Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Release Date: March 18, 2008

Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PC

ESRB Rating: M

Official Web site

0:00 The sum total of my Tom Clancy' experience is contained in the 44 minutes I spent with the Ghost Recon 2 demo. This one got heaps of praise, though, so I'm willing to venture out of my comfort zone a bit.

0:01 This minute spent downloading a quick Xbox Live update, watching a bunch of company logos, and watching a loading screen.

0:02 Jump directly to a title screen, with a slowly rotating view of a large, empty hangar in the background. Military-style trumpet music plays like a dirge in the background.

0:03 I can choose from eight faces, all stereotypically ethnic, all pretty ugly. I can add some facial hair and war paint too, but it all looks kind of ridiculous on these misshapen faces.

0:04 The single-player Story mode can be played in "Casual," "Normal" or "Realistic" difficulties. Does that last one mean my character has to go to the bathroom every few hours? Now THAT'S realism! I choose Casual, confident that it will still be way too much for me.

0:05 A heartbeat plays over a black screen and speeds up as we jump to Pic Des Pyrenees, France, "five years ago." The POV goes immediately to a first-person view over a snow-capped mountainscape. I have to advance to the lower observatory to get my mission briefing.

0:06 The objective shows up as a small white dot on my vision along with the distance. Basic two-stick controls for walking and looking. The walk is kind of slow, and I can't seem to run or jump or anything yet. Hrmm.

0:07 A couple of guys in suits talk a blue streak about some hostages that were looking at a new communications tower. There's a negotiator in there, but he's just a ruse. We're sending two heavily-armed teams to surround the tower and storm in. I'm already a little overwhelmed.

0:08 I wait for the order on my headset, whirl around the doorway, and take out the single guard who's caught unawares. "First kill goes to Bishop," says a random squadmate. "Thanks... I guess that means the first round's on you," says my character. It's a little weird hearing my own characters voice boom through the speakers in first-person. Most of these guys are the strong silent type, I guess.

0:10 I sneak up on a couple of snipers that are pinning down the other team. Neither seems to notice when I take out the other one just a few feet away. Oh, well.

0:11 My teammates seem pretty superfluous so far, hanging back while I do all the killing. I hope this doesn't last.

0:12 I take out a bunch of guys by shooting right through their thin, sheet-metal blockade, but I get taken out myself as I try to pick up an AK47. It doesn't seem to take many hits to do me in, despite the ostensibly Casual difficulty.

0:13 I play it stealthier this time, leaning around the corner to take out the guys as they tell an off-color joke. Gotta remember not to leave myself exposed before it's safe.

0:15 Interesting -- I can snake a camera under a door, tag the enemies as threats, then call in my men to do all the dirty work. Seems they're not so superfluous after all! In fact, they're so quick and efficient, it's a little scary. The game is very helpful telling me how to do everything so far.

0:17 Another room full of terrorists. This time I send my team around to another door. As soon as I hear them moving in to distract the enemies, I enter through a side door and take them out easily. One of my men goes down in the firefight, but I can pick him up with a tap of the A button. If only real life were so easy.

0:18 I get a little sloppy as I'm taken out by a sniper in an open air passageway. IMPORTANT NOTE TO SELF: STAY IN COVER UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

0:19 Whoops. I hit the wrong button and frag myself with a grenade. I'm way too green to be leading a team of men.

0:20 Too much cross-talk on the audio channels make it hard to distinguish between what the terrorists, my teammates and the mission leaders are all saying. Seems a little sloppy.

0:22 The interface manages to put a lot of functions on a very few buttons. This is great when the game is telling me how to do everything, but I worry I won't be able to remember it all later on.

0:23 Rappelling down a wall, I accidentally bust in a window and get taken out by the waiting terrorists before I know what's going on. On death, I get sent all the way back to before the part at 0:15. Ugh.

0:26 This time I know what I'm doing and wait for my team to break through the window with me. This doesn't help much as I get taken out just as quickly. As I die. I hear an enemy say "Time to die! I'm going to shoot you in the face!" Doesn't that go without saying, really?

0:28 After three flawless takeouts of the guys at 0:15, I botch it this time and get shot in the face. I thought the sounds of shooting meant my team had done its job. Guess not. There was one lone terrorist waiting for me.

0:30 This time around I shoot the terrorists through the rappelling window instead of busting in, guns blazing. Amazingly enough, it works. Yippie-kay-yay!

0:32 In a lull between battles, I give my teammate a pep talk. "On the field, we are a family. Work together and protect each other. Let everything else go." Ugh. Like, gag me with a spoon.

0:34 Smoke grenade + thermal goggles = they never saw it coming.

0:35 I seem to have lost my team somewhere along the way. It takes them a while to catch up with me and finally disarm a door explosive.

0:36 I have a nice overhead view of the hostage situation from a nearby landing. There's a hostage negotiator with three paramilitaries and three guys on the floor. We're waiting for the other team to give the signal to fire. "You can still be the good guys here. I want you to be the good guys," argues the plaintive negotiator.

0:37 "Fuck it!" says one of my teammates and we start firing into the area. The negotiator runs away while a few more terrorists appear behind the corner. It's a mad scramble with bullets flying everywhere. Suddenly, this turned from tactical stealth into a balls-out action game.

0:39 Man, there are a lot of terrorists now, and I get taken out by the last one in the room as I try to rescue the hostages. The only reason I lasted as long as I did is the difficulty level -- I really wasn't being very careful, in retrospect.

0:40 This time I know what's coming and where the terrorists will be. I secure the hostages easily --now we're going after the remaining, fleeing terrorists.

0:42 "Bishop... I just wanna," says a teammate. "Save it... we'll talk later," I reply, gruffly. Oooh, trouble in paradise? Can love blossom on the battlefield?

0:44 Thermal vision really helps me pick out the terrorists against the grey of the industrial background. Also, it seems I can take a lot more hits now that I'm in "assault" mode. Action and stealth: Two great tastes in one great game!

0:49 I keep getting taken out as I try to encroach on a narrow hallway where the enemies are pinned down. Maybe I should send my team in first next time.

0:52 I get by the main group of terrorists, and come across a bomb we have to disarm. I run right for it like an idiot and get taken out by a sniper. Seems that note to myself I made earlier went unheeded.

0:55 I've been pretty impressed with the way the enemies jump behind cover when fired upon. They seem to actually want to live, unlike many random grunts.

0:56 This time I send a teammate in to disarm the bomb. As soon as he's done, a bunch of terrorists pop up and attack from concealment. It's all a little too scripted for my tastes, but there's not much time to think about that as I take them out. The screen fades to white as I get 25 Gamerscore points for completing Act 1. There's not enough time to really get into Act 2, which is set "five years later" in Vegas. You can be sure I'll get to it later, though.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? If you ignore the fact that I suck, it's pretty thrilling. And the fact that I suck will go away with time, I hope.

This column was based on a retail copy of the game rented from GameFly.

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