Giving Ghost Recon Wildlands A Second Chance

One year after Ghost Recon Wildlands' release, and numerous updates later, Mike Mahardy returns to Ubisoft's open-world shooter.

By Mike Mahardy on August 7, 2018 at 8:04AM PDT

In May of 2017, Ghost Recon Wildlands released to what seemed like little fanfare. It came on the tale end of a raucous third quarter, from the fantasy trappings of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to the brilliance of Resident Evil 7.

But in the last year, the game has sold extremely well, and with numerous updates and DLC packs, Ubisoft has kept its promise of post-release support. So, with the recent launch of Special Operations 2, complete with Rainbow Six Siege cameos and new game modes, Mike Mahardy returns to Ghost Recon Wildlands.

In the video above, Mike takes a deep dive into his experience with Wildlands one year after release. He examines the game's world design, combat mechanics, stealth systems, and storytelling power, and whether the game amounts to more than the sum of its parts.

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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands

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NTM23

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Edited By NTM23

I didn't play any of the DLC (from what I remember), but I played Ghost Recon Wildlands after much hesitation at the end of last year. I did everything I possibly could in it, and then once the credits rolled I turned it off an uninstalled it since I saw everything. I love most of the third and first person Tom Clancy games, but the way recent games in the series have been going, with an emphasis on online play, it has made me skeptical. I ended up quite liking it but felt it lacked in some areas.

The music was fine, but super repetitive making me resort to what I rarely do, which is play music over what's already there. Some of the interiors of buildings are used across the world multiple times so it kind of took me out of the experience, and although the story is better than I expected, it's not great.

The characters and story could have been a whole lot more interesting. The third person gameplay is great and the character maneuverability isn't totally new, even for Ghost Recon, but it feels good and what I wanted. You could probably get it playing in much less time, but playing the game for (probably) well over 70 hours, you can hear the same bit of dialogue over, and over. Lastly, it could have used a bit more variety in what you do. I liked the game, but I probably wouldn't consider it good enough to quite hit my top five of last year.

I got it on the PS4, but considering I have an Xbox One X now and plan on getting a 4K TV today, GRW is a game I was thinking about perhaps getting on the X at some point.

4 • 5 years ago

gunnyninja

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gunnyninja

@NTM23: I've enjoyed it enough to play through three times. I also don't care much about the multiplayer mode so I've been wanting more content. The challenges offer a bit of endgame play. Might be worth it to check out the brief Special Ops missions since they are free.

2 • 5 years ago

NTM23

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NTM23

@gunnyninja: Hey, Sam Fisher and the Rainbow team 'teaming up' with the Ghosts are cool as heck to me. That said, I don't plan on playing Wildlands again any time soon unless I get the urge to buy and play it on the X. That said, there is a lot of content in Wildlands, so it's kind of daunting to even think about doing again.

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gunnyninja

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@NTM23: I felt withdrawal after finishing the game, so after a while, I started all over again. And again. And I'm sure when I get tired of Elite Dangerous, I will probably do it again until they release a sequel. The game is too good for me to hang it up. It helps if they keep adding things in the meantime.

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SammyF

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SammyF

@nibbin1191: I wish they'd reset your character progress without resetting your narrative progress. I'm perfectly fine with traipsing around the map over and over again while I reassemble all the pieces for a M4 SOCOM, but who on earth wants to bother with killing La Yuri and El Polito for the twentieth time?

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NTM23

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@nibbin1191: Yep, the idea is cool is what I mean. If I thought it looked to be something really cool in terms of what you're doing, and how much content is actually there with the Rainbow Six and Sam Fisher stuff, I would have jumped back in. As for Ghost Mode, I love a good challenge that helps immerse me in it, but permadeath? Eh. Not a big fan of that. I mean, you have to go back to the start of the game if you die? If that's true, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me considering how much content is in the game; how much there is needing to be explored.

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gunnyninja

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Edited By gunnyninja

@nibbin1191: Yeah that Predator mission is a complete waste of my time. I'm shocked that it is still there. After about a dozen attempts, I ignore that part of the country. The Fisher mission however was a challenge worth perfecting. A lot of attempts, two completions. That one, I hope they leave so I can try different ways of beating it. The rainbow mission is a cakewalk.

Upvote • 5 years ago