The single player is on the short side, but the multiplayer will keep you busy

User Rating: 9.3 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike XBOX
Ok, before we get started on the review lets take a look back at the history of the Ghost Recon series on the XBOX: Ghost Recon was a game, that took the pick your squad gameplay on the Rainbow Six series, and created its own engine and instead of being focused on counter terrorism, it focused on future wars. Of course Tom Clany fanboys (myself included) jumped onto the bandwagon, and what did we get? A game with a fun single player and a completely awesome multiplayer that could make hours feel like minutes. Not to mention the final single player mission belongs in the history books because of it's spine chilling excitment. Then along came a game called Ghost Recon Island Thunder. This game was a expansion pack to the original Ghost Recon. This game featured more weapons, a different story, more levels, and the same great online play. The levels were in my opinion some of the greatest maps that I have ever played. Sadly this game fell short because it was way too short. Then came Ghost Recon 2. Ghost Recon 2 had completely updated graphics, a new third person view, new weapons, new storyline, and new multiplayer, that made the game a must buy for any Tom Clancy fan. It also introduced cutscenes to the series, because before this game, it was more of the reading the breifings before a mission. Sadly though, this game got repetative after awhile. This game also took after the idea of R63 where the player was one single player, and not switching back and forth. Now, there is Ghost Recon 2 Summit Strike. This game is to Ghost Recon 2 what Island Thunder was to the original. This game is not short though, and unlike the first Ghost Recon 2 it does not get repetative one bit. The graphics have been updated, just a little bit, but the big thing in this game is the cutscenes. The opening cutscene is probablly the coolest opening that I have seen in a video game for a long time. It explains the story really well, and a big two thumbs up to the people that made it. The briefings are now in cutscnes as well. They look pretty dang cool too. I just hope that Rainbow Six will get the idea soon enough. The story is pretty good. Like always someone in the far east has taken over a country and started their own army, and the ghosts are sent into intercept him. This game does not fall short however. The lack of Lone Wolf missions did not bug me, because I did not really enjoy those. This game really shows that the Splinter Cell series is not the only Clancy series that can pull a story off through cutscenes. The maps like in Island Thunder are just awesome. From city streets to the canyons in the desert. This game takes full use of Kazakhstan's enviroment. From snowy mountains, to city streets this game looks beautiful and the fact that there are so many different locations there is no repetition at all which was a problem in the first Ghost Recon 2. This game has some updated sound as well. The bullets sound great, the crashing of an enemy helicopter into the ground sounds great too. Your teamates have some voice chatter, but most of it is completely useless, but the voice overs in the cutscenes are not that bad either. This is a solid game in the sound department, because the music in teh background is great too. As for replay value, this game has it all. It has the multiplayer that Tom Clancy games are famous for. Not to mention, if you are a die hard fan of the game, you will play through the game atleast twice, and you will play all the co-op possibilities with your friends. Tom Clancy has made another game, that is virtually flawless. I cannot think of anything that is wrong with this game. This game is utterly perfect. The graphics are great, there are awesome cutscenes, great multiplayer, great variety of maps, and pretty much everything else that a Tom Clancy fan needs to enjoy a game. If you do not have this game, and you are looking for a fun military shooter ( I know I always am), you cannot go wrong with this game. The single player mode is fun and new, and the multiplayer is classic.