If you've played Ghost Recon 2 on the Xbox, then you have yourself a pretty good military shooter, despite the enormous changes between the first Ghost Recon and the sequel. And if you might think Ghost Recon 2 is the same on the Xbox and the PlayStation 2, then you are very mistaken.

The PS2 version was brought to us by Red Storm, and it is rather questionable as to how on Earth they managed to pull off a pretty good game on Microsoft's console, and a poor game on the PS2.

The reason the PS2 version sucks is because it wants to mimic the Socom games too much. In fact, this game could fit in with the series, except unlike Socom games, Ghost Recon 2 is rather mediocre.

It's hard to control your team, and it's hard to control your main character. The controls aren't too great, and it's a pain when you're trying to ambush some baddies; but thanks to the controls, you're screwing around and they spot you. The AI isn't exactly cutting-edge either.

There is also no in-game saving. I absolutely despised this in Socom, and I still hate it in this game. It was included in the Xbox version, but why not in this one? I would have liked the game a LOT more if I could have saved. It was rather annoying reattempting the same mission six times and then constantly dying in the end.

The graphics are rather passable-we've seen much better on the PS2. Sadly, with multiplatform titles, developers don't really pull out the best of the hardware. If that area would have gotten more attention, the graphics would somewhat make up for the lacking gameplay.

The story isn't exactly … ‘Tom Clancy.' The story takes place roughly around Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and the Ghosts are sent in to help against the evil communist North Koreans (we've never seen this scenario before).

Overall, Ghost Recon 2 is a mediocre game at best and doesn't deserve to have Tom Clancy's name on it, or to be called 'Ghost Recon' for that matter. Want tactical shooters? There is Ghost Recon 2 and the expansion, Summit Strike, for the Xbox; and then you have the Socom games for the PS2. Also, I sincerely hope that Advanced Warfighter will be an enormous step up from this crap.

Feb 19, 2006 | 3 comments
Mate Bors