GR:AW impressions.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:56 pm

I only did the training and part of the first mission, but here's some quick impressions.

Graphically it's what we all expected; looks very pretty. The scene at the start of the first mission where you are flying over a full 3d version of Mexico City in a Blackhawk while getting briefed is very cool, and certainly shows the power of the 360. One graphic thing that bugged me a bit was the effect of bright light on your view, I think it feels a bit overdone, but I suppose Mexico City can get pretty bright so I guess its accurate. Just seemed a shame to have all these pretty graphics, then darken them all up!

Gameplay felt a lot like GR2 with the over the shoulder view, and menu system. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Giving orders to your troops is easy, and they remind me of Full Spectrum Warrior in the way they get set up in cover.

A couple neat things I noticed were when I knocked over some boxes while sneaking through an alley; that could be bad in multiplayer! Also, I was running towards a wall, and pressed the crouch button as I got there. Instead of just dropping down, my guy actually slid on his knees a bit before stopping; a pretty cool effect.

So far so good, it feels familiar, but has enough new look to keep it fresh. I still need to mess with the drone a bit more to see how it works. I think the multiplayer will be very good.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:30 pm

Got my copy and it is sitting on my desk.

3 more hours of work, then two more to the kids are in bed. Arghh

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:24 pm

Gurantsu wrote:Also, I was running towards a wall, and pressed the crouch button as I got there. Instead of just dropping down, my guy actually slid on his knees a bit before stopping; a pretty cool effect.

That's one of my favorite features so far, the "dive". If you are running and hit the left stick (to toggle down to a crouch) the player will instead dive forward all the way into the prone position. VERY cool feature.

Anyway, the UPS guy delivered the game to my door at noon and I hit multiplayer mode immediately, didn't even look at single player (yet). A couple of my buds were on and we played for an hour or two before the hunger pangs of missing lunch were too much and I paused the action to eat something.

Bottom line, THIS is why we bought the 360, and the game disc probably isn't going to make it out of the console for a very long time. For anyone that was delaying a 360 purchase, this game will give you reason to start searching again (unless you absolutely hate FPS games). The first round of sports titles were nice and all, but when I saw the original launch list, GR:AW was the main reason I was hell bent on purchasing right away. The delay was unfortunate, but it seems that the title is feature filled and runs great online. The lobby options are terrific. COD2 can officially go on eBay now, it really has nothing to offer on XBL compared to this game with it's fully featured online component. All of the menu options are very clearly laid out and easy to understand, inviting friends, making private rooms, etc... all very easily done.

Looking through the game's achievements, I see one titled "committed" that you get after playing 8 consecutive hours in multiplayer mode. I'm not sure of the meaning though. Does that mean you're really committed to the game, or that you should be committed to an institution for playing online for 8 straight hours without stopping, hehe

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:09 pm

Nice early impressions from those here as well as at OS. I'm on the fence still about this game and will probably wait until the 14th when it's available as a demo or it's out as a rental.

What has me most concerned is the realism. While COD:2 was a bit much in terms of being able to take shelter to gather your health back to 100%, this game appears to be the complete opposite. One shot and you're dead. For some that could become awfully frusturating.

Question regarding online play. Is it always your team against the CPU, or can your team play against another?

marino · Post by **marino** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:21 pm

The cpu play is for co-op. Their is team deatmatch and many other modes for team vs team play.

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:46 pm

This game kicks ass. That's the only impression you need.

Just kidding but I'm really impressed so far. This is my first Ghost Recon and it's a hell of a lot of fun. My preferred style of game is in the Halo mode but you can't deny this one is compelling.

I'll stick to co-op and single player until I get the hang of it but I can't wait to play this multi-player.

First time, I'm glad I bought a 360.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:45 pm

Just got in from work and grabbed the package off the front stoop...GRAW. Impressions later on

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:03 pm

I've only done the training mission and a little of the first regular mission so far, but the game looks to be incredible. The graphics are stunning, and the environments seem so realistic and interactive. I have a feeling there is going to be a pretty steep learning curve, at least in terms of the controls and commands you can give to your teammates and vehicles. From what I have seen so far though, the game should be well worth the investment.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:50 am

After playing through the training mission and some of the first mission all I can say is HOLY BATSHIT! This game is exactly what I wanted and then some. I haven't even checked out multiplayer which is this series' bread and butter. I noticed quite a few of you on my friends list were playing this game today so I'm sure we'll be able to get a good DSP room going over the weekend.

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:01 am

Just finished a 4+ hour marathon of online coop with a friend of mine, what a blast! We actually only finished the first campaign mission, this game is definitely tough. At least with all of our dying we were able to try out almost all of the guns, all of which seem to be pretty cool in their own way. One thing that is definitely cool is how different the AI reacts every single time you redo a mission. It was crazy how we would start out trying to attack the first mission one way, only to find out that the AI had completely changed their tactics from the last time we tried it. Awesome game so far!

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:25 am

I had a blast playing with the crew tonight. Zep, Mix and I managed to beat the first campaign mission on co-op while 4 other unlucky saps died

(joking) then we played a few rounds of Team Control I think, was a lot of fun.

No lag what so ever for me, the game was a blast. Like I said online, this is the reason I got a 360. I see many nights of this ahead.

I'd really like to get a group to do the whole co-op campaign, I had a blast doing that.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:31 am

I tried joining you tonight after I saw you pop on, but I guess you guys had already started a mission.

I mostly played team siege, usually 5-8 people per team, lots of fun (no respawns and fairly quick games so you don't have to wait forever if you die early).

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:39 am

Here's a list of some of the weapons available for single play.

M8 Carbine
36K Carbine
SCAR-L Carbine
SCAR-L CQC
SCAR-H
MR-C
MK48 LMG
MG21 LMG
M107 Sniper
SR AS50
M95 Sniper
SCAR-LCQC/EGLM
SCAR-L/EGLM
SCAR-H/EGLM
M8/M320
MR-C/AGL
MR-C LW
ZEUS-MPAR
M9
M9SD
M67 Grenade
Smoke Grenade

Depending on what mission you are, these choices mean the player will have different advantages on the battlefield which will give different parameters to your gameplay experience. As with previous GR's your choice of weapon may indicate whether you'll succeed or fail in a certain mission. Played only 1 mission and so far and I found that the layout of the 360 controller to be much friendlier that the Xbox. Aso depending on your mission, I prefer still the first person camera angle as supposed to the default 3rd. I was also impressed with the CPU AI, and visually what a beautiful game it is.

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 5:50 am

This game is unbelivable. I had some of the most fun multi-player I've ever had in my life last night. Absolutelty great game.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:05 am

Yep, awesome game indeed. I spent about 20 minutes with the training mode and then jumped in an online sessions with some friends from ThePerfectGame.net - great fun. We played some team elim. for a while just to see the maps...and man, are the maps sweet. I love the Warf and Old Town. I can't wait to coop online. Tremendous job by Ubi. If you guys see me online throw me an invite. I believe a few of you guys are on my Friends list (Leebo, etc.)

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:25 am

Love it.
I don't think the room I hosted had less than 16 people in it for more than 10 minutes at a time. What made it even better is that it was all friends. Some of the maps are huge (Old Town and Treasury), even for 16 people. We played some Siege, CTF, Double Siege, Team Elimination, some Co-Op. We tried just about everything...I think.

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:42 am

I have to apologize again to Kruza and Web. After playing a couple of the single player missions and then some co-op my brain had been programmed to "see red diamond ... shoot red diamond". That rule does NOT apply in versus mode when you're on the red team.

Anyway, awesome game and I can't wait to fire it up again tonight.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:15 am

Some of that was my fault too, Mix. I was actually *yelling* at you to stop, but I didn't realize my mic was off.

Funny thing is, we managed to still put up a decent fight in our loss in that one.

Defintely a good game.

Reeche, why did you never play GR before? This game plays very similarly to previous versions. Sounds like you missed out!

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:24 am

For those of you not yet on the 360 bandwagon, it's time to pull out the credit card and climb aboard; between GR:AW and Fight Night, the NEXT generation has truly arrived.

GR:AW is an incredible looking game, with all the complexity and strategy found in past GR games. In addition, the environments and maps are beautifully and intelligently constructed and the damage modeling is incredible. Shoot at a concrete wall and watch it slowly chip away; come back minutes later and it's still damaged. Shoot at vehicles and watch them explode. Watch 'light' objects fall, tumble and slide when shot.

The over-the-shoulder view gives you a better look at the entire environment, and the aiming differentiated from 'look' via pulling the Left Trigger is odd at first, but rewarding after only a few minutes.

Online play was smooth as silk. There are going to be many long nights with this one and the DSP clan.

All that said, there is enough complexity in the single player campaign to scare away a lot of players, even those fairly comfortable with traditional FPS. The controls are daunting, as are the options between weapons, fire modes, perspective, goggles, aiming, team control, drone control, map and more...

I'll play through the single player campaign, but it's clear that multiplayer is what this one's all about!

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:36 am

Played some with Sully and the OS guys. The one year old was not cooperating though so I had to take it down. Had fun while it lasted though. Will take a little bit to get used to aiming with a controller since I am so used to the mouse and keyboard. Would love to play some coop or anything with you guys...just throw me an invite if you see me on.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:46 am

TheTruth wrote:The one year old was not cooperating though so I had to take it down.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:52 am

Leebo33 wrote:
TheTruth wrote:The one year old was not cooperating though so I had to take it down.

Now THAT'S dedication to gaming. They do say TheTruth hurts, right?

I had to work early this morning so I couldn't get online last night. I'm hoping to be on sometime tonight and definitely will be on Friday night. Glad to hear it's a blast online, though I didn't think it wouldn't be.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:57 am

This might actually be the first GR game that I will play more offline than online. The single player campaign is absolutely phenomenal!

Online seems fun and is probably a step up from the other GR games in many ways. It is too bad that the online game is not the same graphically as the offline one. It is not too far off, but definitely a noticeable drop. The offline game is just too impressive graphically.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:02 am

Sport73 wrote:For those of you not yet on the 360 bandwagon, it's time to pull out the credit card and climb aboard; between GR:AW and Fight Night, the NEXT generation has truly arrived.

I feel the same way. The release of Oblivion in 2 weeks should further cement the Next generations arrival.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:22 am

Spooky wrote:It is too bad that the online game is not the same graphically as the offline one. It is not too far off, but definitely a noticeable drop.

I've heard multiple people report this, but I'm just not seeing it (and I play on a 50" DLP HDTV @ 720p). I play in first person view, so maybe that has something to do with it since I'm not seeing my own player model and most of my teammates are behind me or in other parts of the map.

Digital Sportspage

GR:AW impressions.

GR:AW impressions.

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