Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Mission Pack: Island Thunder Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a hard expansion pack, harder than the Desert Siege pack which came out this summer. As with the original Ghost Recon, I have found that the best strategy is to take command of your teams one at a time - sending them into battle using friendly AI almost always results in quick death.
For most missions, the best strategy is to send your sniper in with one assualt troop as cover and clear a path. Then send you assualt teams into to clear buildings or destroy armor. One especially good early mission takes place in a rainy jungle at dusk. Using stealth and silence weapons I was able to pick off quite a few enemy patrols. Enemy AI is pretty good - often they can pick off your sniper before you can get off a second shot. Each mission is unique and requires a different strategy.
All in all a great game. Highly recommended.

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Product Description:
Cuba, 2009: Castro is dead, and the first free Cuban elections in decades are thrown into turmoil by a drug-funded warlord. The Ghosts, an elite team of U.S. Army Green Berets, are sent to Cuba as part of a UN peacekeeping force to destroy the rebel forces and their mercenary leaders and secure the elections for a free Cuba.
Note: this is an expansion of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon and requires Ghost Recon to play.

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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3, Gold Edition: Raven Shield / Athena Sword Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been an avid Tom Clancy FPS PC fan since the first Rainbow Six was released almost 10 years ago.

Recently, I had been playing America's Army: Operations since its release in July of 2002. But after awhile, the game got repititious (same weapons kits over and over and over again), cheaters became rampant (aimbots and engine mods up the wazoo), and deathmatches (to me) were exciting when Doom first came out in 1994. The multiplayer aspect NEEDS to have some type of evolution.

Fast forward to Rainbow Six 3 Gold Pack! You get the Athena Sword expansion pack along with Raven Shield for a great price.

Rainbow Six 3 is based on the same Unreal 2 engine used for America's Army Operations. You can go prone now for more stable sniping positions (wasn't possible in Rogue Spear). You can slowly open doors, toss a frag/flashbang/smoke and close the door in one fluid motion.

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Game Engine: I'd say its pretty decent for a tactical FPS.

There are some glitches like getting stuck by a door, and not being able to lean in certain spots on the maps. There is also a bug where you cannot move when you first deploy in a multiplayer game. If you hold down the forward key, you can only move forward until you let go and wait 1-2 seconsd.

I'd like to see a more powerful M67 frag grenade. Right now, you can toss a frag and only breach a door w/o hurting the tango right behind it. The M67 is supposed to have a 15m blast radius which should effectively clear the room of all tangoes, blow out all the windows, and cause a ringing in your ear if you're in the area.

I'd also like to see Lean Toggle like in AAO. I have to hold down the lean key, strafe key, and movement key - I start playing hand yoga on my keyboard afterwhile.

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Weapons Choices:

Athena Sword adds a few extra firearms but IMHO, the overall selection is better than the standard choices for many of the other Tom Clancy games.

It lacks variety of pistol calibers, pistols, and proper damage modeling. For instance, the game has 45 Auto (ACP) as having LESS damage than 40 S&W. In reality, 45 Auto cuts a larger temporal wound cavity and expands to nearly 3/4" after hitting ballistic gelatin.
The choice of JHP (Hollow Points) has no effect on damage in the game. I can shoot a soft-target in the head with JHP and it may take 2 more shots to finish the job.

I would like to have seen a 44 Magnum Desert Eagle, a Glock 20 (10mm Auto), and maybe .380 ACP and even 22 LR.

For rifles, they did a decent job of choosing the most common battle rifles. What they left out were the M203 40mm grenade launcher, M136 AT-4 Recoil-less anti-tank launcher, and GP-30 Russian grenade launcher. I'm pretty sure they did this because Rainbow is supposed to be a HRT-type team and NOT a full-on military assault team.

I would have liked to see multiple accessories:
suppressor + high capacity magazine + mini-scope because that is more realistic. You can slap on a Beta mag on a M16, along with a Gemtech and Trijicon ACOG w/o any problems. The rifle would be REALLY heavy, but it's do-able in real life.**************************

Graphics:
The character modeling is decent, and I love the ragdoll physics! Some improvements are in order but otherwise it's fairly decent!

The rifle modeling, OTOH, leaves something to be desired. The iron sights weren't done right on the M16/M4.

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Single Player:
The maps, as usual, were fairly robust. There's lots of detail and the environment is just overall very realistic.

Multiplayer:
Typical deathmatch stuff, but Athena Sword adds Count Down and some other stuff.

My favorite is Cooperative Tango Hunts. I'm not sure if this is new because I've never tried Rainbow Six or Rogue Spear multiplayer, but Cooperative play against the PC isn't all that bad. Just pretend you're playing against 40 people that all have aimbots, accuracy mods for pistols and submachineguns, and occaisonally look in the wrong direction.

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Sounds:

Rifle sounds are sometimes accurate, and sometimes not accurate.
Pistols are way off for most except the SIG P228 9mm. The P228 makes a "POP POP POP" sound, which is the same as you'd hear with any 9mm Luger semi-auto pistol. In fact, 45 Auto pistols sound the same as well, just like firecrackers.

but in the game, the HK Mk 23, P228, Glock 17 (Iron Wrath Addon), and USP 40 S&W all make different sounds when fired. My guess is that they did this for variety. It would be rather boring to hear the same sound effects. However, I find myself choosing the P228 + High Cap mags all the time because it sounds more realistic.
I recommend you download some of the Raven Shield community map packs and practice by yourself.

Overall, this game is totally worth it and I hope my review wasn't too boring.

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Product Description:
Rainbow Six 3 Gold puts you in charge of Team Rainbow as you lead them to victory over terrorists! Control a multinational strike force as they face off the hidden threats to peace and stability. Includes Rainbow Six: Raven Shield and Rainbow Six: Athena Sword. Play on 11 dedicated multiplayer maps & gaming modes, for thrilling cooperative combat

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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Island Thunder Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're a fan of the Ghost Recon series of games, the Island Thunder set brings your platoon-based gaming to a hostile Cuba of the future.
There's the great graphics, where each of your friends and enemies look like real people, with proper movements and actions. Your environment is misty, rainy, soggy, with detailed trees and grass. You really feel like you're crawling up the road, watching for that enemy tower.
The sound is also quite good. None of the rock-thumping rambo music here - you listen carefully for where your enemies could be hiding, and watch for signs that an ambush is being laid.
Multiplayer is where this game shines best, though. An assortment of maps, campaign types and of course a wide variety of players means that the game will stay interesting long after you exhaust the built in missions. Downloadable new maps mean that the game can be fun pretty much forever!
A warning to arcade-style button mashers - this isn't a game like Doom where you just hop in and blast away. If you try that, you'll be slain quickly and pretty disappointed. You have to learn how to work with your troops, how to approach silently, how to work out a strategy to take advantage of your strengths. This is a game that involves a lot of patience and coordination. In this game it's not the person with the fastest fingers who wins - it's the person who pays the most attention to what is going on, and plans accordingly.

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Product Description:
Ghost Recon: Island Thunder takes you back into the world's combat zones, with an all-new mission to complete!Xbox Live compatible, for exciting online gameplayBecome swift, silent and deadly, as you face danger on the battlefield, with the deadly Ghost Recon!

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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm a soldier who returned from Iraq about a year and a half ago and ever since I've been looking for a good TACTICAL shooter to play for the PC.I've had many people tell me that counter strike is about as tactical as it gets.What the heck where they thinking?Counter strike has snipers moving right to left to avoid being shot and suffering no penalty for their movements.You'll see guys running around "bunny hopping" accurately throwing rounds down range its just crazy.In GRAW2 that junk is non-existent.

TACTICAL ASPECT
Graw2 uses a lot of excellent tactical features that I know a lot soldiers, police officers or just gun enthusiasts would like to see in a game.After playing Counter strike I can appreciate things like being able to lay prone in a grassy area and pick people off.You can crouch and even run while in a crouched position!Which is great for doing (MOUT) Military Operations in Urban Terrain or even bounding to assault an enemy position.This game also lets you utilize cover to its fullest advantage.You can peek right or left to take out enemies while not compromising your cover or concealment, whichever you may have.One of the more controversial aspects of this game is the fact that they're is no jumping what so ever.I personally like this features because it keeps players from utilizing the "bunny hopping" strategy.Nothing frustrates me more than being gunned down by a guy with an M4 Carbine thats jumping all over the place.Try that in real life and see how accurate you are :PBut I will admit it can be annoying not being able to jump over some of the minor obstacles in the game.What's also awesome is once you take fire with a click of button you can hit the ground and immediately start moving left or right to pop up in a new location and steal the element of surprise from your would be ambusher.This only works on the Multiplayer though, theres no fooling NPC's :P.I've also used a lot of the scopes in the game such as the EOTech and ACOG and I can honestly say they're replication is spot on.While looking through the optics, everything looked exactly like it did in Real Life.I also like the added touch of when you run, you put your weapon away.They're is no running and shooting in this game.Which to me makes sense.Some would argue that running and shooting is great for laying down suppressive fire, but who's gonna keep they're head down when the rounds are landing no where near you.Nice touch GRIN.

GAMEPLAY
This game has been criticized for being to slow, and rightly so.It is a slow game and if your into the run and gun genre like unreal and counter strike it may not be for you.I do enjoy run and gun here and there but this was a nice change to have something a little more realistic.But those who like to form strategy's and be more methodical and calculating will truly appreciate this game.The graphics are pretty good but they are nothing to brag about.I've only played the game on Medium graphics because a glitch in the game will not let you upscale to high settings.But they are aware of this and working on a patch as we speak.The single player game is pretty interesting and difficult.You control a ghost recon team thats fighting a war against Mexican rebels invading American.Your first mission places you in Juarez attacking a militant camp, your mission is to neutralize the rebels and destroy their weapons cache.Too appease the more skilled players you can complete missions with various awards such as "marksman, man of steel" to name a few and they're are four total and they are difficult to accomplish.

MULTIPLAYER
Multiplayer is where the money is at.They have all your typical multiplayer matches such as death match, team death match, hamburger hill, king of the hill, tug of war, complete objective, Siege, and Recon vrs Assault.This makes for a whole lot of multiplayer player content.The recon vrs assault is the most intuitive of them all.The ghosts have the difficult mission of destroying the Rebel Anti-Air vehicles they're are 4 total.The opposing side playing the rebels has an easy mission: Kill the ghosts.The catch is that once a ghost dies he's dead until an Anti-Air vehicle is destroyed than all ghosts re spawn again.The Mexican rebels re spawn during the whole game.Up the ghost sleeves is high tech gadgetry and the ability to "tag" Mexican rebels.This enables all ghosts on your team to see the rebel on the mini map and effectively move to neutralize them.On the Rebels side is the "scrambler" who can de-tag fellow rebels.It's a difficult game of cat and mouse that will challenge both sides and ultimately the side with the best team work will win the day.Always remember when moving as a team in whole or even a squad, all it takes to wipe everyone out is a well placed M203 grenade and you can say goodbye.Another touch that may bother people is the game comes with the team speak server client.Yes, that means you'll be connecting to team speak if you want to talk to others on your team.When I installed the game it told me team speak was a 2 week trial which upon ending it sounded like I'd have to pay if I wanted to continue to talk to team members over team speak.I personally like this once again because after playing Counter Strike for a while, I've seldom ever heard anyone use the mic to coordinate attacks or talk strategy.Yes I'm sure some clans will do it, but I'm talking about just joining up to your standard public server.Most of the time Counter Strike microphone chat turns into a public insult fest with everyone trash talking and making fun of lesser players to feel more important, because they themselves don't amount to much in real life.I can appreciate not having to listen to dumb people hurl insults while yelling and completely ruining the game for me.Especially when in counter strike and GRAW2 being able to hear your opponents approaching is key to survival.It's not that big of a setback, my friends and I use Xfire to chat and I imagine clans and friends will find alternate forms of communication as well.The biggest problem with the multiplayer so far is the community isn't very large yet.Don't get me wrong I've NEVER had a problem finding a game but they're are a lot of empty servers on the list.Hopefully that will change in the following months.

SYNOPSIS
This is a great tactical shooter for the reasons stated above and I give it 5 stars.Some say BF 2142 is similar in the sense that you can lay in the prone and do other things.But that game is so unstable that you might as well be gambling on your entertainment for the evening, will the game crash or will you have several solid hours of gaming?who knows.But its not as tactical as GRAW2.Once again it is a slower paced shooter and for some I think they'll find its just not their cup of tea.I recommend downloading the demo at www.ghostrecon.com its only a single player demo that will have you playing the first mission described above.More importantly however, is if your interested, it will give you a chance to try it out and see if you like the game play and controls.Like I said its not everyones cup of tea :)thanks for your time!See you in game maybe! :P

Winnebago_Man

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Product Description:
Design Exclusively for the PCProduct InformationIt's 2014 and the soldier of the future returns to encounter a new and moreimminent threat along the recently completed wall on the U.S./Mexico border. TheGhosts are more powerful with an upgraded Integrated Warfighter System (IWS) butwill have only 72 hours to assess the threat and stop the rebels from reachingUS soil. With a border that's 1900 miles long and an enemy that doesn'tplay by the rules this is a job for the U.S. military's most elite fightingunit. This is a job for the Ghosts.Product HighlightsExclusive maps levels extended support and non-linear missions builtwith the PC gamer in mind.Dominate the battlefield with improved weapons like the Rx4 Storm andmore.Outsmart and outmaneuver your enemies with the improved advancedCross-Com 2.0.Product FeaturesVastly Improved Multiplayer - Huge variety of modes from classic teamdeathmatch to the exclusive recon vs. assault.Top-Notch Tactical Gameplay - PC-exclusive tactical maps andnon-linear missions in both indoor and outdoor environments.More Options Mean More Strategies - Your team is more customizable andhas grown with the addition of a communications specialist. New team playoptions abound including the "bubble system" which rewards playersfor more cohesive teamwork.All-New Battlegrounds - For the first time ever the Ghosts willdefend U.S. soil from a cross-border attack taking the fight to all-newlocations. The Ghosts will battle enemies in mountain terrains barren desertsand even protect their home turf in El Paso Texas. Each environment presentsits own benefits and challenges and will call for fresh tactical approaches.More Technology and Firepower - All systems have been upgraded to giveplayers more power and control on the battlefield including an improvedCross-Com. Cross-Com 2.0 will go full screen with the click of a buttonenabling you to deliver more precise and deadly attacks.Overhauled Graphics

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