GRW, Initial thoughts....

To date I've not spent as much time in Ghost Recon Wildlands as I would have liked. The new Hitman game is a big time hog.

The hours that I have spent on the game have given me some initial thoughts.


Straight off the bat I've not gone to this game for it's multiplayer co-op side. I can see the fun in it but I dont' do random. I've endured enough P.U.G's in wow I dont' need it in this game when it gives me an alternative. So even without known friends that play the game I'm not a sad solo carebear.

I had asked a friend that is into tactical shooters but being an Arma 3 player he looked down his nose at the thought.

The character creator is really good and lets you adjust the look of your character in many, many ways. Never mind the clothing and equipment options. All good things.

Visually the game feels huge and looks the part.

I feel my extra outlay for the gold version of the game is justified.

I've enjoyed the older squad based games in the Rainbow Six history (CD's are still on a shelf) on PC and Xbox, and for anyone that knows the original pc title, the NATO mod was the best.

Despite this new game having the Rainbow name it is a different animal. It's a Ubisoft game playing on the name. That's not a bad thing as the game is good but it's not a clone of older titles or other Ubisoft games. I think it's a mistake to apply any forethought from previous Ubi games to this game.
There are elements from other games that can be better applied for comparison but it is it's own beast.

This game straddles the divide between the Far Cry and a more Arma esque player style. In my view it will take gamers time to adjust their viewpoint, such as a more detailed and intricate Far Cry or a more dumbed down Arma 3.

A lot of people have levelled blame that the game doesn't handle well, especially for vehicles. All I can say is these people have forgotten there is an options menu.With a lot of options to tweak.
I found that the best vehicle driving sensitivity was 10%. The default level is set to 50% so no wonder it was over-responsive for people. Ubisoft did themselves no favours there. I might try 100% for the fun value. Another thing that doesn't help is that even with the driving acceleration option at zero all ground vehicles go from nought to 200 in a nanosecond.
Again from everything I've read and seen online I think too many people are using the vehicles with all acceleration all the time. That's a bad thing.
The default option doesn't help there as it can't get lower but people need to take their finger off the button. Heaven forbid they actually use the brakes....

I didn't adjust the helicopter sensitivity as I found it to be no problem in use with the default settings.
Flying it is more about changing elevation than speed. This is one element where the Far Cry angle slants more towards Arma's "realism".

In saying that cars and bikes can be rammed into boulders and abused in 200 foot falls or cliff side kamikaze run, look like they are the worse for wear but still run and be driven away.
Where helicopters are more "delicate". It's a game design choice as you can't be stopped by bushes and trees or item/vehicle degradation. This is a choice I feel that lets you have more fun and freedom.
The complaints that would have been made if there were a more robust collision detection, leaving the player to walk the 2km to a new vehicle..... enough said.

GRW is fun and provides for it. Motorbike off a mountain at speed, ramp off a rock and still have a perfect landing GTA style. oh look an enemy outpost, time to get the drone out and mark targets Far Cry mode and then go all stealthy. I'm ok with that mix.

I find that the different aspects of the game from Stealth to action, from Far Cry to Arma elements do mix well.

Stealth is good.

Action is good.

Sync shot system is done well.

Bullet impact is forceful and satisfying.

In fact I think the A.I. overall is a good one.
Teammates don't get run over by cars (not that I've seen). I've not noticed any problems as reported elsewhere. The A.I comment on things of interest that I missed. They dont' get spotted by the enemy when following me (but I think that's more a game design element than an A.I. issue). No complaints so far.

I had no hype going into this game but so far I'm liking what it is.
I'll be spending a lot more time with this game if agent 47 lets me....