Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (PC)

Graphics

GRAW is a lovely looking game. Its gritty textures and realistic light effects all combine to bring the modern war-torn streets to life in a vibrant and dynamic way. The level of detail on the character models, the enemies, vehicles and various other features surpasses the original in a number of ways. It’s not all cosmetic either as the game ties the graphics in with the physics (more about that in a moment). The special effects eye-candy is mouth watering. Explosions ripple through the air and debris flies everywhere, bullets pockmark the walls and above you the sky billows looking as real as it could be.

Physics

GRAW is one of the first games to take advantage of the new PhysX system of physics. See here for an explanation of what this dedicated physics processing is capable of. With a PhysX card the game is transformed, but also bear in mind that it will allow you to sample the kind of innovation PhysX provides when you install the software emulation version that comes with the game.

The system allows for weapon impacts to knock enemies flying based on where they are hit (yep, it also counts for you and your team), smacking them hard to the ground if they take a bullet into their body armour. If a leg is struck they will often stagger in a realistic manner rather than an animated way.

The environment is transformed by this technology and suddenly, metal deforms how it should, cars explode with parts driven by physics systems and slam into you causing damage if they hit. Every surface in the game is modelled based on what it is, it’s not up to the levels of destruction found in Black or some of the other games but then GRAW isn’t about blasting everything back to the Stone Age.

It works really well and adds a tonne of immersive elements to the game.

Animations

Tied into the PhysX and the real body feeling of the game are the animations, you can see your character’s hands and feet as he moves and runs. Scott Mitchell feels real and when he’s down and hurting he feels vulnerable, it’s not like you’re a super hero and this body armour can stop a tank shell. I really do like the real body feel of the game though and this adds even more to the immersion, there’s something quite spooky about leaping from a chopper to grab a rope and watching your character slide down in as the cut-scenes are all first person based and the PC takes over Scott for the duration.

The levels of animation in the game are excellent and they are on a par (if not better) than the 360 version. There’s nothing more that I can say apart from to add this doesn’t just extend to the player’s model or his squad, everything that’s animated in the game is done so with the same level of skill as the personal model.

AI

It’s been improved from the console version and it shows, your squad AI is a lot better (especially with the patch) at finding and erasing targets. You can certainly see where they improved over the console version on the enemies as well; they are extremely ruthless now and will team up to hunt you down, find cover and attempt to flank you. If you open fire at them they will also throw themselves flat, crouch and do what it takes to remain out of the line of fire whilst making sure you take some hot lead in return.

Multiplayer

The PC is the King of Multiplayer and GRAW PC had a bit of a shaky start. Thankfully before this review went out I got a chance to patch the game and see it with its new features and optimisations. I can tell you right now as well that Ubisoft must have been listening to its community because there are a number of things patched as well as a number of new features promised over the next few months.

The game’s highlight for me is the fact that you and three other buddies can team up as Scott and his crew, you can take the AI on in full cooperative mode against the single player story. This is something that I felt was lacking from the console version and perhaps Ubi might redress this particular element in a forthcoming GRAW 360 patch.

The current details of this patch are here!

BOOM Headshot!

That about wraps this one up for me and I can tell you that all in all, GRAW PC is the clear victor in a head to head fight with GRAW 360 (as much as I love that game). The additions and the fact that it’s not a port are two of the factors that deliver the game from a good tactical shooter into a must have. If you have the rig to take advantage of the graphics and the new PhysX system then you’re in for a treat as the game pushes the boundaries of the PC and physics as much as the stunning Half Life 2 did when it was first released.

The bugs and problems I could have mentioned have been removed by the recent patch so I can’t gripe about anything. There was one crash that took me back to the desktop after several hours and with the vast array of systems and specifications out there you may experience more than I did. In the end this is really my experience in playing the game that I’m talking about and experiences vary dramatically.