GRAW is an immersive and atmospheric experience. Similar to Rainbow Six but this is intense town, not room, clearing.
Reviews suggest that GRAW is not for everyone ... it's not COD, MOH or Delta Force. Of the games I have played it is closer to the Rainbow Six style "tactical shooters" albeit at a different scale of operations. The scale suggests it should be similar to Brothers in Arms however BiA seems to have intuitively more logical commands for the AI team. No doubt it is closest cousins are the Ghost Recon games alas, while I own them, I'm yet to play, as GRAW seemed more interesting to dive into first (plus I like to see the gun my character is holding not just a target reticule).
GRAW can be a difficult game to categorise; it's not a "pure" tactical shooter on par with, say Rainbow Six or SWAT games ... in GRAW your "battlefield" is the streets and plazas of Mexico City rather than corridors and rooms ... although beware as the enemy is still waiting around the corner! Nor is GRAW a "solo man" player FPS (like COD, COH or MOH) ... you WILL need the assistance of your AI team mates although in two of the eleven (11) missions you will be on your own. The GRAW team AI is OK, but not faultless. You will notice that when you issue orders sometimes the AI moves exactly where you want them and sometimes it's a case of near enough is good enough. Your AI team mates reactions to the "attack" and "cover" commands can vary. I recall instances where the enemy was firing from a distance and you could safely shelter on one side of a low wall ... I issued a move order but my AI team mate went to the wrong side of the wall and he paid the ultimate price. Perhaps it was the heat of battle!
Enemy AI likewise varies in its quality ... however the guys on the fixed MGs are usually deadly. The tactical map is indispensible in most missions and gives a reasonable handle on where the enemy is whether you want or need to avoid it or attack it. When using the tactical map try to move your team mates provide them with a number of waypoints or they will "improvise" sometimes with unexpected/undesired results like going around the wrong side of a building or other cover and get themselves shot! Occasionally (it happened to me a few times) your AI guys will try to get to a location but due to some obstruction encountered on will become stuck ... simply reissue the move command so they can avoid/walk around/past the obstruction.
Despite this your AI team mates generally do the right thing but you should avoid using them to "explore" a new map section ... they are more likely to stumble into a crossfire than you are (that is if you use the Q and E buttons to peek around corners before you stick your whole head out). So scout ahead, use the tactical map and then send them in so that they provide mutual cover (use bounding advances with cover provided diagonally across a street).
I try to preserve the whole AI team for later in a particular missions ... you will need them to support you in intense fire fights that sometimes occur in the final stage of a number of missions (eg. I first learned this in the post VIP evacuation section of the "VIP 2 is down" mission and replayed the mission until I progressed to having at least 2 of 3 surviving to get to mission completion).
Remember to use your waypoint marker (yellow triangle on your tactical view that shows up as a distance-to marker on your HUD) to highlight enemey positions/snipers so you can edge out from behind cover to take that all important shot!
Missions in GRAW are reasonably difficult and you WILL need to use your tactical map to work out the best way to "take down" the part of the city you wish to advance to or through. The automatic game save system can be frustrating especially when you have traversed 4 city blocks and are almost at the save point and get taken out ... only to start from the last save point all
the way back.
The mission maps do NOT work on a simalar basis to say COD or MOH where you are generally "locked into" progressing in a preordained way ... you pretty much choose your own path. So think like Rainbow Six ... except instead of working out the best way to "take down" an enemy occupied room you need to work on streets (instead of corridors) and plazas (instead of rooms). If you take this approach you should be able to progress reasonably well. You will die, but the lessons learned will be worth it (as the bad guys generally respawn in the same places and react similarly which to some degree compensates for the lack of quick saves).
To be honest over the course of the game I have had a "love-hate relationship" with it as I progressed through the missions. At times it seemed it was inordinately difficult to complete a mission. However as the enemy units reappear in (more or less) the same locations you will get through (eventually) but sometimes it seems like a fair bit of luck is involved. Sometimes that surreptitious peek around the corner to check for the enemy is the last thing you will do. Bang!
For the record I found the following the most difficult mission segments ... of course in GRAW there are many ways to skin the cat and perhaps I failed to find the best solution or route:
o "VIP 2 is down": the final stand-off at the destroyed US Embassy (after VIP 2 is evacuated) will demand your full attention and as noted above you WILL need your AI teammates to help fend of the multiple asssaults off.
o "Mayday! Mayday!": getting past the numerous defending units and then into the castle grounds to spot the artillery unit for destruction by air support. (Beats me why if I can see these targets in my tactical viewer the air support teams can't.) You are on your own in this mission ... your AI teammates are back at base on R&R ... lucky for them!
o "Ready for Bear": shooting down the enemy Havoc helicopters seemed to depend more on luck than good management.
o "Quarterback": the first section of this mission, getting to the shanty town, had its moments due to a well defended road block and snipers. It's well worth exploring different approaches to try and flank the enemy position, just watch out for snipers!
o "Guardrail IX": again you are on your own and getting to the enemy building atop of which sits the antenna that must be destroyed can be frustrating ... I swung out to the west, headed north, and came through the railway yards after several goes using a more direct approach ... just watch out for those snipers in the nearby towers!
The final mission "NORAD on the line" was relatively easy, except for entering the half-destroyed US Embassy ... use the grenade launcher from a distance to clean out the snipers hiding in the rubble on the floors and grenades before you enter the compund.
No one mission is difficult all the way through ... each has its difficult/challenging segments BUT you must complete the whole mission to move to the next one. Oh yes, you will notice that your presumed KIA AI teammates will reappear at the start of the next mission ... presumably rescued via medevac and treated at the local clearing station ready to go go go again! Alas you MUST survive to continue ... no medevac for you!
Note: the first mission is a training mission to teach you the system ... once it is over you can select the equipment loadouts for yourself and AI teammates ... there are three (3) weapons (or 2 weapons & extra ammo) you can carry though this is not so clear when you first see the load out screen (the third blank "slot" is used for extra ammo, grenades or the AT launcher).
You cannot pick up enemy weapons or ammo however in some longer missions you are re-supplied. There are no health booster packs ... if you take sufficient damage you die and the mission ends ... ready to be replayed from the last save "checkpoint".
GRAW graphics are very good. I did not notice any of the "bugs" mentioned in other reviews having applied the latest patch (v1.35) and having a top end (late 2008 model) PC. The game is quite atmospheric with deserted streets and rubbish blowing across the the filed of view.
The music and sound effects are used to good effect. There are numerous weapons choices and I tended to go with the SCAR-L (2nd choice: MR-C) fitted with combat sight and grenade launcher and the MP5-SD combo and extra grenades for the launcher. The grenade launcher is a great way to deal with those dealy enemy HMG set ups and bunkers. I never used the sniper rifle or SMG during the campaign (and always replaced the sniper rifle with an alternate assault rifle for my AI team mate) ... perhaps I'll give these alternate weapons loadouts a go when/if I replay some of the missions.
SUMMARY: GRAW is a "realistic" modern combat game. The plausability of the Mexican coup scenario depicted, like all such "modern era" games, is questionable (and as is fashionable these days the rebels are called "terrorists") but this game story is enjoyable in its own right. Graphics are very good, gameplay is excellent (once you get used to it) and be warned this is a difficult game (that, like Men of Valor, can become frustrating because of the save system). You just need to perservere!
Overall and in retrospect I did enjoy this game and will move onto playing GRAW2 in due course (after finishing Rainbow Six Vegas 2).
I'm not an online multiplayer fan however you can get a reasonable taste of it playing the LAN versions of the CO-OP and OGR CO-OP games ... these are quite tough but a good way to hone your skills.