Ghost Recon Wildlands: Review
In the core concept, Ghost Recon Wildlands is a fun title combining the best of the Ubisoft classic Open World experiences - be it from Far Cry, Assassins Creed or Watch Dogs. However, the end product is a ‘far cry’ from what it was originally intended to be.
When the game started, I had the great pleasure in creating my own unique character (to some extent). I was happy with what I created, minus the things that need to be bought (Micro-transactions) or unlocked and I started the game. I joined up with my friends and to be fair, we had a really good time playing it. The different approaches and how the AI react to your actions really impressed us. Moreover, the game looks great graphical wise (in 1080p).
However, it does not take long for the problems this game has to become quite apparent. The map sizes are just too big. Ubisoft continues along the ‘bigger the world the better’, path but when 90% of that world has nothing in it, that is a huge problem. Hell, many of the open areas seem to be purely for show as when you are off the beaten track you can basically walk through trees, gates and fences like they are nothing.
The cars are awful to drive too. Helicopters are even worse (which was an issue as nearly all the side missions basically involved stealing a helicopter or plane). The main missions didn’t differ much either. Go to a place take out the bad guys, take out the leader then on to the next. Do this 10 times and your reward is the next massive province to do the same thing all over again.
The gun play is immersive and satisfying and the equipment customisation is ridiculously in depth. Long barrels to multiple scopes to all types of grips, so many combinations to explore. The detail of each of the weapons is very high, and just like in Ghost Recon Future Soldier, you have all the freedom to edit the weapons at your whim with almost a hundred pieces of weapons that you find scattered as a collectible more for your adventure. Finding that perfect weapon completely suited to your needs is a fun and very possible task to achieve given the enormous options of customization of an arsenal that should be pointed out as one of the most tangible advantages of the whole experience.
On the other hand, while the bullets flow like butter and concentrate on all the possibilities of the weapons is something very positive, the same we cannot say of its system of cover that can feel a little deficient; Basically how it works is automatically so that when you crouch next to an object or you hit a wall your Ghost will take a covered position, something that you can get used to but it is not optimal when you have in front of you intense Shootings.
With all this taken into account, it doesn't mean Wildlands is a bad game. It's good enough to hang with the big shooters, especially with a solid online cooperative element, but it won't blow your mind. I like it, I'll play it, but I won't sink 100 hours into it unless my friends are online and playing with me. Solid game, but will most likely be forgotten about in the coming months. A trend Ubisoft seem all too used to at this stage.
Check out the launch trailer below!
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