Ghost Recon: Future Solider - First Look Preview

Like other games in the Tom Clancy series, GRAW 1 and 2 were less two distinct games and more one very large game split into two equal halves. The same can be said of Rainbow Six: Vegas, for example, but this isn't necessarily a criticism. There was certainly enough content on-hand in both games to keep most gamers happy, while the one-year development gap (GRAW 1 came out in March 2006, GRAW 2 in March 2007) eased the overly familiar gameplay a bit. It was a bit like the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The stories of both kind of blurred into one long film really, but the short wait between each film's release made it feel like less of a rip-off.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, on the other hand, has clearly been built from the ground up. Established gameplay features from the GRAW games have been extended, all-new features have been introduced, and the story has moved on. Where the story has moved on to, we're not precisely sure yet as Ubisoft is holding its cards close to its chest at the moment in terms of plot details. There are promises of settings from across the globe though, including Asia and the Middle-East, while the story itself will focus on an ultra-nationalist force that's taken control of Russia and is reverting the country back to its Soviet days of invading neighbouring countries.

Ghost Recon's near-future style of fiction is as alive and kicking as ever in Future Soldier.  It's a style that's epitomised by weaponry and devices that are just beyond the realms of current military technology but (Ubisoft was quick to remind us) may be on the horizon in terms of military planning and top secret projects. One of these new weapons/devices for Future Soldier is a camouflage suit. Now, this may be futuristic technology in the real world, but it's nothing new to games. The one used in our first look had a lot in common with Crysis' camo suit, for example. Players can remain cloaked for a reasonably long time, although if you discharge a weapon then it instantly de-cloaks your character.

There are other checks and counter-balances to this, such as AI enemies with thermal goggles who can pick out your cloaked self. Additionally, although our demo guy did seem to be able to cloak himself for long periods without needing to recharge, we were assured that the camo suit does have a limited battery life for continuous use. All of this naturally leads to the suggestion that Ghost Recon may be moving more towards stealth gameplay in Future Soldier, although it's a claim that Ubisoft rebutted. Officially, Future Soldier is a 'Reconnaissance' game, which pretty much puts it in the same territory as GRAW and Rainbow Six: Vegas by our reckoning.

Signifying this commitment to the groundwork laid down by GRAW is the continual evolution of the Cross-Com system. In the GRAW games, Cross-Com operated as a sophisticated HUD that streamlined all of the elaborate squad and unit commands in the game. In Future Soldier, however, the Cross-Com system ditches the visor-style HUD of GRAW for a more naked approach. Instead of a visible HUD per se, Future Soldier lays the various Cross-Com features bare over the screen. If you float the aiming reticule over a specific target, for example, then Cross-Com can bring up a box of intelligence on that target with details of their past misdemeanours and allegiances etc.

The focus of Ghost Recon's gameplay has always been on controlling your squad though, and Cross-Com will be adapted to find ever more impressive ways of dealing with this in Future Soldier. One particularly fancy set-piece that we were treated to featured a simultaneous execution of four soldiers using Cross-Com. The system essentially tracked the aiming trajectory of squad-mates and then displayed it on-screen, so that we could see which targets each squad member had their gun aimed at. Then, on the squad leader's mark, this allowed the 'Ghosts' to efficiently eliminate the threat all at once even though the team was separated and each 'Ghost' was firing from an isolated position.

Ubisoft has confirmed a 4 player co-op story mode for Future Soldier, which will be jump-in, jump-out enabled. Adversarial multiplayer will then cater for 8 vs. 8 matches, although Ubisoft is once again keeping schtum about specific modes. We're sure that the new destructible cover feature will add to these modes though. Having seen it in action, it's clear that players will have to quickly move in and out of cover and the game's trademark 1st/3rd person aiming system to have any chance against the fast rate of cover destruction during fire-fights. Of course, the real secret to success is avoiding a fire-fight altogether - we can't wait to get our hands on that 'optical camouflage' suit.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is packed with enough new ideas and different takes on established features from GRAW to ensure that the gameplay experience will be a fresh one. The Cross-Com system changes are welcome and, while the stealth suit has been explored by numerous other games in the past, we've got faith that it will fit Ghost Recon's style like a camouflaged glove.