Ghost Recon on PSP

Ever since my return to Kamloops, I've been spending most of my time staying in the room mashing buttons on my PSP. I know it doesn't really sound like me but recently I managed to get my hands on a copy of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PSP. As you all know how fanatic am I about Special Forces games, I'm sure you guys wouldn't find it unusual for me to keep to myself all the time playing that kind of games. The minute I started my first mission, I just couldn't stop playing as I was so curious to know how will the game end. So 5 days of button mashing and analog stick twigging, I finally finished Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2. The game wasn't what I expected, nevertheless it wasn't that bad.

So what exactly is Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter? Created by Tom Clancy, Ghost Recon is a fictional squad of United States Army Special Forces which comprise special ops operatives from Company D, 1st Battalion and 5th Special Forces Group. Due to the requirement of a highly classified profile, the team is usually referred to as "ghosts". The squad was initially developed in 2008 as a response to the civil unrest in Russia where ultra nationalist have seized power in Moscow with the hope of rebuilding the Soviet Union. The ghosts were covertly dispatched to aid rebel factions in Georgia and the Balkan States. In Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, the ghosts are equipped with the Integrated Warfighter System which is based on the real Future Force Warrior program. In this installment, Captain Scott Mitchell (the leader of the ghosts) is sent to south of Panama to eliminate guerrilla forces believed to be trafficking high tech arsenal of weapons to the rebel forces.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PSP takes place shortly after the events of of the first Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Captain Scott Mitchell and his squad of ghosts were send to Columbia to deal with guerrilla forces which is believed to be trafficking weapons to the rebel forces in Mexico. In the process of their mission insertion, the helicopter that the ghosts were riding on was shot down, leaving Captain Scott Mitchell alone behind enemy territory. Regardless of his current situation, he still decides to complete the mission and the only way of doing that is to follow his attackers and the weapons he was sent for, uncovering a conspiratorial plot that might throw Mexico and Latin America into war.

So what makes Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 enjoyable to play? If you're a fan of military and political fiction, this game serves what you need. Not to mention, the unexpected and twisted plot of the story will leave your jaw hanging in amaze and shock. Besides the great storyline, an obvious aspect that makes this game great is the graphics. No one ever thought that Ubisoft (the developer of the Ghost Recon series) could fit in high detailed graphics into a video game console as small as the PSP. The environment of the maps, the enemy and player's skin are truly detailed which were totally unexpected, in a good way of course. Furthermore, the player's movement seem very natural and not stiff unlike the usual 3rd person shooter games. Like its predecessor, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PSP also enable the players to navigate the UAV for reconnaissance purposes. Besides that, the ability to call in air strikes or artillery bombing adds the authenticity to the military format of the game. Basically, these are the few things that make Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 fun to play.

On the other hand, there are several features that holds the game back from getting a good rating. First of all, the ability to command your own squad of ghosts has been disabled unlike its predecessors. It is understandable since Captain Scott Mitchell is left alone to complete his mission but the fact that you can't command allied Columbian forces you bump into at certain levels of the game is just disappointing. The enemy's AI is not that smart either as most of the time the guerrillas and rebels will come running directly to you making it easy for you to gun them down. The fact that the enemy soldiers barely take cover and often group up together (which often makes grenade kills easy) makes the game easy to play. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 features a limited variety of weapons to choose from and the overwhelming provision of ammo magazine makes it almost impossible to run out of ammo in a firefight. What makes it less challenging is the ammo boxes that are scattered throughout the levels of the game which allow players to change their primary weapon and replenish their half way used ammo.
The accuracy of the firearms are just horrible. Unless you zoom into your enemies, you'll require at least a full magazine to kill them. These are the few bad sides of the game.

The game wasn't what I expected, nevertheless it wasn't that bad. If the developers of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 noticed the flaws and improved the game before launching it into the market, I'm pretty sure the game would have won the "buy or die" award. Nevertheless, there are still enough great characteristics of the game that saved it from the "trash game" list. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 gets a 6 out of 10 from me.


In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, you'll be engaging enemies mostly in the forests. The graphics is surprisingly stunning for a small game console like the PSP.

Your fight isn't only restricted to the green jungles but also the concrete ones.

Being Captain Scott Mitchell isn't easy as you think it is. He's not only dodging bullets from soldiers but also tank shells from armored combat vehicles.

Nevetheless, with heavy firepower at the disposal of the captian like this ZEUS rocket launcher, Captain Scott Mitchell stands a chance against the rebels. The picture above shows the aiming scope of the ZEUS rocket launcher. A lock on to the tank followed by a squeeze on the trigger, that tank becomes history.

The ammo boxes that are scattered throughout the levels of the game allows players to replenish their ammo and health. It also enable the players to change their firearms. Ammo boxes are dropped by the U.S. Air Force randomly around the positions of Captain Scott Mitchell to assist him in his mission.