Indeed, where those obviously ‘insolent’ console players had to make do with third-person military action set against the backdrop of a rebellion-torn 21st century Mexico City, PC GRAW 2 fans will be treated to a more traditional viewpoint interpretation of another supposed Tom Clancy story – set in the more or less identical backdrop with cross-platform returning protagonist Captain Scott Mitchell.
But that’s not to say GRAW 2 for the PC doesn’t aim to dish its own kind of tactical squad-based action past the viewpoint and subtle differences in plotline. Much like the first PC iteration, GRAW 2’s control schemes give the slow-paced proceedings a more precise command. And fortunately enough, unlike that very same first PC GRAW, the technical issues and lacklustre multiplayer are all but binned.
Playing through early samples of the single-player mode made these improvements even more apparent. Fans of the intrinsically deep mechanics of the original Ghost Recon series on the PC will be pleased to know that the spirit of those same heavy-handed tactical elements will be seeing a return in GRAW 2 for the PC. The mission load-out screen alone, with vast rolling aerial maps along with a deep 27 weapon inventory and the customisable appearance of your soldiers, should be enough to get any hardened traditional GR vet cracking a smile.
And with an AI system that is a step above the dimwit IQ of the original GRAW, along with additions to the direct command system and user interface, the single-player romp through the beginning stages of the three-level campaign on offer in the preview build was met with noticeably less instances of NPC babysitting. Promises that the AI will also be further tweaked bodes well for a final release that could, at the very least, provide a far more distinct testing bed for the online multiplayer mode. Tentative murmurs of a PC co-operative mode also being added make the worthwhile factor doubly so.
The single-player mission objectives we played through, while somewhat eerily familiar to the Xbox 360 GRAW 2 veterans among us, took a turn for the fresh once our troops touched ground from a signature Black Hawk rappel. Upon first glance, the environments in the PC GRAW 2 feel a little more closed in, especially in terms of visual structure when compared to its Xbox 360 cousin, but with the improved multi-linear mechanics and waypoints offered, it seems a negligible trade-off where gameplay is concerned.
At the same time however, the same dated graphical artefacts from the first PC GRAW, such as jaggies and somewhat blurry textures, remain. Still, the superficial shine between the console and the PC version is arguably only noticeable to those who have played both. The proverbial PALGN jury is still undecided on whether the PC version, while possessing a visual quality of its own, yet not quite up to the standards of the overbloomed Xbox 360 version of GRAW 2, is truly in a backwards ‘next-generation’ of its own.
Of course, with the game running on the latest in-house Diesel Engine, along with its many delectable effects coming at us left, right and centre, GRAW 2 PC players are looking geared to need an above average set up. While the recommended system requirements have yet to extol the range of heretic magic required to play with a Voodoo 3 video card, the GeForce 6200 powered rig we tested on did managed to keep a sufficiently smooth and seamless frame rate. Needless to say, if the last game you upgraded for was Half-Life 2, your mileage may starkly vary.
From what we can tell, it seems Ubisoft has taken heed of the criticisms aimed at its previous sloppy handling of the PC version of GRAW; and, thanks to developer GRIN’s recognition of specialising the ‘port’ this time around, has given this keyboardised edition of GRAW 2 a complimentary existence to the so-far fundamentally console-centric series.
Loading...
