Introduction
Ghost Recon Future Soldier is a long-delayed, long in development sequel to the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter games. In previous Ghost Recon titles, you played as Scott Mitchell, whose list of accomplishments included singlehandedly beating up North Korea something like three times, stopping Mexican rebels from stealing Guardrail IX, a Plot Device, and then securing more WMDs from the same rebels in the sequel, Advanced Warfighter 2: Tom Clancy Hates Mexicans.
Mitchell grew up and, like many video game characters, became Steve Blum. In Future Soldier, you take on the role of Staff Sergeant John Kozak, a new recruit to the Ghosts.
Future Soldier is a good, solidly executed, very fun to play game. But it had a very long and troubled development, and this manifests in ways I can only describe as "weird." Sure, texture pop-in problems - but not consistent ones. AI bugs - but not consistent ones. Stuff like that. Originally targeted for release in FY2009-2010, Future Soldier was finally released in May 2012. The game is not shy about demonstrating where it drew inspiration: Advanced Warfighter, Splinter Cell, Modern Warfare, Battlefield -- but it sets itself apart with the Ghosts' augmented reality cross-com HUD and adaptive camouflage systems. These, combined with a number of gadgets like recon drones, remote sensors, and goggle vision modes form the heart of what sets this game apart from its peers. More impressive is that these work equally well in single player and in both the co-operative and competitive multiplayer modes. Despite its flaws, I think this game is one of the most overlooked shooters on the market.
I'll be joined by Lazyfire, who suffered through a Let's Play of Black Ops 2 and prior to that, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. His taste is starting to improve, I promise. For one thing, this game is playable, unlike GRAW. Have a copy for Xbox 360 and interested in playing with us? Post or PM me, as all three game modes support at least 4 players and we'd be glad to have you.
Let's get started.
Tutorial Guys - did you know they existed? Me neither.
EXACTO AMMO - A demonstration of how to snipe for people who cannot aim.
Tactical Blunderbuss at the Firing Range - It looked so fun ... but then we learned the truth.
Suffer With Me (Mission 11 failure reel)
Lazyfire's bonus videos: Glitches, different POV, and general "Ghost Recon being Ghost Recon."
Prologue: Physics Freakout
Mission 1: Diamond Formation - Lazy's POV (and some weapon model confusion)
Mission 3: Diamond Formation #2, Rat Physics (or lack thereof)
Mission 4: Street Fight and Chopper Gunner Sequence
Mission 5: A Shootout in the Arctic
Mission 6: A Ride to the Tank Fight
Mission 7: Walking War Crime
Mission 8: I play this game wrong
Mission 12: Intense Final Sequence
Guerrilla is someone at Ubisoft saying "Hey, Horde Mode is cool," and so it is in Future Soldier. Your team must capture and defend a headquarters - a specific zone in the map - against waves of AI enemies. If you survive multiple waves in succession, you get special perks like airstrikes, sentry guns, and airborne radar coverage to help you. Every ten waves, the HQ moves. Completing fifty waves (thankfully, they don't have to be in one session) completes the map.
GRFS's weapon customization system is called Gunsmith. It allows you to modify a significant number of things about your weapon - stock, optics, gas system, attachments, ammunition type, of course paint color, and so on. This gives you a lot of flexibility in fine-tuning a particular weapon exactly to your preferences.
- Ghost Recon: Alpha - Official prequel to the events of GRFS. Watch this if you really want to know how that bomb got into the prologue.
- Kinect demo for Gunsmith Mode - This was actually a marketing point, believe it or not. No, I don't get why, either. Special extra bonus bullshot footage!
- Future Soldier E3 2010 Demo - (thanks gatz!) A look at how this game changed over its extended development time.
- Future Soldier E3 2011 Demo - including Kinect Gunsmith Hand Waving. Who thought this was a good idea?