No friends? Then "Ghost Recon Wildlands" probably isn't for you.

Philipp Rüegg

10.3.2017

Translation: machine translated

Ubisoft's new shooter is a double-edged sword. The influences of the studio's other famous brands are unmistakable. Not every shot works in the same way, and if you're playing alone, even less so than if you're playing with friends.

"Is it really necessary?" After spending countless hours within the fantastic games ["Horizon Zero Dawn"] (https://www.digitec.ch/fr/page/horizon-Zero-Dawn-dieses-Spiel-Vergesst-Ihr-nicht-so-schnell-3764) and ["Zelda Breath of the Wild"] (https://www.digitec.ch/fr/page/Review-Lasst-euch-von-Zelda-Breath-of-the-Wild-verzaubern-3848), I'm not looking for another generic shooter. Not that I'm against it, on the contrary, but I'm just a bit spoilt and saturated with open-world games. Because Ubisoft's new game is also based on a huge open world. Bolivia, to be exact. Despite my initial scepticism, I still had fun playing Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. But that's mainly down to my friends. "Ghost Recon Wildlands" has a lot of potential, but you have to make the most of it yourself. Let's start with the negatives.

Reasons not to buy the game

The gameplay of "Wildlands" can be defined by the following elements: collecting and shooting at every turn. The game offers a story and various major and secondary missions. They differ, however, in execution almost only in scope. You travel by foot, jeep, helicopter or plane from one place to another, collect resources and upgrades and shoot everything that moves, except civilians. You'll get some cool comments from your comrades afterwards, such as "Fuckface" "Fuckstick" or "Shitballs".

As an American special unit, you play judge and executioner, in a Bolivia contaminated by drugs and arms trafficking. In the fight against the Santa Blanca cartel, you are part of a team of four. Three computer-controlled comrades accompany you, when you play alone.

No one is interested in the story, and your troupe's dialogue could hardly be more infantile. For one thing, they're full of obscenities - see above - so misplaced, they become too heavy-handed, even for me, who appreciates vulgar language. For another, the lines don't fit in with the rest of the game, which takes itself far too seriously. "Wildlands" could have done with a big slice of "Just Cause 3" here.

In fact, the characters always have the same conversations. If I hide a transmitter in a crate, I don't need to hear every time that the rebels will then be able to get it back. Exactly in those terms! And there really are a lot of these crates and barrels to pick up. If you're playing with friends, everyone will, incidentally, have to set up their own station to collect resources. This means you're standing around a crate like four idiots, waiting your turn. It was already super annoying in "The Division" during combat prep.

Quests usually all have the same ending. There's something you want or someone you need to interrogate. So you bolt as fast as you can, reduce any sort of resistance to zero and take what you need. It's almost easier to move around with a computer-controlled team than with real players. With features like Sync Shot, you can instruct your team-mates to eliminate opponents. Artificial intelligence always hits the bull's-eye. This allows you to wipe out an entire base in the blink of an eye.

It's almost amusing when you encounter civilians during an infiltration. None of them would have the bright idea of informing anyone that there just happen to be four heavily armed Yanks sneaking into the warehouse. They just glance around, slightly surprised, or ignore you completely. It seems that cloning is already very advanced in Bolivia. Because the opponents are almost all identical.

Reasons to buy the game

Okay, enough complaining. Rejoice, if you haven't lost the urge yet: "Ghost Recon Wildlands" has its good points too and, depending on how you play, they make it a very entertaining pastime.

Large open-world games are, a priori, nothing new. Ubisoft knows a thing or two about them. It's been a staple for any game developer for a long time now. The world of Wildlands surprised me, however. Given the number of means of locomotion, it's very spread out. But it also looks lively. With pretty mountains, valleys and iconic monuments. The excellent graphics, which shine especially brightly on PC, contribute to this. Nvidia has prepared a few treats here for gamers with the right power under the bonnet. Because gaming requires a powerful PC. With a GTX 1080, a resolution of 3440x1440 pixels and almost all the settings on ultra, the frames vary from 35 to 50. As a result, it's a real treat with impressive weather effects and flourishing flora.

The biggest world won't do you any good if there's nothing to do in it. There are various tasks available to you in "Wildlands". They're not necessarily very varied, but there are plenty of weapons and upgrades to keep you entertained. It can be useful to spot the many points on the map.

It's advisable to send your drones in before attacking an enemy base. You can mark enemies from far enough away to be safe and plan your action. For me, it's a case of finding the best entry point and firing a burst into my enemies' heads. Here you can see that in 'Wildlands' you are also responsible for your own entertainment. Because the game also offers you other approaches and provides you with a generous arsenal of weapons and equipment.

One factor increases the fun of the game tenfold

The most important element of having fun with this game, and the main reason I still play it, is my friends. While playing with artificial comrades quickly loses its steam, "Ghost Recon Wildlands" really hits its stride, when you're playing with up to three mates. This is true of most games, but "Wildlands" is simply the perfect playground. Missions become both more tactical and more unpredictable. Sometimes a mission goes off without a hitch. But chaos can also erupt, because a member of your team (me) couldn't resist shooting the guard, who was far too far away, setting off the alarm. You can, with the various vehicles and gadgets at your disposal, storm different types of enemy bases, which, as a rule, is never boring.
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For me, it's clear that "Ghost Recon Wildlands" is, for a single player, simply an average shooter with insane graphics and a gigantic game world. But, if you're going to take on Bolivia's Santa Blanca cartel with your mates, then Ubisoft's latest offering will provide the perfect playground to let off some steam on a whim.

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Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

Being the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur. more