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[PC] [ONE] [PS4] Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

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Unread postby icycalm » 16 Jun 2015 05:21

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_e3_ghost_ ... 63_en.html

Game2k wrote:E3: Ghost Recon: Wildlands unveiled

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Just announced by Ubisoft, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands goes open-world and brings us to Bolivia. Trailer and screens inside.

UBISOFT® ANNOUNCES TOM CLANCY’S
GHOST RECON® WILDLANDS; LEGENDARY MILITARY SHOOTER FRANCHISE GOES OPEN WORLD

The Ghosts Infiltrate Ubisoft’s New Massive, Gritty and
Responsive Playground Inspired by South America


LOS ANGELES — June 15, 2015 — Today, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Ubisoft® announced the development of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands, a new entry in the acclaimed Ghost Recon series and the franchise’s first open world title. Ghost Recon Wildlands is scheduled to be released on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

Development on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is being led by Ubisoft Paris in collaboration with five other Ubisoft studios*.

Set a few years from now, Ghost Recon Wildlands lets players lead a team of Ghosts, a four-player U.S. Elite Special Operations unit, on a covert mission to eliminate the Santa Blanca drug cartel, an underworld power and growing global threat within Ubisoft’s imagining of an incredibly beautiful, yet dangerous Bolivia. Ghost Recon Wildlands takes place in the largest and most diverse action-adventure open world Ubisoft has created to date. With hundreds of villages and well-known landmarks, local legends and various factions and regions, players venture into a vast world with which to interact and explore. The Ghosts’ upgradable skills, along with a vast arsenal of weapons, vehicles and drones, will help them take down their almighty enemy.

“With Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, we’re moving the Ghost Recon franchise in a new direction, with a massive, beautiful and living open world that reacts to players’ choices,” said Nouredine Abboud, Senior Producer, Ubisoft. “Whether going it alone or teaming up with friends in co-op, players in Ghost Recon Wildlands will never encounter the same situation twice, providing amazing possibilities and creative freedom to cultivate very personal stories and experiences with the game.”

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands gives players unprecedented freedom. Players can engage in the entire game solo or team up with up to three friends in co-op to roam freely in this gigantic playground. Players will have complete flexibility in how they tackle the game’s story, missions and objectives, as well as their approach, whether it’s stealth, distraction, tactical or frontal assault, or a combination of styles. As a member of the Ghosts, players face countless difficult decisions, and those choices have tangible - and often unexpected - consequences for enemies and allies alike creating dynamic and emergent gameplay throughout.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please visit ghostrecon.com.

*Associate studios are Ubisoft Annecy, Bucharest, Montpellier, Milan and Reflections studios.


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http://www.gamersyde.com/hqstream_tom_c ... 75_en.html
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Unread postby icycalm » 19 Jun 2015 06:50

http://www.comingsoon.net/games/feature ... new-ground

Spencer Perry wrote:E3 Reaction: Ghost Recon Wildlands Takes the Franchise to Bold New Ground

I have fond memories of playing the original Ghost Recon games. In fact, there was something about their simplicity that really made them fun in their time. The ghosts have long been absent from the gaming world, but now Ubisoft is bringing them back and bigger than ever in Ghost Recon Wildlands. The game is set in a near-distant future where Bolivia has become the world’s largest cocaine distributors and the cartel has partnered up with the corrupt government. Naturally the only solution to this problem is to take highly-trained operatives and plant them inside the country with the purposes of eliminating the drug lords.

The demo I witnessed had four ghosts given the objective of retrieving a member of the cartel who had been imprisoned after they realized he was a rat. All four of the ghosts were on different areas of the map, this was on purpose so we could see how the game can be played alone or with a group. In fact, the ranges of the map are very diverse and flow well. From mountains to deserts to forests to lakes, there’s everything you could imagine in a whole country. One ghost, who was running around a farm for some reason, was the closest to a cartel member that could provide intel on their target. Single handily he took down guards and apprehended the lieutenant, successfully gaining the information.

Ghost 1 then met up with Ghost 2 and they drove to a nearby town. Meanwhile, Ghosts 3 and 4 were approaching from the other side of the map in a buggy they had stolen. It’s strange how different “Wildlands” is from previous Ghost Recon titles, it’s far more in line with the likes of Just Cause or Grand Theft Auto due to it’s gigantic map (the largest open world in any action Ubisoft title) and that if there is something you can drive in the game, be it a car, boat, or plane, you can take it. Players also have the option of dropping in or out of the game at any point in time. Is your friend in a pinch and needs a hand? Hop in the game and give him one.

The four ghosts approached a helicopter they needed to steal from the government from two different directions. Upon their arrival, they noticed that a cartel representative and the military officer were having a bit of a spat and used it to their advantage. Ghost 4 got in position on a hill and took out a cartel member with his sniper rifle, forcing a firefight to erupt. In the confusion, the ghosts were able to take out the remaining soldiers and successfully take the helicopter.

They flew the chopper into position and two ghosts parachuted out. The pair landed near the target and got him from his cage. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of the area and were surrounded by guards. In that situation, the good news is they have a ton of bullets on their side. They managed to take out the eight guards and find a nearby car, stuffing the target into the trunk before hopping in themselves. Their little expedition had sounded the alarm, though, and more guards were prepared to meet them on the hill nearby.

The squad drove through, dispatching enemies they encountered and providing a bumpy ride for their passenger. Their car’s radio played the song “Apocalypshit” by Molotov from the pilot episode of “Breaking Bad” as they descended the heavily-armed hill too, which couldn’t have just been a coincidence. Meanwhile the other ghosts in the chopper were preparing to land on the nearby salt flats, kicking up A LOT of dust as a result, and they handed off the target.

Ghost Recon Wildlands looks like the kind of game I could get utterly lost in. There’s so much to do and the possibilities are endless. You can go anywhere, do anything, in any order, with no restrictions. If you’ve been reading the rest of my E3 coverage, you’ll notice a trend that I’m kind of over robots and aliens in shooters, so the simplicity of Ghost Recon’s “Hunt the cartel” has me sold.


The screen and video in the article have already been posted above, so I didn't bother reproducing them.

His last paragraph is complete bullshit and proves he is a casual gamer or even a non-gamer (and he definitely lied in the beginning about having played the Ghost Recon games), but the rest sounds legit and extremely promising.
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Unread postby Some guy » 18 Sep 2015 09:05

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands ~ Intel: Authenticity
http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2015/09/tom ... intel.html

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Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands - Intel: Authenticity [EUROPE]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAf_mIHnLRc
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Unread postby icycalm » 03 Mar 2017 04:35

Bolivia complains to France about its portrayal in video game
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boliv ... SKBN1692PK

Daniel Ramos wrote:The Bolivian government has filed a formal complaint with the French embassy about a video game produced by a French company that portrays the South American country as an area controlled by drug traffickers, authorities said.

The game, "Ghost Recon," was produced by France-based Ubisoft Entertainment SA and is set to be officially launched next week. The game's beta version has been downloaded by 6.8 million users.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, government Minister Carlos Romero said Bolivia had delivered a letter to the French ambassador and asked the French government to intervene, adding that Bolivia reserved the right to take legal action.

"We have the standing to do it (take legal action), but at first we prefer to go the route of diplomatic negotiation," Romero said.


Daniel Ramos wrote:Romero said that although the game does not mention Bolivia directly, the country is easily identifiable by geographic regions and symbols in the game.

The French embassy in La Paz did not immediately respond to a written request for comment on Thursday. Ubisoft did not immediately respond to voice messages seeking comment at its San Francisco and Montreal offices.


They are welcome to make a game that portrays France badly. But that would require them having a game industry, I guess. And no one would care anyway because everyone knows France rocks. So I guess all they can do is indeed whine.

Via http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1349315
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Unread postby icycalm » 04 Mar 2017 02:06

Post-Launch & Season Pass (DLC) Trailer [US]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OquwR23bt1Q

The Ghosts are ready to take on the Santa Blanca drug cartel on March 7, but their mission in the wilderness won’t end there – a free PvP update (featuring 4v4 team combat) is coming to Ghost Recon Wildlands after launch, along with two major paid expansions: Narco Road and Fallen Ghosts. In Narco Road, you must infiltrate a gang of smugglers and earn their leader’s trust by competing in races and challenges. Yes, you have to take them down…from the inside! Fallen Ghosts, the second major expansion for Wildlands, has your squad running from their downed helicopter to escape some powerful new enemies that are hot on their trail.

Season pass owners will receive one week early access to both expansions, as well as access to The Unidad Conspiracy Missions, The Peruvian Connection Pack, an exclusive Bolivian Minibus vehicle, and equipment packs that include outfits inspired by the Katari 26 rebels, the Unidad, and the Santa Blanca. These three themed packs also include weapons, such as an AK-47 equipped with a larger magazine, a Unidad LMG with a red dot scope and larger magazine, and the Santa Blanca golden M1911, respectively.

Finally, the Ghost Recon Wildlands Season Pass comes with a host of bonuses. Owners will receive a permanent 5% XP booster; a single-use two hour XP booster that gives a 50% boost to you and a 25% boost to players in your session; and a Ghost Recon Credits Pack with 800 credits. Additional credits can be purchased at any time to spend on cosmetic items, XP boosts, and weapons comparable to those you can find through normal gameplay.


Via http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1349224

Sounds like we'll have to get some sort of special edition/season pass to enjoy the game to the full, so for recoil, danjiro and whoever else will fill the third slot, factor that in when you consider which version to buy.
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Unread postby icycalm » 18 Mar 2017 14:25

Insomnia review: http://culture.vg/reviews/in-depth/tom- ... 17-pc.html

And another review that says pretty much the same things in a different way:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/BertieWoos ... ed/460930/

William Shakesman wrote:"Man, wouldn't it be cool to have a big open world game where you can be a tacticool operator in an entire country?"

"What about ARMA?"

"I'm not autistic."

"Okay, how about MGS5:TPP?"

"I'd prefer something that doesn't have garbage level design or mobile game tier grind."

"HEY FOLKS UBISOFT HERE WE GOT U COVERED"

Ghost Recon Wildlands is a big, beautiful open world game that runs surprisingly well. You drive, fly, and fast travel through a massive, surprisingly detailed open world (Especially compared to MGS5's terrible open world, the terrain here is surprisingly varied, despite there being nothing to find.) to various outposts and missions. You are almost always parking outside the area, scanning for enemies, tagging them (If you choose not to disable tags.), scouting with a UAV, and then crouch-walking in all tacticool style, hugging cover, triple-tapping narcodudes with your silenced guns, and then once everyone is down you walk through the town and mop up all the usual Ubisoft collectibles. Lethality is high, enemies die fast, you die faster (But can be revived once per fight by your buddies), and your AI buddies never die because they are immune to streams of fire that will instantly kill you if you charge like they do.

The gunplay works, the AI isn't bad. The vehicles are a little eh but certainly nothing game-breaking. It's really a simple, effective gameplay loop. Like Far Cry, you can also turn off a lot of the game's help functions. Don't want "HES ABOUT TO SEE YOU" cones or marking people so you can see them through walls? Gone. No minimap? Gone. No allies? Just order them to hold position away and operate all on your lonesome. Difficulties? You got from ez to full on tacticool. And can change them at any time. Want to operate as a pretty girl instead* or start anew? Three save files, bro. Want to operate with your bros? It can field 4 in bro-op, too.**

There's nothing about this game that's gonna blow your socks off, but it's good stuff. About the only shakeup is the Unidad soldiers. They're a tougher, better armored enemy faction that, if you get caught in a firefight with them, they will call for ever increasing amounts of backup until you can escape the zone without them seeing you. But beside that, it feels a lot like a better balanced Future Soldier without the tech gimmicks and gone full Far Cry style open world.

Tacticool dressup is back from Division, and while it isn't quite the excitement of collecting 50 different styles of hoodies and pants, there is still a lot of options on offer to operate in whatever suit you like. Same with gun part swapping.

That said, what is absolutely NOT here is anything really supplementing actual tactics. Other than marking dudes with a drone and using a "sync shot" super move that recharges on a timer, any milsim tactics like minute careful squad orders just aren't on offer here. So remember, in the end it is a high-lethality, stealth focused shooter a bit more than anything that counts as milsim.

It's easy to sell Wildlands short. It's "just" a big sandbox combat game with you sneaking into and clearing out enemy outposts constantly. It's "just" another Ubi collectathon with usual Ubi graphical polish. And... those are true. There's not a huge hook here, but the component parts are quite strong and this game is absolutely worth a look if you like the sound of it.

*NB You can't operate as Captain Bruce Jenner and change into a girl or a dude at will. You only get one crack at the character generator, sadly.

**I lied. You can't turn off the sound cue when an enemy is beginning to see you, nor can you turn off AI chatter when you are about to wheel up on an enemy zone. That chatter is not so bad, the game world is basically set up with empty terrain and periodic outposts, so some hint of where the game world goes from nothing to gameplay is not a bad thing.
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Unread postby icycalm » 23 Mar 2017 00:36

http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2017/0 ... g-to-help/

Tim Colwill wrote:Bolivia Drops Complaint After Ubisoft Agrees To Bundle Cocaine With Every Copy Of Ghost Recon Wildlands

2016-03-06-Cocaine-Wildlands-720x340.jpg


Every copy of Ghost Recon: Wildlands purchased will now include a “sampler pack” of Bolivian cocaine, as part of a settlement reached between Ubisoft and the Bolivian Embassy last week.

Bolivia had initially lodged a formal diplomatic complaint with the French Government over Ubisoft’s depiction of the country as a “lawless cocaine-infested shit-hole”. That complaint has now been withdrawn.

“We are thrilled to announce that Ghost Recon players can now experience the rich cultural heritage of Bolivia for themselves, directly up their nose,” announced the Bolivian ambassador at a joint press conference.

“Bolivia is pleased that Ubisoft’s senior executives were so willing, eager in fact, to work closely with us on shipping and handling cocaine. We have now given them the cocaine and we trust that it will reach the players.”

Ubisoft insist that although they are “happy to help Bolivia dispose of a large amount of cocaine”, their intention was always to help promote the “magnificent landscape and rich cultural heritage” of the world’s third-largest cocaine producer.

“All of our players understand that when the game ordered them to ‘murder 100 Bolivian cocaine dealers to unlock a new hat’, it was implicit that they should appreciate the magnificent landscape and rich cultural heritage of beautiful Bolivia while they were doing it.”

“Nothing says ‘visit magnificent Bolivia’ like piling into a four-wheeled buggy and zooming through a run-down shit-hole Bolivian cocaine camp, shooting wildly at anything that moves.”
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Unread postby icycalm » 24 Mar 2017 04:01

Don't miss this video.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands PC Trailer: Nvidia GameWorks (4k, 60FPS) [US]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_2-enZ2FE4

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1352526

Exploratory wrote:I was wrong about Ghost Recon Wildlands and you probably are too.

The new Ghost Recon plays like trash.


That was me like a month ago on Ghost Recon Wildlands. I played the closed beta and didn't really enjoy it. I had a few moments that made me think "there's something here" but ultimately I had decided against buying it.

Then the open beta came and I ended up having a ton more fun with a group of friends. Some of the issues I had had been fixed, some were the same, and some remained. Despite the fun I had in the beta, I still wasn't sure though.

So now it's a while after release and I'm ready to admit I was wrong. I got caught up in how GAF felt about the game and my initial impressions betrayed me. Now let's be honest here for a second. It's on Ubisoft to convince me to like the game right away. The poor marketing combined with the poor beta is on them. But ultimately the game is far better than I ever thought it would or could be.

I'm not going to launch into a full review but here are the three things that make me want to log on and play every night.

* The best open world variety I've experienced in quite some time. I've played TW3, Skyrim, every Assassin's Creed, GTA 4 and V, etc etc. This one tops them from a gameplay perspective. That doesn't mean Wildlands has a better open world than those games. A lot of the value in something like GTA V comes from the people, the visuals, and the auditory aspect. The attention to detail in that is insane. But where Wildlands excels is the variety of each zone.

Each zone has a purpose and feels different from the zone before and after. This zone is filled with cocaine labs, this zone is flat white desert, this one is a jungle filled with corrupt military police. That changes how you approach things and isn't immediately obvious because it's so natural. In a flat desert when you're trying to stop a convoy there's almost no cover and you have to plan accordingly. In a zone filled with high up long twisting mud roads, we had a completely different approach to the exact same side mission.

* The game is a vehicle for cooperation. I'll be 100% clear if you're going to play this solo I can't recommend it. I literally haven't played a minute of this game solo and I intend to keep it that way. Now beyond that as a cooperative experience, it's fantastic. Like Metal Gear Solid V the world is a sandbox and as you can imagine that is just infinitely more fun with friends. You can invade a base from two different directions to split apart the enemy forces. You can have a friend cover you with a sniper rifle as you clear small structures while looking for an enemy lieutenant. Basically, the game gives you the tools to execute whatever plan you want. Just the other day after failing multiple times to penetrate the defense of a particularly difficult stronghold, I flew up above the clouds in a helicopter. When we reach the highest point my friends parachuted down full speed right into the enemy base. I followed them and the copter landed in their base too! We all died but the fun factor there is undeniable. You can basically recreate whatever ridiculous action sequence you saw in last summer's blockbuster.

I know what some of you are thinking and it's a legitimate thought because I make the same criticism. Whenever someone tells me a game is fun with friends I scoff because...so is pretty much anything. When I was a kid and shoveled snow with friends we had a good time, that doesn't make shoveling snow my second favorite past time. Wildlands is special in that it gives you every opportunity to have as much fun as possible. If you don't have friends and you don't have any imagination ("let's go in, snipe everyone from away, and leave" rinse and repeat) you probably won't have any fun.

* I underestimated the story and its characters. So in the open beta, you go after these 2 fuckheads, yes I just said fuckheads, La Yuri and El Polito. These two are the most vapid, uninteresting, boring, you get the point. They're trash characters. When I finally killed them I felt nothing because they were nothing. Those 2 as the boss of the first zone gave me the impression that every boss would be largely uninteresting and poorly written. Flash forward to the Stewmaker...

I won't spoil anything. Frankly, Wildlands isn't about the story but whew this guy was fucking sick. In more ways than one. Not every boss is going to be The End or Sniper Wolf or The Boss don't get me wrong. But they are at least serviceable and at most actually compelling characters. I actually want to kill El Sueno, the game's big bad. That in itself is tough for a game to do these days. To make me care about killing the guy I'm supposed to want to kill.

I've already written way too much. Wildlands still has a lot to dislike. The gunplay pales in comparison to MGSV and a few other third person shooters. It's serviceable but doesn't stand out. I constantly wish the game was made by Kojima because it'd be so much more interesting. There aren't a ton of different side missions and it's possible 20 hours after my first 20 I'll get bored. The unlock system is exactly what you'd expect from a Ubisoft open world title. I've already unlocked everything I want and don't care about collectables as much.

But I was wrong about the game. I thought it was bad and it really isn't. I think it's a solid 8/10. A real one too not an "every AAA game is an 8". I see this idea on GAF that this is some ho-hum bro shooter. That's just not giving the credit it deserves. No game lets you do what Wildlands does. There are no other games out cut from the same cloth as Ghost Recon Wildlands so yeah maybe step outside of your bubble and give it a shot. At the very least don't be so close-minded about it.

TLDR: I was wrong. You're probably wrong too. It's got a fantastic massive open world. It's probably top 5 co-op games all time. It's unique in it's variety of locale and moment to moment gameplay. Despite the initial impressions the gunplay isn't even bad it's just about average. So yeah it's really good. Just do not play it solo and if you're a hardcore Ghost Recon fan look elsewhere because it's totally different.

Edit: PS I played the game on max difficulty at all times too. Not that hard and makes the game more deadly. YMMV.
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Unread postby icycalm » 01 Apr 2017 16:15

Bumped up the review's rating to five stars. The NeoGAF dude I quoted above convinced me. Basically, what people don't get is that this is THE FIRST GOOD CO-OP FREE-ROAMING ("OPEN WORLD") GAME. And no one realizes what a monumental achievement this is. Sure we had Crackdown and some Saints Row game doing 2P co-op before, and even 4P in Crackdown 2 and that AssCreed game, but those games sucked. I mean I haven't played all of them, but I HAVE played Crackdown, and that's a 4/5 to be sure, but not REALLY a free-roaming game: it's basically a linear action game that allows some pointless wandering that no one bothers with, and Crackdown 2 I have heard is much the same, though worse because it takes place in the EXACT SAME CITY/LEVEL. The Saints Row games meanwhile are so ugly that whenever I think of starting them I see a screenshot and stop, and that 4P AssCreed game looks stunning but is universally panned (though I hope everyone's wrong and I hope to play it with y'all soon to find out).

So basically, we haven't even had a good 2P free-roaming game and suddenly Ubisoft comes up with a 4P one that also boasts the hugest, prettiest open world ever. And you are telling me this is worth only 4/5 because the vehicles don't handle really well or the story is not like Deus Ex's? The damn game looks even better than Far Cry 2 to me, from everything I have seen of it, so I am bumping up the rating to five stars until I play it myself and determine otherwise.
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Unread postby icycalm » 01 Apr 2017 16:18

Actually, I am not even sure that AssCreed game is free-roaming. It's probably a linear action game, from what I've seen.
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Unread postby icycalm » 30 Apr 2017 21:24

ownosourus did it again.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/ownosourus ... ed/460930/

ownosourus wrote:To play a Ubisoft game these days is to participate in a grand experiment. You may not realize this, but it's true. Look at any of the company's games, and you'll see that the French multinational publisher of franchises like Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs and Far Cry is obsessed with repurposing its ideas, like an artisan trying to forge a novel new musical instrument from the fragments of existing ones.

Thus in the cartel-subjugated Bolivian hinterlands of Ghost Recon Wildlands, the company's biggest free roaming adventure yet, helping the country's insurgents lets players summon them later to do battle—a feature in Far Cry 4. To surveil and mark enemy targets, players can pilot a backpack drone—something they could do in last year's Watch Dogs 2. Playing cooperatively with other online friends is a button tap away, a "seamless multiplayer" feature Ubisoft honed in The Crew. And players can reconnoiter the map for optional sorties or collectibles to flesh out the game's backstory and unlock new abilities. That's something they've been doing in Ubisoft games since the original Assassin's Creed shook the industry in 2007.

This jumbling of old and new feels like probing toward some kind of open world experience to rule them all. But the last few tries have been mediocre. Assassin's Creed Unity's gorgeous Parisian vistas were wasted on fiddly controls and lackluster sneak-play. The Crew was glitchy at launch, and offended many with its exorbitant microtransactions. And while Watch Dogs 2's story, characters and Bay Area setting were, in that order, smart, simpatico and gorgeous, its computer hack-driven skirmishes fell apart once players unlocked a few exploitive powers.

Not so Wildlands, whose designers seem to have figured out, finally, that equipoise in a game that offers this much independence entails fashioning enemies that resist exploitation and bite back hard. Players can still travel anywhere their gaze falls at whatever pace or in whichever order the spirit moves them. (The game's fictitious Bolivian vales and summits are breathtaking, and rubbernecking costs nothing.) But if they want to wrestle with the central challenge—deconstructing a regional cartel, one tenacious sub-boss at a time—they'll have to contend with battalions of thrillingly brutal bad guys.

The game transpires a few years from the present day, imagining, as in some George W. Bush-era fantasy, that a clandestine quartet of military elites were all it might take to topple a narco-state. Like a Tom Clancy yarn, the story is likewise littered with covert jargon and military niceties. As in Ubisoft's The Division, weapons are numerous and adjustable, sporting metrics like "damage," "rate of fire" and "noise reduction" that can be fine-tuned with add-ons in areas like "optics," "rails" and "underbarrels." Anyone with a ballistic fetish should find plenty to like, from classic bolt action sniper rifles to 12-gauge Kalashnikov-inspired shotguns.

Players begin near the center of a map that's divided into cartel-controlled regions, wending their way outward to explore increasingly treacherous zones that check all the classic biome boxes. Here's the part where you're in a jungle. There's the part where you tromp through a desert. Go climb a mountain range to get your ice and snow fix. It's like an exotic virtual brochure for all the places you wish you could be.

Bossing the computer around is simple and effective. When playing solo, players can direct squad members by pulling up a half-wheel with commands like "go to," "fire" or "regroup." Another half-wheel that's unlocked piecemeal lets players ask rebels to deliver vehicles, cause diversions or lob mortar shells at targets. Wildlands also mercifully manages to keep its skill tree uncrowded, offering a handful of upgradeable abilities in five categories (weapon, drone, item, physical, squad). These subdivide instead into multiple unlocks that might, for instance, offer better battery life to the drone, or provide better bullet resilience to squad-mates. It's a wise distillation that lets players focus on perfecting the tactical nuances of a few things, instead of juggling dozens.

A few parting complaints, none major, but some that seem oddly overlooked. I can drive vehicles and fly planes no problem, but still can't figure out helicopters, which fly nothing like real helicopters do (or as the controls imply they should). For all the enemy's combat chops, it needs better self-preservation instincts: more than once, a bad guy went splat stepping in front of an oncoming vehicle while chasing me down. And—I admit this last one is weird, but see for yourself—the clouds in Wildlands' skies are broken and terrifying, racing along at freakish time lapse speeds and spoiling otherwise picturesque panoramas.

But what most worried me—because it's a problem in so many other Ubisoft games—was that the A.I. would eventually bore me. (Trying different things over and over and getting the same results isn't the definition of insanity, but it can leave you stultified). However that was not the case in Wildlands. Just when you think you've figured out how to catch the game in a loop, it throws something new at you. Like spotlights (with switchable power junctions) that make you more visible at night. Or compounds that jam your drone's signal, rendering it useless (and you tactically blind). Or agitated enemies who become relentless hunters as well as wicked smart shots at sniper distances. Or the withering assaults from mortars, helicopters and surface-to-air missiles that will send even the ablest players scrambling to retreat.

Watching all this unfold feels like listening to a jazz musician tee up changes for fellow players to jam over. Slight variations ripple and become riveting permutations. We've seen and to a certain extent done much of this in games like Far Cry 4 and Watch Dogs 2. But never on this scale, or as deftly balanced.


Damn this guy can review shit.

The review I have up right now is a pastiche from about five others, and I would say in terms of analysis almost equal to this, but obviously ownosourus's is better written, so I will replace it with it when I get a moment.


P.S. The review made me want to try The Crew now...
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Unread postby icycalm » 30 Apr 2017 21:32

Actually, he seems to have played it solo and fails to underscore the importance of playing with a full team, which is the main thing this game brings to the table, so his review is inferior at the end of the day. Better writing does not compensate for inferior analysis. It's still well worth reading though, and does offer some analysis that the review I have up right now doesn't, especially the grand view of the first two paragraphs.
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Unread postby icycalm » 16 May 2017 21:39

Ghost Recon: Wildlands Fallen Ghosts expansion announced – all the details
http://www.vg247.com/2017/05/15/ghost-r ... e-details/

Sherif Saed wrote:Fallen Ghosts adds a new campaign with 15 new missions. The ultimate goal is to take down four new bosses. The expansion will start you with a new level 30 character already equipped with all the main skills. Fall Ghosts raises the level cap to 35 to allow you to unlock nine new skills.

The expansion also adds six new weapons, including a crossbow that can fire explosive bolts. The game’s advanced, and expert difficulties have received some tweaks, too, to make things more challenging.

Fallen Ghosts will be available to season pass holders on May 30, and standalone on June 6 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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Unread postby icycalm » 20 Jun 2017 17:55

New review is up, same link as above, same review I quoted by that NeoGAF member earlier. I basically replaced my earlier frankenreview (collated from five Steam reviews) with it because, though the frankenreview was far more comprehensive, the NeoGAF dude's review was better at focusing on the essential reason the game is great, and explaining it. And since the review is linked off the GOTY feature, it is far more important that it delivers the reason the game is GOTY material than whether it's comprehensive or not. So for the time being we'll stick with this, and when the times comes for me to review the game we'll get everything: both the essential points underlined and explained, and the comprehensive analysis.

And here's my frankenreview, for reference:

Hybrid and four other people wrote:Ghost Recon Wildlands is a very entertaining open world game with lots of large beautiful environments to explore. If you have a powerful rig, at least one partner for co-op (full team is the most fun)and some imagination this game is really good. Don't play it alone. Played co-op even with only two players is where this game really shines. I also recommend each player taking a designated role: Support/Drone Operator/Pilot, Sniper/Long Range Cover, Demolitions, and Point Man. Played like this (especially if you assume the pilot is the only one who knows HOW to pilot) makes the game even more interesting. The game can be pretty easy on the lower difficulties, so play at the highest difficulty you and your friends can stomach and force yourselves to adapt to it, and you will end up enjoying the game more. Make sure the HUD is off, and you are good to go.

One of the game's biggest draws is its huge map with hundreds of tasks and missions, probably one of the largest in any game. All the stuff to do in it is pretty well spaced out, with many different natural environments, from tropical rivers to snow-capped peaks. Most of the houses can be entered. The open and hostile world makes for some incredible moments. Teamwork pays off, and random fun moments when playing with friends abound.

The combat mechanics are great, the gun handling and shooting are very solid and feel real good. Characters run, move, duck etc. with very smooth and realistic animation, climbing out of car windows if the door is stuck, etc. (though there are also some weird animations, especially in cutscenes). There is no jump or cover system in this game, however, and that is a definite drawback. If the game detects a wall, the character will lean up against it, but as a player you have no direct control over it, as you would have in e.g. The Division. So due to its third-person nature you lack the exact positioning of an FPS, but there isn't a traditional cover system to compensate, often leaving you exposed and taking quite the bullets.

Vehicle selection is great: cars, helicopters, boats, tanks, planes, etc.; there is a lot to play with. Unfortunately, the controls and handling models are not up to contemporary standards. Cars feel like they are driving on wet or icy road, even when driving on blacktar. Generally, it seems all surfaces behave almost identical in regards to friction.

The world is big and beautiful, but it takes forever to get anywhere on the ground, so you need to learn to fly the terribly-controlled helicopters and planes. The controls aren't hard to learn — by the second province I was doing every mission by flying mach 1 up to the target and doing running landings right into the base — the problem is they are so dumbed down it's frustrating when you can't do what you want. Want to slide/strafe that heli to better land or let your gunners on the skid/minigun take out that vehicle? You can't do that, there's no side-to-side control, instead the game has Up/Down, Forward/Backwards, and then a blend of Turn/Roll/Slide bound to your A and D keys. But why reinvent the wheel? Helicopter controls have been done very well by games such as Battlefield. Just copy that and there you go. The current controls simply hamper your agility too much and
hold you by the hand.

Base jumping, on the other hand, is awesome. It's really cool and you feel pretty accomplished when you pull off a short fall jump because it isn't like Battlefield 4's "You can parachute from anything!" I've seen so many pancaked friends... full PTSD.

The graphics and the environments are gorgeous, all of them very immersive, especially without HUD. I was also impressed at the level of detail to the weapons and how the weather looked in this game. The rain pouring down and how your character looks soaked or while you’re out in the snow and the snow is accumulating on your character's hat. All of those minor details make a huge difference. I also really enjoyed the graphics settings menu in this game. When changing a setting the game has a very cool image displayed on the right showing you exactly what the function you’re adjusting will affect. Example: Switching texture quality from Low to Medium, High or Ultra shows you the exact graphical progression. I wish more games would do this as well as Wildlands does.

Many missions are unique and can pose a true challenge when played at higher difficulty. Everyone plays differently and this game successfully allows players to go in guns blazing or quietly take out the objective in a sort of lightly dumbed-down co-op Metal Gear way. Each province is comprised of several missions and has its own little story. This allows players to drop in and out of friends' games and play together while not disrupting their own story progression. However, some of the missions can be a little weak or easy no matter the difficulty. Example: some missions are simply just go and
locate someone to talk to them. Most of the underboss/operation head missions are a lot of fun. The story missions for the buchons are either a hit or a miss, some can be pretty unique while others are just pretty basic tasks that are basically the same as some side missions. Generally, mission quality dwindles in the lategame, but the main missions remain enjoyable throughout.

Stat progression is done well in this game. More weapons and levels do not make players of higher levels "stronger", it just means they have found different weapons or unlocked gadgets and such like night vision. Very robust weapon choices across multiple "classes" of weapon, with each weapon usually having a large group of choices in weapon parts to further create depth. The plus side to all these new weapons and attachments is that they all seem to be pretty balanced. I'm able to run through every mission using the assault rifle I was given at the start of the game and it wasn't any additional challenge. I also really enjoyed how the game was never a grind for gear. A large portion of the gear can be discovered and collected while you play through the story, with minimal additional exploration.

Character customization is awesome! I think we waited for almost 30 minutes for one friend on release night because he was playing around with the outfits for so long. Best part is you can change your look anytime you want!

The story isn’t anything too special or unique, though it does have its moments where it shines. The ending is done very well as it does set up the DLCs and provides some sort of closure. For those seeking a huge rich/deep story, however, there isn’t much of that here, but if you can watch an average cheap action movie and enjoy it then Wildlands' story shouldn't disappoint you. However, the game does very little to attempt to immerse you in its world. The narrative is mainly told through optional videos and documents that you can pick up at your discretion. It’s worth paying attention to, but missing a cutscene here or there isn’t the end of the world. With the exception of the main antagonist, the voice acting is pretty terrible. Not necessarily a big part of the game, but still pretty bad nonetheless.

Excluding an increased amount of rebels, there are very few things in the game that change once you start to dismantle the cartel. While at face value this isn't bad, it really discourages you from actually progressing in the game because your actions don't seem to have effects.

The endgame and replayability, in general, are very similar to any other campaign-based game. You get to replay the story and try different techniques to complete the missions. At the moment there isn’t a horde mode or anything like that, however there seems to be a lot of open world-type things to do after you’ve completed the game. You can run around and collect all the lootables, complete the never-ending side missions, try to stop random convoys that appear around the map, steal supplies and return them to the rebels or simply just run around doing whatever you want.

Overall it's a game that's worth playing that I'd most definitely recommend. It has a lot to do with a huge open world that is incredibly drawn up. Each province looks amazing and I have found myself exploring random caves, mountains, and forests just for the hell of it. The story alone is around 40-50 hours if done at an average speed. I’m sure it can be done quicker but I enjoyed the setting so much that I took my time with it. It's far from a perfect game, but a great co-op experience. If you want milsim stick with Arma, if you don't mind arcadey ballistic physics this will do fine.
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Unread postby icycalm » 27 Jul 2018 10:22

Special Operation 2 Reveal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR7jpQFrw6o

Special Operation 2 is coming
https://ghost-recon.ubisoft.com/wildlan ... 2-76770-32

Ubisoft wrote:Ghost Mode: Ghost mode is designed for the best of the best Ghosts out there. In this mode, you’ll be able to create a new character in order to take down the Santa Blanca under the most thrilling conditions.

- With only one primary weapon by your side, you’ll need to choose carefully. You will only be able to change your loadout at either an ammo box, or by looting fallen enemies.
- You will also need to plan out your reloads, as any remaining ammo in your magazine will be lost.
- Be extremely careful with your shots, Ghosts, or you could bring down your co-op team with friendly fire.
- And most importantly, with Ghost Mode, death is permanent. So stay frosty.

Ghost Mode will be available for all difficulty settings, including Tier 1 Mode. And of course this challenge doesn’t come without rewards: more to come on that in our patchnotes. So put your skills to the test and reap the benefits that will come with success!

This free mode will be available for all players, with a week-early access for Year 2 Pass holders starting on July 24th, 2018.


Glad we waited!

I will test how the game runs on my Shadow the moment I can snag it in the next sale.
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Unread postby icycalm » 11 Oct 2018 09:51

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/ubisoft- ... -253501006

KyanMehwulfe wrote:Even GR Wildlands is the same way, for those that really love the game. If Seige comes down to maps and the overall PvP gameplay, Wildlands is sort of the same in that it comes down to just the world map and the core scout-approach-execute gameplay loop. You strip away the subpar gunplay, the distracting and grinding missions and objectives, the waypoints and the mini-map, and you just take the core gameplay 'loop' and that beautiful world map, and it's such a great game to play like a mil-sim lite.

Best thing I ever did was turning off the HUD and basically learning to give zero shits about the map or objective progression. I load it, look at the world map and pick some objective that sounds or looks cool, and I turn every 1 single 'base raid' into a session where I hike it over on foot, scout the location, plan my approach, and execute said plan. And because the game, if nothing else, has really wonderful mil-sim nerd aesthetic variety (both in terms of target locations, geographic diversity, and character camos), almost every time you can craft a pretty cool little scenario to whatever mood you're in for the night.

I mention it before but the moment I stop playing it like Watch Dogs, AssCreed, or Witcher 3, and I started playing it like ARMA, Op. Flashpoint, or old school Delta Force 3, was what turned the game from 'meh' to 'I'm still playing it regularly a year later.'
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Unread postby Beakman » 06 Jan 2020 01:02

There are now three squads in the clan playing Wildlands and having a blast. It may be useful to share our settings that attempt to maximize fun with the least compromises to immersion. These are the settings that my team is using.

General difficulty options

    Extreme difficulty.

    No Ghost mode.

HUD options

After shutting every HUD element off, we turn on the following (in order of appearance in the menu):

    Intel HUD. Essential to do anything else apart from the main missions. Shows the Intel choices and interrogation options for the lieutenants needed to show the weapon unlocks, skill points, and side missions in the map. Very necessary.

    Contextual Actions. Removes the frustration of guessing proper placement to pick up an attachment, activate something for a mission, or to heal a teammate. Not that necessary.

    Helicopter. Real helicopters have HUDs so this doesn't detract from the immersion. Regardless of what it says in the menu, this doesn't enable the pinpoint crosshairs for attack helicopters (this is tied to the general Crosshairs setting, consider turning that one on if you rely a lot on attack choppers).

    Objective Markers. At first it may seem unneeded, but some missions become impossible without it (i.e. the antennae deactivation side missions). Very necessary.

    Communication Markers. In order for teammates to accurately convey key positions, or to place waypoints in the map. Unfortunately, you can't use it to mark mission objectives and that's why we began using Objective Markers. Not that necessary.

    Sync Shot. To manually mark a limited amount of enemies. It also conveys if your teammates are aiming at them or not. Not that necessary.

    Ammo & items. Some attachments become guesswork if it's not enabled. For instance, switching back and forth from the grenade launcher.

    Compass. Not really needed, but we sound more like soldiers by using compass headings to orient ourselves.

Self-imposed rules:

    No respawning. If you're downed, you have to wait indefinitely until you either get revived or the whole squad gets wiped out and sent back to the last checkpoint (you don't bleed out in this game).

    No suppressors on anything besides pistols.
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