Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike
Posted September 9, 2005
Following on the heels of UbiSoft's Ghost Recon 2 comes a standalone expansion, subtitled Summit Strike. Gameplay mechanics in Summit Strike are similar to those in both GR2 and its predecessor; you lead a team of Ghosts through various missions, clearing areas of enemy forces, removing large obstacles and restoring order to the world at the same time.
The single player campaign mode in Summit Strike follows your Ghost leader through 11 missions where your ultimate goal is to remove a terrorist leader who has brought chaos and disorder to the nation of Kazakhstan by assassinating their president, amongst other atrocities.
Gameplay:
I did play the original Ghost Recon on Xbox, and there are some significant differences here to the gameplay that I find to be great changes. One change that I found to be a very good difference is the amount of other Ghosts that you are responsible for in a given level. No longer are you responsible for two teams, setting waypoints and giving direction, but you control only your own team. Thanks to this change a level of frustration that I found with GR was removed, immediately enhancing my game enjoyment.
Another great change that I absolutely loved was the move from a first person perspective (with no gun even showing) to a third person with the option to play the game in FP mode. I found this 3rd person mode to be a much more engrossing method of playing, but I know for a fact that a slew of other players will disagree with me here, saying that precision in aiming and movement is better in the first person mode, but this can be up to the individual player.
The 11 missions that you lead your team on do vary in location and also in goals. Some levels will have you as a lone wolf, making your way through the vast landscape removing targets on your own, while others will have you roaming through city streets with your squad taking out enemy soldier patrols and armored vehicles. Aside from the single player campaign mode are some other side games you can choose such as Helo Hunt which pits you against waves of armed helicopters, Lone Wolf. Playing through the various modes and levels earns you points that you can spend in the GR store, which lets you purchase little "extras" such as videos from the development team and glimpses at the weapons and look of future warriors, nothing too cool but another diversion to help keep the completist in all of us mildly entertained.
Online is by far the most entertaining way to play any Ghost Recon game, I've logged many hours on the first iteration of series and the short amount of time online here; I've come to really enjoy the people I managed to play with. All the standard Xbox Live features are here, Optimatch, Create a match, etc. The greatest joy comes from the amount of levels and game variations that you can play online. Typical things like King of the Hill, Capture the Flag and death matches are all here but with option of Lone Wolf, Squad and Co-op on the 24 different maps, you're sure to be kept entertained for hours on end.
Graphics:
One thing that a game like this cannot afford to do is keep a close draw distance, because trying to find a sweet sniping position on the enemy would be near impossible, but UbiSoft managed to keep a very long draw distance all while keeping the graphics fairly crisp and sharp. You'll be able to see movement way off in the distance, even without your sniper scope on and that comes in very handy to try and get your personal kill count higher than your AI controlled squad mates. Since the levels are quite large and range from the urban sprawl to mountainous regions, it's been quite easy for the development team to keep thing looking unique throughout the game. But really, when you're blasting guys in the head from 300 yards, do you really care if the tree next to them is a fir or a pine? Probably not, but I found nothing to complain about when playing this game.
Audio:
Crisp, quiet, and generally sharp describe the audio quality of Summit Strike. Voice acting was done quite well throughout the game, with no major issues noticed. The sound effects blended extremely well into the atmosphere of the game, guns sounded realistic (being Canadian, I don't know how a gun should sound in real life) explosions were full and packed some nice punch through my subwoofer, and music was not distracting by any means. Now if only there would be some better on-the-fly method of muting the annoying guys on Xbox Live, then there would be nothing to complain about in this department.
Conclusion:
Should you upgrade to the expansion of Summit Strike? Well, that depends on what you're looking for. For someone who skipped over the original GR2, then yes, having the new touches that this version of the series brings is a nice change from the slightly blocky looking and view limiting Ghost Recon. But for people who played GR2, is this worth upgrading? Some of the multiplayer maps from GR2 are included on Summit Strike, but you also get some new ones to help keep things fresh. So if you love the multiplayer aspect and would kill to get on some new maps, then yes perhaps the $29.99 price tag would do you well. For people sick of the run & gun action of standard FP shooters out there, giving GR2 Summit Strike a chance would be a nice change from the hectic fast paced games you might be used to, and who knows you might enjoy yourself. Recommended.
The single player campaign mode in Summit Strike follows your Ghost leader through 11 missions where your ultimate goal is to remove a terrorist leader who has brought chaos and disorder to the nation of Kazakhstan by assassinating their president, amongst other atrocities.
Gameplay:
I did play the original Ghost Recon on Xbox, and there are some significant differences here to the gameplay that I find to be great changes. One change that I found to be a very good difference is the amount of other Ghosts that you are responsible for in a given level. No longer are you responsible for two teams, setting waypoints and giving direction, but you control only your own team. Thanks to this change a level of frustration that I found with GR was removed, immediately enhancing my game enjoyment.
Another great change that I absolutely loved was the move from a first person perspective (with no gun even showing) to a third person with the option to play the game in FP mode. I found this 3rd person mode to be a much more engrossing method of playing, but I know for a fact that a slew of other players will disagree with me here, saying that precision in aiming and movement is better in the first person mode, but this can be up to the individual player.
The 11 missions that you lead your team on do vary in location and also in goals. Some levels will have you as a lone wolf, making your way through the vast landscape removing targets on your own, while others will have you roaming through city streets with your squad taking out enemy soldier patrols and armored vehicles. Aside from the single player campaign mode are some other side games you can choose such as Helo Hunt which pits you against waves of armed helicopters, Lone Wolf. Playing through the various modes and levels earns you points that you can spend in the GR store, which lets you purchase little "extras" such as videos from the development team and glimpses at the weapons and look of future warriors, nothing too cool but another diversion to help keep the completist in all of us mildly entertained.
Online is by far the most entertaining way to play any Ghost Recon game, I've logged many hours on the first iteration of series and the short amount of time online here; I've come to really enjoy the people I managed to play with. All the standard Xbox Live features are here, Optimatch, Create a match, etc. The greatest joy comes from the amount of levels and game variations that you can play online. Typical things like King of the Hill, Capture the Flag and death matches are all here but with option of Lone Wolf, Squad and Co-op on the 24 different maps, you're sure to be kept entertained for hours on end.
Graphics:
One thing that a game like this cannot afford to do is keep a close draw distance, because trying to find a sweet sniping position on the enemy would be near impossible, but UbiSoft managed to keep a very long draw distance all while keeping the graphics fairly crisp and sharp. You'll be able to see movement way off in the distance, even without your sniper scope on and that comes in very handy to try and get your personal kill count higher than your AI controlled squad mates. Since the levels are quite large and range from the urban sprawl to mountainous regions, it's been quite easy for the development team to keep thing looking unique throughout the game. But really, when you're blasting guys in the head from 300 yards, do you really care if the tree next to them is a fir or a pine? Probably not, but I found nothing to complain about when playing this game.
Audio:
Crisp, quiet, and generally sharp describe the audio quality of Summit Strike. Voice acting was done quite well throughout the game, with no major issues noticed. The sound effects blended extremely well into the atmosphere of the game, guns sounded realistic (being Canadian, I don't know how a gun should sound in real life) explosions were full and packed some nice punch through my subwoofer, and music was not distracting by any means. Now if only there would be some better on-the-fly method of muting the annoying guys on Xbox Live, then there would be nothing to complain about in this department.
Conclusion:
Should you upgrade to the expansion of Summit Strike? Well, that depends on what you're looking for. For someone who skipped over the original GR2, then yes, having the new touches that this version of the series brings is a nice change from the slightly blocky looking and view limiting Ghost Recon. But for people who played GR2, is this worth upgrading? Some of the multiplayer maps from GR2 are included on Summit Strike, but you also get some new ones to help keep things fresh. So if you love the multiplayer aspect and would kill to get on some new maps, then yes perhaps the $29.99 price tag would do you well. For people sick of the run & gun action of standard FP shooters out there, giving GR2 Summit Strike a chance would be a nice change from the hectic fast paced games you might be used to, and who knows you might enjoy yourself. Recommended.