G-pinions

I guess it's time I spoke a bit about Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. I feel like I'm wasting ever so much space by spelling the name out in full, but some of our readers aren't really...how you say...gamers. Or hate acronyms. Anyhow, I've never been a fan of anything with Tom Clancy's name on it. I haven't seen The Hunt for Red October, but outside of Connery I'm sure I'd bored to tears. I've actively avoided the previous Ghost Recons and Rainbow Sixes, and speak out daily against Splinter Cell. My main two problems with all three series lie with the unintuitive controls and unforgiving gameplay. That little jump-split-your-legs-in-an-alley maneuver you can do in Splinter Cell? Cool in theory, but not something you can pull off at a moments notice. The control sets consist of a laundry list of very specific moves, which you have to actively remember and utilize in each circumstance to advance and/or get the most out of the level design. Not user-friendly games, in short.

All that jazz said, GRAW is a very well-made game, and the first truly next-gen experience I've had on the 360 (Fight Night R3 was VERY close to one). It looks stunning, scarily so sometimes. Defending the Mexican president from the blown-out US embassy with soldiers coming at me from all sides made my heart race, and never let up for the twenty tries it took me to beat it (had to restart the level and get there with more health and a gun that could zoom). I was quite shaken afterwards, and for the next several hours. When graphics can do something like that to you, you realize just how far we've come. The CrossCom is a pretty brilliant addition too (in single player specifically), allowing you to see through the eyes of your squadmates or a hovering, commandable scout drone that highlights enemies on your HUD.

The gameplay is fairly straightforward military shooter fare, with a lot of scouting, moving your troops around and getting killed. Some pretty handy combat moves are always at your disposal, hugging walls and such, though they're never as easy to pull off as they should be. My main problem with the single-player is how inconsistent your squadmate's AI is (as most reviews seem to recognize). It's cool when your buddies follow you and position themselves intelligently on all sides of a truck, but not so much when they just stop moving and decide they're not taking commands for the rest of the missions. Considering the levels are very much designed around squad tactics for full enjoyment, it's frustrating when you have to go it alone as a result of sloppy programming. And, as always, Freedom Fighters did squad commands infinitely better than anyone ever has - anything else seems over complex and yet underpowered in comparison (you can't even order your ghosts around individually - lame).

The graphics really are stunning though. I've never been in Mexico City at dusk, but I now know exactly how it looks. The lighting changes when the sun goes behind clouds, and your eyes have to adjust to the light coming out of a darker area. It draws you in quite quickly, and almost makes you feel like they didn't design the city, they just made a game in it. Multiplayer, which supposedly looks worse as a result of it's different engine, never ceases to impress visually. From undulating grassy hills to swaying palm trees to water droplets splashing, there are dozens of effects I have never seen in a game before. Even the physics are up to par, with some pretty rewarding ragdoll kills to be had.

As for the multiplayer, it's good. Quite good. But ultimately, like all things, it's no Halo. It plays well, and the game type options are myriad, but the weapon balance and level design leads to a bit too much camping and reliance on not playing like a jackass. Games with buddies can be a blast, but even getting into a game against random folk is a chore, nevermind enjoying it. I popped Halo 2 in for the first time in months last night for some comparison and to catch up with some buddies, and was SHOCKED at how quickly I picked up the controls again. It was like riding an elephant, or something. Even throwing a grenade in GRAW takes considerable effort, which isn't much fun under any circumstance. Oh, and for all it's glaring missteps, PDZ did a couple things right - making everyone not on your team universally red, and having analog zoom. The former really helps confusion and is sorely missed here (your teammates should NEVER be red), while the latter just felt nice. The drone also doesn't work nearly as well in multiplayer, as it covers far too large an area of the map, anyone on a team can control it, and it has no visual indicator for taking damage.

All in all, I'm enjoying both the solo and multiplayer sides of the game, even if I have my significant beefs with both. It's the kind of experience that is so exquisitely crafted in some regards, you can step outside your genre for a bit and still have some fun. More to come I'm sure.