A tremendous update to the first game, awesome fun solo and great with a friend(or 3!)

While a caveat is necessary regarding the current server behaviour when trying to start up a co-op session, being an older title Ubisoft has put this guy onto some sort of aged hobbly decrepit cranky server listing, meaning starting a co-op session requires intense patience. The trick is to wait until the in game store is accessible on both Sessions before attempting to join...

Which leads into the second seemingly negative sounding statement regarding this SUPERB title. The DLC and in game stores are both just horrible. The DLC (Narco Road & Fallen Ghosts) actually require a completely SEPERATE toon! Meaning your main game character is not used in any way, and, the writing is rather naff on both of them. Avoid. The in game store allows for "boosting" XP and credits and weapons, avoid this too. Oddly, the free Ubi-Rewards give you 2 of the most powerful and in fact, overpowered weapons available in game...sooo...buy the base game and you good.

Right then, on to the cool stuff, because my god this thing is awesome:

• So big.
  
• Excellent story.
  
• Varied environments
  
• Range of uniquely performing weaponry
  
• Multitude of gameplay / mission completion options.
  
• Can take as long or as short as you want to finish
  
• Cool hidden stuff.
  
• BASE jumpiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!

The Chilean peninsula this game is situated in is Fictional, but based on superb real world research that includes wildly differing regions varying from Andean snowcapped Alpine peaks to humid swamps and heavily wooded rolling hills, all with industry and town locations fitting to their regions.

This accentuates the background to a rather excellent storyline which is wonderfully voice acted and I presume mo-capped. The production values are impressive across the board in this regard.

While it is clear many locations have buildings copy/pasted, their interiors and exteriors are all individual removing "repeated dungeon" fatigue common to many titles. The indistinguishable primary bases scattered throughout this world sized....world immerse one even further.

The World itself really feels alive with AI citizens wandering around on foot, plane, train or automobile and commenting on story driven events, alongside radio broadcasts setting the scene and enemies commenting on their lives and postings or patrols. All have reactionary based animations and behaviours. Your squad even comments on regions you enter, adding further to the experience.

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Combat AI is...an interesting one. Depending on your difficulty level which ramps up dramatically if you choose the endgame ranking system in order to unlock more toys, skins and cosmetics, you can end up in one shot instadead territory if discovered. Which does bring forward the GHOST intended nature of the game, you are not really meant to be seen at any point!

One can however, allow full degeneration into CQC combat, but the realism kicks in here with you being as squishy as most of the enemies. First shot wins. While playing with the AI teammates who are essentially gods and effectively give you a "life" (later 2) if you are downed, your Co-Op experience will vary in this regard. If your idiot buddy stirs a hornets nest, it really is best to run and hide to return to resurrect them, or let the timer run out and they teleport back.

Death merely loses you your most recent XP, resources and objectives earned before the last autosave. Autosaves occur on Teleportation, and entry into fresh combat zones, so its pretty good in that regard.

Avoiding all that is done by playing the game as intended. Careful reconnoitring of the objective, enemy patrol patterns, resources and backup potential allow you to select your infiltration point be it via BASE, HALO, ground assault or even using the Rebels to attack and distract.

The Rebels you are assisting can be used to call in Mortar Strikes, entire backup squads, auto-recon, or do distraction attacks on command. Your squad, can also to a degree be controlled in this manner, sending them to specific points, holding zones or going stealth or full combat.

This leads to the coolest feature of the game, Synchronised Shots. Sync shots with AI are a bit overpowered and can be used to reach all sorts of locations, while doing it in co-op is a lot more satisfying and a true art form. Marking targets, you then wait until all are lined up for their shots and call a simultaneous hit dropping them all without alerting the remaining enemies. Very effective.

While the better weapons and attachments are hidden across the entire map, usually in Points Of Interest, some are inside main bases or mission areas. One can attack mission bases outside of the Mission to gain access to the loot, and when you return on the Mission you'll find enemy layouts and triggers dramatically different. POI's are not required to be fully cleared to complete the game, unless you enable the endgame scoring system in which case you'll be hunting for every advantage possible!

To be clear, Tier One (endgame scoring) is totally optional, and just ramps up the difficulty while forcing you to then invest in upgrading your weapons to match enemy armour levels. A bit of fun and not terribly complicated, but totally unnecessary to finish the game.

The Rebel Leader, Pat Katari is a bit of a miserable qunt. Whenever you do call the chap to drop in a vehicle for you, the clown will do his best to confound you by placing your called in item either halfway up a cliff face, in the middle of traffic, or on top of an entire enemy squad. This feature though is best used when clear of obvous pitfalls where it then behaves as intended, and makes for trudging your way on foot from a random location you found yourself in, back to civilisaton far less tedious (or just teleport to a base...but break your immersion).

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For more reviews and rantings, march over to my Curator Page, The Imaginings of a Gamer|

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[h1]A massive highly re-playable gorgeous co-optional open world (stealth?) experience[/h1] [i]A tremendous update to the first game, awesome fun solo and great with a friend(or 3!)[/i] While a caveat is necessary regarding the current server behaviour when trying to start up a co-op session, being an older title [b]Ubisoft[/b] has put this guy onto some sort of aged hobbly decrepit cranky server listing, meaning starting a co-op session requires intense patience. The trick is to wait until the in game store is accessible on both Sessions before attempting to join... Which leads into the second seemingly negative sounding statement regarding this SUPERB title. The DLC and in game stores are both just horrible. The DLC [i](Narco Road & Fallen Ghosts)[/i] actually require a completely SEPERATE toon! Meaning your main game character is not used in any way, and, the writing is rather naff on both of them. [i]Avoid[/i]. The in game store allows for "boosting" XP and credits and weapons, avoid this too. Oddly, the free Ubi-Rewards give you 2 of the most powerful and in fact, overpowered weapons available in game...sooo...buy the base game and you good. Right then, on to the cool stuff, because my god this thing is awesome: [list] [*] So big. [*] Excellent story. [*] Varied environments [*] Range of uniquely performing weaponry [*] Multitude of gameplay / mission completion options. [*] Can take as long or as short as you want to finish [*] Cool hidden stuff. [*] BASE jumpiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!! [/list] The Chilean peninsula this game is situated in is Fictional, but based on superb real world research that includes wildly differing regions varying from Andean snowcapped Alpine peaks to humid swamps and heavily wooded rolling hills, all with industry and town locations fitting to their regions. This accentuates the background to a rather excellent storyline which is wonderfully voice acted and I presume mo-capped. The production values are impressive across the board in this regard. While it is clear many locations have buildings copy/pasted, their interiors and exteriors are all individual removing "repeated dungeon" fatigue common to many titles. The indistinguishable primary bases scattered throughout this world sized....world immerse one even further. The World itself really feels alive with AI citizens wandering around on foot, plane, train or automobile and commenting on story driven events, alongside radio broadcasts setting the scene and enemies commenting on their lives and postings or patrols. All have reactionary based animations and behaviours. Your squad even comments on regions you enter, adding further to the experience. [hr][/hr] Combat AI is...an interesting one. Depending on your difficulty level which ramps up dramatically if you choose the endgame ranking system in order to unlock more toys, skins and cosmetics, you can end up in one shot instadead territory if discovered. Which does bring forward the GHOST intended nature of the game, you are not really meant to be seen at any point! One can however, allow full degeneration into CQC combat, but the realism kicks in here with you being as squishy as most of the enemies. First shot wins. While playing with the AI teammates who are essentially gods and effectively give you a "life" (later 2) if you are downed, your Co-Op experience will vary in this regard. If your idiot buddy stirs a hornets nest, it really is best to run and hide to return to resurrect them, or let the timer run out and they teleport back. Death merely loses you your most recent XP, resources and objectives earned before the last autosave. Autosaves occur on Teleportation, and entry into fresh combat zones, so its pretty good in that regard. Avoiding all that is done by playing the game as intended. Careful reconnoitring of the objective, enemy patrol patterns, resources and backup potential allow you to select your infiltration point be it via BASE, HALO, ground assault or even using the Rebels to attack and distract. The Rebels you are assisting can be used to call in Mortar Strikes, entire backup squads, auto-recon, or do distraction attacks on command. Your squad, can also to a degree be controlled in this manner, sending them to specific points, holding zones or going stealth or full combat. This leads to the coolest feature of the game, Synchronised Shots. Sync shots with AI are a bit overpowered and can be used to reach all sorts of locations, while doing it in co-op is a lot more satisfying and a true art form. Marking targets, you then wait until all are lined up for their shots and call a simultaneous hit dropping them all without alerting the remaining enemies. Very effective. While the better weapons and attachments are hidden across the entire map, usually in Points Of Interest, some are inside main bases or mission areas. One can attack mission bases outside of the Mission to gain access to the loot, and when you return on the Mission you'll find enemy layouts and triggers dramatically different. POI's are not required to be fully cleared to complete the game, unless you enable the endgame scoring system in which case you'll be hunting for every advantage possible! To be clear, [b]Tier One[/b] (endgame scoring) is totally optional, and just ramps up the difficulty while forcing you to then invest in upgrading your weapons to match enemy armour levels. A bit of fun and not terribly complicated, but totally unnecessary to finish the game. The Rebel Leader, Pat Katari is a bit of a miserable qunt. Whenever you do call the chap to drop in a vehicle for you, the clown will do his best to confound you by placing your called in item either halfway up a cliff face, in the middle of traffic, or on top of an entire enemy squad. This feature though is best used when clear of obvous pitfalls where it then behaves as intended, and makes for trudging your way on foot from a random location you found yourself in, back to civilisaton far less tedious (or just teleport to a base...but break your immersion). [h1]Overall, one of my most favourite gaming experiences. Highly recommended both solo and if you can find a friend who isnt a gung-ho looney![/h1] [hr][/hr] [i]For more reviews and rantings, march over to my Curator Page, [url=https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/curator/27530814-The-Imaginings-of-a-Gamer/][b]The Imaginings of a Gamer[/b][/url][/i]| [hr][/hr]