Related Links
Related Links | Lovin' It Live
Ubi Soft Entertainment has released a number of games under the Tom Clancy label, and for the most part the PC games community is the lucky recipient of the best the series has to offer. This is about to change with the release of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon for Xbox. Ghost Recon was originally released on the PC platform in 2001 and received "Game of the Year" awards from PC Gamer and IGN PC. This squad-based tactical combat game is set in Eastern Europe in the year 2008. A group of Green Berets, known as the Ghosts, are deployed to help relieve tension building on the Russian border. If the Ghosts fail, war is sure to break out. To complete the missions, players will select up to six Ghosts with various attributes that includes snipers, demolition experts, riflemen and machine gunners. The game's developers, Red Storm Entertainment, have also adopted command interfaces based on U.S. Army technology so players have an easier time controlling their squads.
Even though Ghost Recon contains a strong single-player mode with 15 missions, the heart of the Xbox version will be its online play through Xbox Live. Red Storm producer Robbie Edwards was quick to point out why the development team thought Xbox was the perfect platform for a console version of Ghost Recon: "Red Storm has a proven history of great multiplayer games, and bringing the PC 'Game of the Year' to Xbox Live is a natural fit," said Edwards. "Xbox Live is going to bring a whole new legion of fans into the Ghost Recon universe. Microsoft has made it so easy to use, that everyone will find hooking up with buddies and getting into the action really effortless."
Ghost Recon will feature both adversarial and cooperative play through Xbox Live, as battles can include up to16 players. Through the Xbox Communicator, players can either discuss strategy with their teammates or let the enemy know exactly which Green Berets squad is the best. Edwards was thrilled to see Xbox Live utilize voice communication: "When you are in the middle of a firefight with the enemy breathing down your neck, being able to talk live to your friends makes all the difference in the world! Nobody wants to take the time to grab a keyboard when they are popping caps in baddies!" Players can find opponents rather quickly through the Xbox Live OptiMatch™ feature, as well as the ability to create password-protected games. Red Storm has also decided to include with the Xbox version some of the multiplayer modes and maps from the Ghost Recon PC mission pack, Desert Siege.
Just as Ubi Soft and Red Storm are thrilled to bring Ghost Recon to Xbox, the folks at Microsoft believe the game delivers the kind of online experience gamers expect from the XboxLive service. "Ghost Recon is a great example of what developers can bring to a game via Xbox Live," said Scott Henson, Director of Xbox Platform Strategy. "Voice communication, OptiMatch™, cooperative play, competitive play—all of these features add greatly to the game, and we're excited to have Ghost Recon as a part of the Xbox Livelaunch lineup." Ghost Recon is slated to hit store shelves on October 29th. This will give Xbox owners a few weeks to hone their skills before testing them out online on November 15, exclusively through Xbox Live. |
