"De Oppresso Liber"...Ghost Recon

Without a doubt, Tom Clancy and Red Storm Entertainment single-handedly shaped, defined, and introduced the "tactical shooter" into America's popular mainstream with their ground-breaking release, Rainbow Six (1998). Since that time, the name "Tom Clancy" has become synonymous with unconventional warfare and espionage action in video games. Feel like infiltrating a top-secret government complex as a covert Black Ops agent, gathering intel, and saving the world...? Or is taking down an international terrorist cell as assault team leader of an elite joint task force more up your alley...? Whatever the subject, you pretty much know by now what to expect from a title bearing the "Clancy" brand name. Rainbow Six went on to become the first entry in a highly successful series, spawning numerous sequels and expansion packs that have kept the franchise going strong. But more important than that is the lasting effect it left on the gaming industry as a whole. On top of being the highest regarded shooter of that year, Rainbow Six also created one of the most exciting and innovative genres in the FPS universe today --- the squad-based combat simulator.

"Tactical" describes a military shooting game that is based more upon the human characteristics of combat within a virtual environment, unlike most "conventional" shooters that take place somewhere in outer space where the hero can sustain an impossible number of bullet hits before finally succumbing to his wounds. As in life, if you eat a bullet in this world, it could be fatal. The objective here is to not get hit, to avoid any possible casualties to yourself and your teammates, and to coordinate your mission with such a professional efficiency to ensure that it won't --- just like in real-life. The emphasis of a tactical shooter focuses more on the strategic planning, tactical maneuvering, and accurate firing of your squad in a stealthy manner to take out all enemy opposition in the area, which usually outnumbers your group in a force of 5-to-1. Also known as "soldier sims", these games are designed with the full intention of authentically simulating the realistic battlefield conditions and life-threatening scenarios that our highly-qualified men in special operations face every day while deployed overseas in hostile foreign countries during times of global conflict. Land navigation, tactical evasion, enemy reconnaissance, precision marksmanship, combat shooting techniques, demolitions, immediate action drills (IADs), communications...these are the military protocols stressed in the tactical shooter. Even the primary and secondary weapons of the elite SOF commando are glamorized in a larger-than-life style...pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, and all their respective optional attachments are drawn and presented to the finest detail.

Perhaps the very best of this squad-based shooting lot is Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2001). In it, you take control as one of America's premiere special operational detachments: the United States Army Special Forces, a.k.a. "Green Berets", 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Battalion, D Company. Although the official designation of the unit in the game is fictional, the group itself is very much real. When you think of the United States Army's SOF capabilities, three major forces immediately spring to mind: Rangers, Delta Force, and Green Berets. The 75th Ranger Regiment is a highly versatile mobile infantry group, specializing in airborne assaults and platoon-size infantry operations. Delta Force is an elite counter-terrorism unit, modeled after the British Special Air Service (SAS) and highly secretive, specializing in the apprehension and elimination of potential terrorist threats. The Special Forces, however, are an entirely different breed of animal...they are SOF experts in counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare, survivalists capable of living off the land for extended periods of time (don't ask how...), and totally bada**. This specially trained group of soldiers is the unit that Ghost Recon centers itself around, and by God, if it isn't FUN to play!!

Just as Rainbow Six was an immersive exercise in urban close-quarters tactics (CQT), Ghost Recon is a comprehensive field-training exercise of unconventional warfare techniques in woodland and desert environments. The gameplay in this type of shooter is drastically slower than it is in other FPS titles, more methodically paced and strategic-oriented. It is also this very reason why hardcore fans of high-octane shooting tend to stray from Ghost Recon and stick with more commercially popular games like Halo. The key to success here is NOT to charge in with guns blazing...pull a stunt like that in a real operation and you could find out just how painful a 7.62 mm slug to the chest can be. No, as a commanding officer in a Special Forces fireteam, your primary objective is to eliminate the enemy while posing the lowest possible threat to yourself and the lives of your teammates, as well as completing the goals of your mission without revealing your location on the battlefield. Ghost Recon was designed to realistically simulate an actual reconnaissance battlefield experience, so you will not be seeing any over-the-top Hollywood action sequences here. The technical specs in this port were just not meant to handle an "up close and personal" battle of that intensity. Picking your targets off from a safe 100 meters away is the name of the game here, folks. Stalking your prey through the woods...moving silently under cover of dense foilage and thick underbrush...zooming in on the kill with your 4x optical sighting scope...keeping an eye out for patrolling "tangos" in the area...pulling focus...and BANG!! Sound cool? If you are someone who is fascinated by these men and the type of work they do, as well as the physical stamina, mental skill, and solid perseverance that is required in becoming a master of the trade, then Ghost Recon is the military mecca for you.

Welcome to the club of "Quiet Professionals."


The War against Fascism
Eastern Europe, 2008. Radical ultra-nationalists have seized control in Moscow, thrusting the region into civil war. Their primary goal: the reestablishment of the old Soviet empire. By joining forces with the surrounding rebel factions of Georgia and the Baltic States, they have quickly pushed the extremities of the situation to international proportions. Russian tanks sit poised on the edge of the Caucausis Mountains, ready to strike to the south. The world holds its breath, and waits...

For the U.S. Army Special Forces, the war has already begun. Deployed on peacekeeping duties deep in the heart of the conflict, their primary mission is to silence the rebellion at all costs. Armed with the latest military technology and trained in the deadliest techniques of covert warfare, this small group of elite Green Berets is the very best that the United States Army Special Operations Command has to offer. They strike swiftly, silently, invisibly. They call themselves...the "Ghosts."


Battlefield: Georgia
Rugged back country, dense forests, spacious valleys, open meadows, third-world villages, city squares...these are a few of the Special Forces commando's favorite things. It is also the world in which you will operate in Ghost Recon. Even though this game is now almost six years old, the environments still look incredibly realistic and highly detailed for a 2001 shooter. Redwood trees sway gently in the breeze, leaves and branches obscure your vision while creeping through underbrush, and mossy vegetation and other forms of Balkan flora dot the region. The fields and meadowlands of the Georgia landscape are vast, but unfortunately, the territorial boundary lines in each stage are not. While the crisp, digitized graphics in Ghost Recon create the illusion of a large and expansive world, the reality of it is that your soldier can make the hump from one side of the map to another in a couple of minutes time. Manuevering and coordinating your offensive attack within these outdoor parameters, however, is highly engrossing, and the surrounding environments are so richly detailed and immersive that you will never notice just how claustrophobic most of the missions really can be.

Enhanced graphics, such as night vision and precision zooming, are also available to you and your fireteam. During nighttime missions, the night vision goggles are absolutely essential...enemies stand out in a phosphorous green glow against the black fauna of the surrounding environments, adding an authentic realism to the operation even from miles away. Your peripheral vision is somewhat reduced while wearing the goggles, since you are viewing the world through a photoelectric lense, so 20% of your sight will always be cut off while equipped with the high-tech apparatus. However, the majority of Ghost Recon's missions take place in the mornings and afternoons, so the zooming capabilities of your riflemen and snipers become the crucible to your fireteam's survival during these daytime operations. You will remain camouflaged by slowly "shuffling" towards the target area, keeping a good distance and staying low to the ground, and reconning an enemy territory through your rifle scopes and binocular lenses. This is the whole point of the game...slowly hunting down your objectives in the woods while keeping your teammates covered, and upon locating them, studying enemy patrol patterns and areas of opportunity from afar and planning your assault accordingly.

Overall, the graphics are crisp and clean, if not a little smudgy. Character animations are smooth and fluid, and the computer AI is intelligent enough to make you buy into the whole situation. Enemy soldiers will run and duck behind cover at the sound of a gunshot, and their shooting is dangerously accurate from fifty yards away. The members of your squad also behave in a convincing fashion, periodically wiping their brows and examining their weapons. Sadly, there are no in-game weapon models of the firearms that your soldiers are carrying. Instead, there is only a little shooting recticle that represents the business end of your assault rifle that you use to aim at your enemies. Where the visuals take a SERIOUS blow, however, is in the very slooow graphical lag you have to put up with while zooming both inside and out of your shooting recticle. This becomes increasingly frustrating throughout the course of the game...even though the emphasis of Ghost Recon is "smooth and steady", the frame-rate itself is anything but. You are almost forced into doing everything in super slow-motion to achieve a smooth gameplay experience...turning, strafing, aiming, you name it. This game could have been so much more if the frame-rate had been as pleasant as the graphics are.


Sounds of Combat
Where Ghost Recon makes up for its graphical limitations is in its audio achievements. All of the prerequisite shooting, exploding, and general sounds of warfare are here. The firing rounds that each weapon makes (whether friendly or hostile) all sound authentic and unique to their individual family of firearms. Russian AK-47s generate a heavy, gustier blast...American M16A2 and M4A1 assault rifles issue a precise, staccato-like burst...the M60 machine gun, M249 SAW light machine gun, M24 and M98 sniper rifles sound larger and more powerful by far...and the explosions created by hand grenades and claymore mines are compact and disastrous. Moving through miles of open fields and thick woods sounds realistic enough, too...twigs and cobblestone crush underneath your boots, leaves and branches hiss! across your uniform as you brush past them, and loose buckles and ammo clips jingle on your body while you run, shuffle, or crawl across the terrain.

The highlight of Ghost Recon's audio is its musical soundtrack, though. A spectacular blend of rousing military anthems, stealthy hunting tunes, and fast-paced action pieces make up the body of composer Bill Brown's work on this title. Similar to any feature film about high-tech covert warfare, Brown's style of cutting edge orchestral music definitely gets you thinking "green" during the gameplay, and "red, white, and blue" on the After Action mission statistic screens. Although most of the game is played without any music at all, these short musical bits are usually cued for a brief moment by engaging the enemy or making an exceptional kill from far away. The score also provides a nice soundtrack to the opening and closing FMV video sequences, as well as all of the other cinematic clips that wrap up each mission in the game.

Voice acting is sparse, but relatively well done. Your Green Berets sound professional and deadly calm in the heat of battle, issuing a "Kill confirmed" or "Target eliminated" response over your comms systems every time that an enemy has been eliminated. During each stage's Mission Briefing, a dry and somewhat uninterested voice reads off the dialogue and mission objectives to you and your squad, but you will more than likely skip after this once you have completed a mission or two. Objectives can be seen by simply pressing the Start button during gameplay, so save yourself the boring speech if you want.


Operation Kick Some A**
In Ghost Recon, you have the option of controlling two separate fireteams in your platoon, codenamed Alpha and Bravo. Each team is composed of three available soldier slots, allowing you to fully build and customize your fireteams according to the individual specs of each mission. There are four soldier classes to choose from, all specializing in their own area of expertise and equipped with a unique selection of battlefield accessories, known as "weapons kits". These are simply equipment kits made up of a primary and secondary weapon that the soldier can take into battle with him, depending on his class.

Rifleman: the most versatile soldier on the battlefield, can use a variety of different weapons kits, ideal for leadership positions, provides the majority of available personnel on the battlefield. Primary weapon is the M16A2/M203 grenade launcher, with an optional M9 pistol, additional magazines, or binoculars attachment.

Support: a walking "one-man army", whose main role is to provide high volumes of suppressive fire for his fireteam. Primary weapon is the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), and can carry M67 "frag" grenades or Claymore mines.

Demo: this highly trained soldier specializes in demolitions and anti-tank support, and plays an important role in completing most mission objectives. Primary weapon is the M4A1 assault rifle, capable of carrying demolition "shape" charges, frags, extra ammo, or the M136 AT4 light anti-tank rocket launcher.

Sniper: specializing in stealth, concealment, and "long range kills". Not ideal for any close-quarters battle situation, must rely on his company's offensive reinforcement for survival. Equipped with camouflaged Ghillie suit, his primary weapon is the M24 Sniper Weapon System, capable of carrying a silenced M9 pistol, frags, or extra ammo.

One of the initiatives to completing a perfect mission is that you will unlock a "specialist" soldier from the NATO warrior community everytime you do. On loan from foreign governments for special operations, these specialist soldiers are more experienced than the Ghosts and come equipped with more combat attributes. They are also equipped with the unique military weapons from their native homelands, such as the British SA-80 assault rifle and even the legendary OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) from the U.S. Army program. As you progress further through the game, you will need their advanced expertise in making some of the harder missions easier to complete.

The cool thing about Ghost Recon was that it provided a whole new combat experience for gamers, giving them total control over their fireteams, their offensive attack capabilities, and their individual experience growth. By utilizing the Command Interface (a detailed topographical map of the battlefield, including status cards that display the current physical conditions and commanding orders of every soldier in your platoon), you can choose to operate as any one of the six soldiers in your detachment at any time, as well as fully controlling the actions and movement patterns of the other fireteam that is not currently in use. For example, if you wanted to flank a target building from both sides, you can position your operating team on the left, while ordering the computer to advance your second team on the right by using the Command Interface. Simply assign a series of "waypoints" on the digital map, and the other fireteam will plan the best path in which to follow those points to the objective. When the group arrives at their destination, you can also assign a "firing arc" for that team to cover the area of most expected resistance, by pointing a yellow vision cone on the interface that will focus their line of fire in the right direction once they stop. In addition to that, you can also control each team's ROEs (Rules of Engagement) for movement, by ordering them to Hold, Advance, or Advance at All Costs; and in combat, by ordering them to Assault, Suppress, or Recon.

Every soldier has a set of Statistic and Combat Points assigned to them, evaluating their skill in four main areas: Weapon, his accuracy with firearms, reflected in how quick he can sight a target; Stealth, his skill at moving quietly, reflected in how close he can get to an enemy before being spotted; Endurance, his ability to sustain physical damage, reflected in how many bullets he can take before perishing; and Leadership, his ability to make all the soldiers in his fireteam better in their individual Statistic skills. After completing a mission, every soldier that made it through alive is awarded a Combat Point for you to apply to their personal Statistics, allowing you to upgrade your warriors to your own specifications and likenesses.

The only letdown to the Playstation 2 port of Ghost Recon is the fact that it does not support any online capability. Multiplayer is supported, and is pretty fun to play on a split screen, but the meat of the game lies in its campaign mode. Of course, you can always go back and enjoy previous stages in different ways, by playing a "Quick Mission". In this option, you have a choice of three game types: Mission, the original campaign story complete with objectives; Firefight, eliminating all enemy opposition spread throughout the board only; and Recon, get your fireteam from an insertion zone to the extraction zone without any casualties. You can also choose to play your mission on three difficulty levels: Recruit, Veteran, and Elite. Personally, I recommend Elite mode...this is the closest simulation to a real-life operation as you can get.


Desert Siege
It is also worth mentioning that the Desert Siege expansion pack comes included with the Playstation 2 port. Set in 2009, just after the events in Ghost Recon, hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia have risen once again on the African continent. An evil Colonel Tesfaye Wolde of the Ethiopian military was one of the prominent figures who participated in illegal arms smuggling with the Russian ultra-nationalists in 2008. Wolde has invaded Eritrea with plans for a hostile takeover, and the Ghosts have been sent in to stop it. This expansion pack offers 8 new maps on top of the original 15 missions in Ghost Recon, which brings the game's value up some, but not by much. Desert Siege is basically more of the same stuff, just set against the sandy deserts and rocky beaches of the African coastline. For die-hard Ghost Recon fans, however, this is a definite plus, and the levels are entertaining and immersive enough to make you play through them more than once.


Final Thoughts:
Red Storm Entertainment did an excellent job of depicting Tom Clancy's black ops universe with Ghost Recon. The real-world tactics and military strategies involved in the gameplay are what has kept this title at the very top of the tactical shooting heap for almost six years now. Although the game has been become somewhat outdated by traditional gaming standards, it is still an undisputed classic in the first-person shooting realm. There is no denying that a franchise like Zipper Interactive's SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALS is far superior to Tom Clancy's in its massive selection of command options, coordinating tactics, and overall functionality. But for fans of ultra-realism at its finest, Ghost Recon is the very best the genre has yet to offer.