Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

After almost a year underground, Ubisoft finally gave us a chance to check out Future Soldier's single- and multiplayer modes.

Since its announcement in 2009, Ghost Recon: Future soldier has suffered through a rocky development cycle. After a lukewarm reception at last year's E3, Ubisoft went dark to refine the title, pushing the release date from Fall 2011 into the first quarter of 2012. When going to check out the game at Ubisoft's E3 booth, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Upon first impression, Future Solider feels more in line with traditional shooters than it does with the strategy-heavy GRAW. You still have access to cool near-future technology, but Future Soldier cuts down on the tactical micro-management of your four-person squad that was so prevalent in the Advanced Warfighter games. The Ghosts operate more autonomously now, moving freely through the world without the need to give them waypoints or point them to cover.

That's not to say you don't coordinate attacks. Players can still plan breach maneuvers and mark up to three targets. After you've painted the targets, the Ghosts will move into position for the shot and wait for a cue to fire. Line up a shot of your own, and the squad will fire simultaneously at their targets when you pull the trigger. Watching four bodies hit the floor at once is empowering, and I hope Ubisoft has more tactical options like this to showcase your squad's badassery.

With a little prodding, Ubisoft opened up more about the game's plot, which we knew very little about. The Ghosts are hot on the trail of an arms smuggling operation, and tracking them takes the elite unit to all corners of the globe.The E3 demo takes place during the third mission of the 12-level campaign, which supports drop-in/drop-out co-op for four players and should take roughly 10 hours to complete.

The Ghosts are searching for a captured CIA agent in a Nigerian village. As we move toward the settlement undetected thanks to our cloaking technology, I see a group of soldiers harassing citizens. I open fire and the villagers start to panic, running for safety, cowering in shock, and diving to the ground to avoid getting shot. Picking out the armed men amongst the crowd is tough, but my Ghosts are up to the task.

After clearing the village of the remaining threats, the Ghosts move toward a heavily fortified oil refinery. As an Engineer, I decide this is a good time to fire up the UAV drone to identify enemy positions and get a head count. They have the numbers, but we have the technological advantage. After marking three targets my cloaked Ghosts move into position and wait for me to join them in the assault. I train my sights on an enemy in an elevated position and we take the four shots. The remaining soldiers scramble to take cover, and an entrenched firefight ensues.

As I learned rather quickly, moving from cover to cover is imperative to keeping your soldier alive. Bullets will chip away at your position, so I frequently found new positions from which to engage. The gunplay felt adequate, but lacked the visceral punch of some of the better shooters. I also found myself annoyed by the overused augmented reality overlays, which can obfuscate enemies in intense firefights. I hope there is an option for toning this down or removing it altogether.

After securing the agent, our team goes into escort mode, with me guiding the VIP with one hand while firing at oncoming enemies with the other. Soon two choppers move in on our position, and the mission starts to look futile. However, the ever-resourceful Ghosts have one last trick up their sleeves. The mission culminates with the squad calling in an air strike. The ammunition of choice? A thermobaric bomb, a high precision payload that takes out both targets in one fell swoop.

The Ubisoft booth also showcased a new Future Soldier multiplayer mode, called Conflict, on a map called Overpass. Conflict is an objective-based competition that can be played either 4v4 or 8v8. To win the round, your team must complete more objectives than the other team in the allotted time. These tasks vary from map to map, but expect to do things like hacking terminals, assaulting positions, or defending. Conflict is one of four modes that Ubisoft plans to ship with the 10 maps.

The Future Soldier multiplayer mode pits the Ghosts versus the Bodark, the Russian equivalent to the elite U.S. unit. Both groups have their own weapons and armor, so players essentially have two progression tracks to complete. The progression and upgrade systems work across three tracts. Players gain access to new equipment as they level up, and when they reach certain benchmarks they are given the choice to select one of two guns. Since you can't unlock all 50 guns through one playthrough, expect Ubisoft to include some sort of prestige functionality that allows you to go back and start from scratch.

Players can also spend their XP freely to unlock one of the over 50 weapon attachments featured in Future Soldier. Once you select a new barrel, stock, scope, or undersling attachment you can add it to your weapon using the Gunsmith feature. This Kinect-friendly gun builder allows players to construct unique weapons that accentuate their play style. You can learn more about this feature here.

When I asked an Ubisoft rep about the game's basic infrastructure, he confirmed the existence of a pre-game lobby that allows friends to team up before jumping online. I also broached the subject of team communication, and he said the team was still wrestling with whether to have players chat across the entire eight-player team or to keep it restricted to the four-player squads a la Battlefield. 

I still have my doubts that Ghost Recon: Future Soldier can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the marquee shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield, but I walked away from the demo more confident in the new approach than I was last year. The YETI engine is starting to look dated, but the game played fluidly and it's by no means ugly. If Ubisoft can inject some punch into the gunplay and fine-tune the HUD, this Tom Clancy title could continue the series' legacy of delivering destination multiplayer.

If you're itching to get your hands on Future Soldier, dig in for a long wait. Ubisoft says the multiplayer beta isn't starting until early 2012. To see the game in action, check out the video below.