Ghost Recon 2 materializes

After unveiling Far Cry Instincts and Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow yesterday, today Ubisoft pulled a product-announcement hat trick when it revealed work is under way on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2. In development by Ubisoft's internal Red Storm studio, the game will be the first follow-up to the current crop of Ghost Recons, which include Ghost Recon, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert Siege, Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm, and Ghost Recon: Island Thunder.

Though Ubisoft did say Ghost Recon 2 is scheduled for a holiday 2004 release, it demurred about the game's specifics. "Ghost Recon has established itself as a megaselling franchise, and we've retained the core elements that made the first game such a success," said Ubisoft president Laurent Detoc. "We've retooled and improved every aspect of the game and have integrated a host of incredible new features."

The Ubisoft announcement did promise that Ghost Recon 2 would be released for both PCs and unspecified consoles. Besides retaining multiplayer functionality, the game will feature a "completely redesigned graphics engine" and "the most intuitive gameplay to date." As for its plot, Ubisoft said only that it would be set in East Asia and would have "an emotionally charged storyline."

GameSpot will have more details on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 as they become available