Lone Wolf Mode

By Pete Hutter

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 features a brand-new game mode called Lone Wolf that turns the entire game on its head. Now you can leave the rest of your squad behind and take care of business personally in several mode-specific maps or any of the single-player missions you've cleared.

Instead of a team of highly-trained commandos, Lone Wolf gives players access to the next generation of military technology. Known as Future Force Warrior gear, the load-out includes weaponry and tools that literally don't exist yet. The U.S. Army is developing this gear for use sometime around 2010, but for now anyone with an Xbox® and a copy of Ghost Recon 2 can get a taste of what the ultimate warrior will be packing ten years down the road.

In Lone Wolf mode, you are the entire squad.

The centerpiece of the Future Force Warrior equipment is the super-light, super-powerful M29 system. This sleek, high-tech assault rifle features a built-in camera that allows you to peer around corners without exposing yourself to enemy fire. Hitting the black button engages the camera so you can manipulate the view with your controller. From this view you can scan, zoom, and line up the perfect head shot without leaving cover. You can even fire the gun from this position so that the enemy is dead before he knows you're out there.

The M29 also comes equipped with a timed air-burst grenade launching system. All you need to take out enemies who are dug in behind good cover is a general idea of where they are and a little practice with the controls. It only takes a second or less to take aim, set the timer, and let fly. Depending on how much time you gave yourself and your aim, grenades will now explode in mid-air, behind the enemy, or even right in his lap.

Future Force Warrior gear also puts you in direct contact with a pair of fighter planes standing by in the sky. At your command, they will strafe any target you designate (provided it's outside) and drop a payload of high explosives on it.

Snipe around corners? Sweet!

If you think all this superior weapons tech is for show, you obviously don't know Tom Clancy or the Ghost Recon series. As the name implies, Lone Wolf missions are for a single soldier—you won't have any of your fellow Ghosts along to provide covering fire or execute flanking maneuvers. No squad mates means you're the only one shooting at the enemy, and, worse, the only target for them to shoot at. The advantages of the M29 mean nothing if you can't change your strategy to compensate for the lack of troop support. The Ghost Recon games are famous for demanding patience and sound strategy over speed and aggression—trying to shoot everything that moves just won't work here—, but this has never been more important than in Lone Wolf mode. Since it takes only a few shots to do fatal damage (one if it's a head shot), you have no chance against superior numbers in close quarters even with the Future Force Warrior gear. You must rely on the long-range capabilities of the camera gun, timed grenades, and air strikes to soften up the opposition before you get close. Cover is also more important than ever—anything that stops enemy bullets is your friend, and you want to shut down as many sources of hostile fire from as many different directions as you can, all while avoiding large-scale shootouts.

Lone Wolf missions are laid out the same as the normal single-player ones, but you'll find yourself seeking out new ways to advance at every stage. Instead of relying on your Ghost squad to rush a crowded area and flank the enemy, you can now call in an air strike to clear the way for you. Where in normal single-player mode you might forge ahead with your Ghost posse and shoot it out with a gang of enemies, as a Lone Wolf you will need to choose a path of lesser resistance to get the drop on the opposition and whittle them down one by one.

Future Force weaponry pours on the firepower.

Lone Wolf mode is an excellent addition to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2. Giving players access to the next generation of military hardware fits perfectly with the near-future setting of the game. More importantly, it changes the fundamental approach players must take in order to succeed. By concentrating all of a mission's offensive and defensive requirements into a single soldier, each battle becomes more exciting, more challenging, and much more intense.