5 4
Tom Clancy’s Ghost
Recon (2001)
Ok,so,theoriginalGhostRecondoesn’treallyholdupbytoday’sstandards.
It’sa ratherslow,ratheruglygamewherethetacticalshootingdoesn’tquite
makeupforthevisualandpresentationshortcomings.Butbackattheturnof
themillennium,thiswasprimo-PCgaming.Didn’tmatterthatthegameis half
orienteeringsim,halfshooter– it’swonderfully‘authentic’,hassomeexcellent
set-pieces,andgenuinelyrewardspatienceandsmarttacticalthinking.Games
likeOperationFlashpointandArmApushedthepainfully-slowmilitaryshooter
to their zenith, but this was the acceptable face of indulging your spec-ops side.Tom Clancy’s
Rainbow Six 3
Thisentrykindacountstwice.RavenShieldonPCis
anexceptionalgame,asis thevanillaRainbowSix3 on
Xbox.Thisbeinga consolesite,though,let’slookatthe
latter.Eachlevelis a tensesquad-basedcrawlfromstart
tofinish- deathcomesquicklyin RainbowSix,soevery
doorbreachandpeeparounda cornerhastobedone
oh-so-carefully-and-GODDAMN-IT-I’M-DEAD.It’ssucha
refreshingchangefromotherfire-and-forgetfrag-fests
onconsole,andeventhemultiplayerhasthatbalanced,
super-lethalfeel.Oh,andfunfact:thisgameactually
hasvoicecommands,whichyoucan issue to cue squad
orders. And they actually work.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter
Cell Conviction
Thiswasa newbreedofsneakingwhenit finallyappeared,batteredand
bruisedfroma troubleddevelopmentcycle,in 2010.OriginallypitchedasSam
FishermeetsJasonBourne,theendproductwasn’tquiteasfree-flowingand
‘murder-a-man-with-a-newspaper’aspromised,buttheaggressive,fast-
pacedstealthwasunlikeanythingseenin games.Theabilitytostringtogether
takedowns,increasinglyterrifyingtheremaininggrunts,in fluidmotions
aroundeachself-containedstagejustfeelsso,sogoodtoplay.Ok,thestory
isn’tthefinestin theseries(despitetherathermemorablescenewhereyou
forcefullyattacha man’sworkhandtoa tree-stumpwithyourcombatknife),
butwhentheactionis thissmooththatbarelymatters.Andlet’snotforget
thefantasticallytenseco-opmode,which climaxes in the order to terminate
your buddy before they kill you.For Tom
DIDN’TMATTER
THATTHEGAMEIS
HALFORIENTEERING
SIM,HALFSHOOTER-
IT’SWONDERFULLY
‘AUTHENTIC’