007 12:18 pm PT

    USA USA!!!! ooo that red white and blue

  • 1upMushroomX6

    Posted May 1, 2007 12:17 pm PT

    yep

  • helpzmenowz

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 7:00 pm PT

    All this new tech will haunt us when other mili. get it

  • Jason_Morris

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 4:30 pm PT

    GRAW is still fun, though, which is the main thing. You want realistic? Try Arma - too realistic to be any fun, IMO.

  • telo85

    Posted Apr 25, 2007 3:30 am PT

    its called ghost recon ADVANCED warfighter for a reason and even if none uses the equipment featured on the game in real life its still fun

  • Kill_ZONE2

    Posted Apr 24, 2007 2:33 pm PT

    "I hope gundams are next on the list lol"-Kenmar7856

    wow!! that would be crazy!!

  • kemar7856

    Posted Apr 24, 2007 1:56 pm PT

    I hope gundams are next on the list lol

  • Oblivion_Lord67

    Posted Apr 24, 2007 7:21 am PT

    give them what they want

  • hector1313

    Posted Apr 24, 2007 4:48 am PT

    Oh well.

    I'm sure the game would be that little bit more 'inspiring' had the market not been saturated quite so much with the thousands of FPS games currently for sale.

    Waste of time if you ask me, they're all the same...

  • ArticRecon

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 3:47 pm PT

    I find the game interesting and very realistic. Having served in Iraq, there is a lot of realistic things in the game that are already out there. Similar things such as UAVs with real time feed that assist the soldier and leader on the ground. Cool **** We already have computers that show real time battlefield awareness. The functionality of the systems in the game are not far off in reality.

  • balindos

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 3:03 pm PT

    Its nice to know that still in the future their will be wars. That is a nice way to look at it huh. Peace is not reality.

  • Bgrngod

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 11:08 am PT

    Exculus - "Wow nsmnpc5000. You try to sound smart but are wrong in your second sentence. How sad.

    GRAW isn't a FPS."
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The PC version is FPS isn't it? And the original Ghost Recon's were indeed FPS's. Even the crappy Xbox version.

  • Exculus

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 10:49 am PT

    Wow nsmnpc5000. You try to sound smart but are wrong in your second sentence. How sad.

    GRAW isn't a FPS.

  • nsmnpc5000

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 10:46 am PT

    This game is far from being realistic. Replace the enemy troops with aliens and you have another generic FPS with some fancy equipment. Which, by the way, is decades away from being implemented at a level of functionality anywhere near the game. Decades. Not 7 years. By the time the real tech matches this crap the government will have thought of something more advanced. They more than likely already have. Technology will never catch up to what the human mind can conceive.

  • Mac8457

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 9:54 am PT

    By the time real tech catches up the video games will think of some more futuristic. It will never be 100% realistic.

  • zappa02

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 9:25 am PT

    Dam that is so cool.

  • Mike_ppd

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 9:14 am PT

    In the Philadelphia police departments we have these "high tech" laptops in our cars called MDT's, They let us look up lscense plates, warrant information, and the like. The better feature is it'll tell you where you are going for a radio call, so if you don't pay attention to the dispatches, you can still do your job. Now the kicker is, in my district more than half of the cars don't have them anymore, or they won't even turn on. Gotta love technology, as long as it works. MDT = Mobile Dinner Table.

  • datniccah187

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 2:02 am PT

    haha the game is awesome, i think i'ma going to try and beat it on high gaurd tomorrow.

  • mrbojangles25

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 8:46 pm PT

    While its cool for a video game, I was suprised to hear they test it in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. I dont like the idea of a soldier fighting people with 20 extra pounds of crap that may or may not work when all he needs is a pay increase, a working radio, and maybe a GPS thing to help him navigate.

  • AjaxsLastStand

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 7:06 pm PT

    A lot of the technology being made for our soldiers is based upon the idea of open combat. Not urban warfare with ununiformed targets who don't fight conventionally. So although it's wonderful and all, it hinders the ability of our troops to do what they're doing in the current situation they're in.

  • hitomo

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 5:38 pm PT

    you know... the USarmy has become Stormtroopers, guess whos the Jedi now...right, they are wearinf turnabs now

  • hitomo

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 5:22 pm PT

    just a pitty that soldiers are to dump to operate something more complex than a trigger ... but hey, if they where more intelligent they wont become soldiers... btw the US army isnt in need of high-tech weapons, they are the most fearsome army in the world after they showed us Guantanamo, realy scary what you are doing with enemy soldiers you get alive... realy I would prefer to shot myself before I go in U.S. war captivity... always the same with those fundamentalists societys...

  • SaliSB

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 4:22 pm PT

    the government can develop all the tech it wants but it doesnt make war any safer for soldiers. they dont get to press reset when they die.

  • jerami

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 2:46 pm PT

    Obviously the game is 100% fact, it was made as a testing device for the military

  • BigCleatus88

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 2:03 pm PT

    Yeah, the military happens to be developing the Cross-Com system as we speak. All of Tom Clancy's novels are mostly based on truthful things or tech.

    Also, for the person thats talking about the Dragon Skin armor, it will never be implemented in the military... It completley protects the soldier from bullets, however, it has no protection whatsoever from blunt force trauma... which is a major factor in all wars... Also, the body armor they wear over in Iraq is about 80 lbs and adds about 30 degrees of body heat.... I know this because I'm going to basic training in a week and been told all of this.

  • Delbert84

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 1:51 pm PT

    Demoman286th
    "We spend billions of dollars in new technology and yet our boys still get killed by AK-47's and IED's. Just goes to show you that it isn't all about how fancy your tech is, but rather how sharp-witted you are."

    So basically you're saying the hadjis are smarter than our troops? I want to slap you for writing what you just did.

  • onlineterrorism

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 1:21 pm PT

    Too bad GRAW isn't realistic in the game play department. If it was like OGR, then this topic would make sense.

  • horioricorious

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 9:22 am PT

    poor world, having to deal with this pestilent country trying to get oil.

  • racerx737

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 9:10 am PT

    I'm surprised this article didn't include some politician jumping on the Popular Mechanics article as a reason to try to ban this game for being 'too realistic and harming the children's minds' or some BS like that ... wouldn't be surprised to see it happen

  • GunGriffin

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 8:57 am PT

    I hate to bring this up for all you pro military people but here are the facts about the stuff in use in GRAW2:

    Dagon Skin body armor:

    IS too heavy! It's wight alone is 50 LBs! You realy wan't our soldiers to lug that heavy body armor around? They carry about 50 LBs as it is! do the math 50 more is like 100LBs theres no way you could be effective with 100LBs on your body and still be able to shoot and run if needed.

    M8 assault rifle: US military already stated to the press 2 years ago they will not be buying this weapon. They said it's not made in the US and they don't wan't it. IE it's made by and German company. LWS: It's agian too heavy and you can bet money that one day sombody will come up with a way to block it and jam the information being sent to our troops on the ground. There are already ways to jam radar and satlites. How long do you think it would take for sombody to figure out how to stop a GPS? Not to mention there might be way too much information being sent to the soldier as it is! I think the standard infantry man is more worried about getting through the next day than whats going on at command.

  • Lonelynight

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 8:14 am PT

    If they hate it then why test it?

  • TheUnionFrag

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 7:41 am PT

    I don't like the way they're testing it in Iraq. Was that whole false war just a training and R&D excercise for new US military tech?

    Politics aside, t'was an interesting article

  • joshuahaveron

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 6:14 am PT

    scary thought, maybe in 20 years we will upgrade to cyborgs?

  • darknferno12

    Posted Apr 22, 2007 2:34 am PT

    Very interesting, doesn't seem to be very helpful NOW but you never know

  • Forelli_Boy

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 11:23 pm PT

    A Tom Clancy game has to involve a lot of research and speculation in order for it to earn the name of the author that has graced so many super-technical thrillers over the past few decades. Of course, when PM said they wanted a game "where military planners make mistakes, high-tech gear falls short in the field, and warfare feels as visceral, as uncertain and as terrifying as it always has been," they really need look no further than the OTHER wargames on the market.

  • westpoint2009

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 10:23 pm PT

    wait, are any of you actual soldiers or are you just commenting. We should leave these conclusions up th the grunts out in the field getting shot at.

  • dragonslayer22

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 8:38 pm PT

    next up: The weapons of gears of war and how you could use the hammer of dawn in your everyday life...

  • Rentago

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 7:40 pm PT

    Just imagine if jesus comes back to fight off the invading aliens becomes master chief, halo would be real too

  • Player1_HDS

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 7:39 pm PT

    Demoman286th

    "We spend billions of dollars in new technology and yet our boys still get killed by AK-47's and IED's. Just goes to show you that it isn't all about how fancy your tech is, but rather how sharp-witted you are."

    While that will always remain true, I'm still horrified by how young some of the "enemy" soldiers are becoming, after all a bullet from an Ak fired by a 21yr old has the same effect as a 8yr old.

  • tjrandall79

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 7:35 pm PT

    actually there's even a bit more sophisticated tech. in the mil. right now that would even surpass Clancy's 'text books' (acording to what ive read recently in articles through my email newsletters)

  • piratefalcon325

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 6:58 pm PT

    As a former infantryman in Iraq, this article pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about GRAW. Still a fun game, though.

  • r4v3gl0ry

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 6:56 pm PT

    Lol, I always thought of how it would be like to take video game weapons and make them into real-life weapons. It'd be a hell of a lot more useful in war. Now, if only we could get those plasma guns to work......................

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