Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 – PSP – Review

Devoted fans of
the Ghost Recon games have seen the evolution of the series move from an
action-packed tactical shooter with a first-person perspective to a third-person
shooter that impressively gave gamers a taste of modern warfare at its most
awesome. On the console, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter was a true Xbox
360 masterpiece that pushed the series to new and interesting heights and its
sequel, GRAW 2, improved on all the things that made the first game such
a treat to play. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 now finds itself on
Sony’s handheld but the results are not as spectacular as the excellent console
games.

To be fair,
though, GRAW 2 for the PSP doesn’t attempt to port the console game
mission for mission. Instead, the PSP is treated to a game that ties the first
game to the sequel to paint a more accurate picture of the events that make up
the second game in the series. In this game, you take control of Captain Scott
Mitchell, the Ghost team leader, who led his team in Mexico to rescue the
President of the United States and put an end to an attempted coup in that
country. Yet the instability remains and intelligence reports that the
insurgents are still active and are growing better armed now thanks to the
reports the groups in Colombia are supplying said insurgents with arms. The
Ghosts head to South America but the Blackhawk helicopter carrying them is shot
down. Now Mitchell finds himself alone and in enemy territory and it is up to
him to find his team and complete the mission.

That’s right;
you read it right, Captain Mitchell is out on his own in a solo mission without
help from his teammates. It is in the first mission that you get a taste of what
this game has in store for gamers … a Ghost Recon game that doesn’t feel
like a Ghost Recon game. The idea of going solo isn’t what’s bothersome –
in fact, Mitchell has gone solo in the console games for one or two missions in
past games – but this is a game that has you going it alone for the entire game
with very little in terms of variety. Yes, it’s also realistic that Mitchell
will be without most of his high-tech toys due to his current situation but that
doesn’t mean his stealth skills go out the window as well.

Mitchell’s Green
Beret training does allow him to take a knee for more accurate shooting as well
as go flat on his stomach for when he really wants to snipe an enemy. He also
starts off each mission with an impressive arsenal that also includes demo
charges, a pistol and frag and smoke grenades. You’ll also have your OpMap (pull
it up and you can see where the friendlies are as well as the enemy positions)
and the benefit of your Cross-Com (used to call on unmanned aerial drones or
artillery support. If you run out of ammo during the course of a mission, you’ll
find ammo boxes carefully placed in each map or you can always swap them for one
of the weapons enemies drop. The default controls aren’t bad at all either and
while using the face buttons to look right, left, up and down might seem awkward
you get use to it quickly.

The game’s main
campaign mode is filled with some true-to-the-franchise objectives that have you
doing everything from clearing the path from enemy transports to infiltrating
enemy camps to blowing up caches of enemy weapons. In short, the objectives are
exactly what you would expect from a Ghost Recon game. What isn’t like
the series is the fact that you can approach any objective in a careless, guns
blazing manner that is uncharacteristic to the series. Sure, you can go Rambo in
the console version but it’s a sure way to get killed fast. Here, however, you
can clear an objective with little effort. Part of it has to do with the fact
that Mitchell takes unrealistic damage and even if his health is low all you
have to do is wait awhile and his health regenerates much like the Master Chief
does in the Halo games. Secondly, the enemies are dumb … really dumb to
the point that none of them will take cover when they’re under fire and will
rush you mindlessly. I hardly had to use my drone (that can be positioned to
take out enemies).

There’s a
multiplayer mode here but the sad news is that it’s all Ad Hoc and only allows
one friend to join you. There are competitive game mode types here such as
Firefight, Defend and Recon but the great part about the multiplayer has to be
the ability to play the single-player campaign with a friend. Still, the game
could have used online multiplayer just like the Rainbow Six Vegas game
for the PSP.

GRAW 2
isn’t even a gorgeous
PSP game but for what’s worth the game does the character models well enough,
especially when it comes to Mitchell. The enemies look decent as well, but
you’ll never get a good look at them for very long since bodies tend to
disappear quickly. The backgrounds are not bad in certain places and in others,
the textures tend to give the backgrounds that PSOne feel. Still, the light
effects aren’t bad and neither are the explosions when you set off demo charges
or blow something up with some explosive hardware. As far as the game’s sound is
concerned, there’s some good voice acting and the sound effects (while minimal)
do the job nicely.

Ghost Recon
Advanced Warfighter 2
for the PSP feels less like a Ghost Recon game and more
like a flawed Rambo-styled shooter with very little substance. This is really
too bad since the mission scenarios are pretty interesting and so are the
mission objectives but the dumb enemy AI and a lack of online multiplayer makes
this a game that’s fun in short bursts. If you’re a fan of the Ghosts, I
recommend you stay away from this one.

Review Scoring Details for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

Gameplay: 6.0
Mitchell feels
more like a watered down version of Halo’s Master Chief (his health
regenerates over time just like the Chief) than the highly trained Ghost that
uses stealth to his advantage. No teammate to help you is so unlike the series
even though the mission objectives are true to the series. What isn’t true to
the franchise is the really dumb enemy AI.

Graphics: 6.5
This isn’t the
prettiest PSP game you’ll find this year but it’s not entirely bad either. While
the backgrounds possess some washed out textures, there’s some nice visual
details that do the environments justice. Mitchell looks pretty good and the
explosions aren’t bad at all.

Sound: 6.5
The sound
effects are minimal in this game but at least gunfire and explosions sound
accurate enough. There’s some voice acting in the game and it’s not bad at all
and the music is typical to the series.

Difficulty:
Medium
GRAW 2
is so easy
that you’ll zip through it in no time without using stealth. The enemies respond
way too late to your presence and if they do manage to catch a whiff of you
they’re lousy shots. With regenerative health and enemies that don’t take cover,
you won’t find a challenge even in the game’s hardest difficulty setting.

Concept: 6.0

I love the
idea of a portable Ghost Recon game that ties with the console version of
the game and the fact that it isn’t a port is a great thing. Still, there are
very few gadgets in the game aside from the OpMap and the Cross-Com feature.
Multiplayer is very light on the features and there’s no online multiplayer in
sight but at least there’s Co-op.

Multiplayer:
5.9
You can create
a match to share with up to two friends using Ad Hoc to play four different game
mode types or go through the single-player campaign with a friend using Co-op.
That’s all good but why not include online multiplayer like Ubisoft’s PSP
version of Rainbow Six Vegas?

Overall: 6.0
Sadly,
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PSP is an interesting attempt to
take the series to the portable medium but, thanks to a number of weak spots,
the game lacks most of the elements that make the franchise such a joy to play.
I find it hard to recommend this game to any serious fan of the series if you
cannot get enough of the Ghosts (like me) then you’re better off renting it
instead.