Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Preview
We visit Red Storm's offices and get briefed on this tactical and extremely technical first-person shooter.
Here's a stumper for you: Why would a company that's produced some of the most wildly popular first-person shooters choose to make its next FPS a "B" title? The answer, at least for Red Storm Entertainment, is simple--the "B" means bigger, badder, bolder, and better. Bigger maps. Badder enemies. Bolder graphics. Better artificial intelligence. You'll find all these things and much more in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (Ghost Recon from here on out), a squad-based warfare simulation that probably comes closer than any PC simulation to capturing the true essence of 21st-century infantry warfare.
Despite the zooming popularity of squad-based warfare simulations, Ghost Recon is undeniably its own game--this is definitely not a cookie-cutter title cranked out to cash in on the popularity of a rising genre. Take vehicles, for instance. Though they're featured in many of the missions, you won't have the ability to jump in and take control of them as you can in Operation Flashpoint or even the futuristic Tribes, and unlike the overly ambitious World War II Online, Ghost Recon limits its multiplayer games to 36 combatants.
Why leave out the ability to take command of military vehicles or fight on a grand scale when both are clear draws for gamers (read: potential consumers)? The reason is simple: Red Storm would rather get everything it does right, rather than trying to do everything and getting some of it wrong. And who can blame the company? The same formula produced smashing results for Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear, the forebears of Ghost Recon, and after seeing the game in action at the Red Storm studios, it's clear that the development team's attention to detail is likely to produce one of the most compelling games of the year.
While Ghost Recon takes many of its cues from the Rainbow Six line, its inception was actually spurred by forces outside Red Storm Entertainment. According to Ghost Recon producer Darren Chukitus, Red Storm was contacted by the US Army regarding the possibility of creating a mainframe-based simulation that the Army could use to simulate modern battlefield tactics and situations. "We weren't very interested in creating that kind of simulation," says Chukitus, "but it did get us interested in creating a simulation of modern warfare."
His interest sparked by the conversations, Chukitus took a trip to Fort Bragg to check out the Army's latest and greatest concept: Land Warrior, immanently familiar to PC game fans thanks to NovaLogic's Delta Force line. For those not in the know, the Land Warrior system goes hand-in-hand with those ads you see on TV about an "Army of One"--each soldier is equipped with a global positioning system integrated into a computer/radio subsystem, and weapons have video-capture capabilities and troops can use night-vision technology and infrared targeting. There's also a new assault helmet in the game (which can stop direct hits from 9mm weapons) and plated body armor that can halt a round from a 7.62mm rifle.
But the crucial factor for Chukitus was the new paradigm of warfare. "What type of combat do we face?" he asks, and the answer is obvious: small-scale operations against guerrilla and terrorist groups equipped with hard-hitting weapons and an almost insane will to survive. This reality provides the perfect context for moving the high-tech but claustrophobic worlds of Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear into an external environment--and that's just what Red Storm has done with Ghost Recon.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Quick Links
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- Ubisoft
- Red Storm Ent.
- Modern Tactical Shooter
- Release: Nov 13, 2001 »
- ESRB: Mature
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