Ghost Recon 2

A US Army Ghost team has been sent to Korea with the aim of foiling yet another Nuclear War. On our GameCubes, once again.

Having to choose a point from which to start, let’s choose the playful side of Ghost Recon 2 in order of importance. “Arcade” version of the same. Let’s start with the third-person view. Framing and cameras are not a problem for GR2 (conventionally we will call it that). The setup phase that preceded each mission has effectively disappeared, leaving room for a quick briefing. The storyline sees us as protagonists in North Korea to avert a possible nuclear war against the United States, after a Navy ship was shot down by a missile in the Sea of ​​Japan. A mere excuse to start, of course. Each level, however, is absolutely disconnected from each other, and once the incipit is given to the story, this becomes damn inconsistent and frayed, without any continuity, randomly placed there in an arbitrary and loose way along the total 14 levels. Obviously, the biggest problem with GR2 is not this, even if a more attractive and exciting “pretext” would be preferable for such a title. From the gameplay point of view, the new cut given to GR2 seems to have been created along the lines of SocomII. From controlling an entire squad or two, the action mostly shifts to our one character.

From controlling an entire team, the action mostly shifts to our one character

It is still possible to give orders to the other 3 members of the group, but this will be absolutely irrelevant for the purpose of completing the level. Indeed, often doing everything yourself will be preferable for speed and efficiency. Having eliminated the team setup session, the game is much more immediate and faster, but unfortunately it loses all its peculiar strategic feeling. Even the very structure of the levels encourages a lot of pure action and cuts the legs to any tactic. The levels are very linear and limited, and the feeling of being inside a large closed “box” will accompany us to the end credits. Many locations are inaccessible, such as enemy turrets you would like to climb over to get a wider view. Many hills that will show themselves to our eyes are merely accessory and aesthetic, as they are enclosed by a hateful invisible wall that will prevent us from climbing them. We are faced with a 3D shooter on rails, just what a war game should never do, especially if it is called Ghost Recon. However, the variety of weapons remains very valid, offering every kind of pistol, rifle or submachine gun imaginable.

While this Ghost Recon 2 ultimately turns out to be nothing more than a shoot’em up, unfortunately it also ends up being so boring and frustrating. The levels last on average 15-20 minutes, and are nothing more than a succession of moments of waiting for the enemy-shooting-still waiting. The aim of the Korean snipers is absolutely infallible, and with one shot they will be able to kill us instantly as we calmly advance with our troop. Learned every point where the enemy will fire, just avoid it or approach it with greater caution and the game will be done. Enemies will always appear in the same locations and will always shoot in the same directions. GR2 thus becomes a mnemonic game of identifying key points, mechanical and very frustrating since, moreover, there are no intermediate save points. Most of the time even boring as the playful part is reduced to the bone. Moving on to the audiovisual sector, there are not many improvements. The framerate is danceable, the textures are not very defined and the use of polygons is inexplicably parsimonious.

The framerate is dancer, the textures are not very defined and the use of polygons is thrifty

The animations of the characters are also not very graceful aesthetically. The use of colors is spot on and stylistically right, however, giving a (vague) impression of photorealism. The audio sector is on the contrary much more refined and decisive. Sounds and noises are reproduced at their best, and give the use of weapons a great feeling. Even the music, both in the game and on the menus, is excellent. Returning to the chapter “deductions”, it is worth noting the complete lack of the online game (but what was the ADSL adapter for cube used for?), But above all of any multiplayer cooperative mode, which is absolutely possible on GameCube. The absence of the multiplayer game weighs doubly given the scarcity of the single sector.

In conclusion, if the words used in the review were still not enough, the release of this Ghost Recon 2 on GameCube is merely accessory. Rarely in a video game of this genre have so many defects been found, of all kinds, at every level. From the lack of a plot of the plot to the absolute linearity of the levels, from the absence of tactics and setup of the mission to the mediocrity of the technical realization, passing through the invisible walls, bugs to the engine and the frustration given by the lack of intermediate save points, up the lack of all kinds of multiplayer modes, from online to live. A negative record that heavily undermines the name of this saga and that will certainly keep many players away.

Pros:
• Very good audio compartment
• Variety of weapons and equipment

Against:
• Technically mediocre
• Linear levels filled with invisible walls
• Lack of any multiplayer mode

Ghost Recon returns with a highly anticipated following from the enthusiast community. Ghost Recon is also back on Nintendo GameCube, with a different version than the PC and Xbox one, and completely comparable to the PlayStation2 one. There are many differences between the two that we will analyze in detail. To create this “second” chapter, the developers have also changed. The original Red Storm team makes room for the Ubi studio in Shanghai, and in this review we will find out together how they fared in the work they did. Ghost Recon has established itself in the market as a highly playable strategy of war, and this sequel has been appreciated on competing consoles for its qualities in multiplayer, both offline and online. Unfortunately, the GameCube version will not be able to take advantage of either of the two, and moreover the cut given to this sequel is diametrically opposite to that of the prequel.