Extreme audio and multiplayer
Once again, Tom Salta is behind the musical score but this time around he’s written a more aggressive and expressive original score to enhance the game’s intensive action and memorable, dramatic scenes. The music in game shifts depending on your locality or the situation in hand. When entering areas where enemies are located the music changes to the kind of intense heart racing thumping music that you'd hear in a high budget war movie. Even the sound of your soldier, laden with smoke grenades and weapons as he runs through the billowing smog of war is uncannily accurate.
Armed vehicles such as tanks create thunderous claps of sound and explosions reverberate around the walls, the highways and the industrial arenas. Make no bones about it GRAW 2 is an extreme audio experience.
GRAW 2 offers a diverse range of multiplayer maps that are well designed and intricately detailed. We’re not fans of spawn camping and neither are Ubisoft so in GRAW 2 they’ve ensured that you spawn in random spots. Despite this new addition, I still found it extremely easy to find a spot where I could get a view over the whole spawn point and then launch grenades from the M32 GL, taking them out with ease. On one particular map called the Fort, the team who won was always the team that managed to hot foot it over to the other sides spawn area or the team that camped on the middle level of the fort with a clear view of the spawn area. The new random spawn points have helped slightly in stopping spawn campers, but certainly haven’t eradicated the threat; all you really need is two or three team members to take up strategic positions and they’ll be pinned down easy enough.
Click for larger imageStrangely enough, this added feature has made spawn camping somewhat tactically compelling. From being the type of gamer that us against spawn camping I actually found that in GRAW 2 it’s actually a great deal of fun, even if it does annoy the hell out of the opposition. In team survival games on the smaller maps it’s literally a case of having to head to their spawn before they reached yours. Do or die! Of course, on the larger maps this isn’t much of an issue and there’s also a good variety of game modes in addition to normal team survival.
The aerial drone once again makes an appearance in multiplayer, but due to the fact that we can now view a full screen video feed it makes using them far more effective. Enemies can shoot the drone down, which is going to be a wise tactic to adopt early on in a battle and the fact that the view is now shown on a full screen means that you’ll need to have someone watching your back.
Once again, Ubisoft has created a stunning war game. Not much has changed since GRAW and it lacks the faster pace of the likes of Rainbow 6: Vegas, but those seeking a tactical based military game will be immensely satisfied by the enhanced cross-com function and the battlefield mule. GRAW 2 has next-gen presentation, next-gen graphics and features that we’re coming to expect from AAA titles (such as clan support, up to 100 members in a team!). In October last year GRAW won the BAFTA for game of the year and in 2007 GRAW 2’s going to be another award winner title. Where the franchise goes after this I have no idea?
Pros
It's Ghost Recon
Enhanced cross-com makes it more tactical than ever
We love the new mule!
Shooting from the gunner seat of a helicopter
Epic single player campaign
Next-gen presentation
Next-gen visuals
Clan support
Cons
Still a few minor problems with friendly AI
Short campaign
Lots to think about??!?
Another title in the Ghost Recon franchise that looks set to be an award winner.
HEXUS Awards
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2- Xbox 360
