PC Games Review : GRAW 2 Hands-on

Also On:
PS2, Xbox, PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
Publisher:Ubisoft
Developer:Ubisoft
Genre:Tactical FPS
Release Date:29 June 2007
PC Requirements »

PC gamers can be a hardcore bunch at times. Years of upgrading, tweaking, more upgrading, reinstalls, more upgrading and general maintenance has meant they are rather picky when it comes to games. Ask any veteran PC gamer about console games and you'll probably be met with something about the lack of keyboard and mouse, and how consoles become outdated too quickly. Ports over from consoles often insult these guys, unhappy by the treatment their beloved gaming platform has received. So when Ghost Recon became a console franchise, the news wasn't met with much love.

But PC gamers needn't have worried too much. While Xbox 360 owners got a tactical but still fairly arcadey third-person shooter, Ubisoft and Grin Software developed the PC version separately, building it to the strengths of the platform. GRAW on the PC is an altogether more hardcore experience, where the difficulty is punishing, the view is first-person and that arcade feel is nowhere to be seen. Fans are in luck, as Grin has gone it alone once again with GRAW 2 for PC.

Although completely different games, GRAW 2 on the PC shares the same basic story and setting as the hit Xbox 360 game. The big differences come in how the game is played and the increased number of options in each mission. To start with, you have far more control over your squad mates. While the 360 game allowed you to set move orders and the rules for each engagement - be it full-on assault or recon - in the PC game you can set up and carry out far more precise manoeuvres.

GRAW 2's tactical map in the PC game allows you to set orders for each member of your team, and not just one thing at a time. You can give each member a series of orders that you want to be carried out on your say. It's the kind of thing that simply wouldn't work in a console game, but on the PC where you've got the mouse and the users are more accustomed to advanced tactical play, it makes a big difference. You can even go as far as setting firing cones, which specify which zones you want each Ghost to focus on. The whole game feels completely different to Ubisoft's Xbox 360 effort.

On the battlefield it also appears that you have more choice over how to tackle each mission. From the three-level preview build the very first level is perhaps the best example, with your goals being threefold: locate and destroy the main rebel camp, destroy artillery tanks in caves, and secure this zone and then blow up a bridge. Even before you begin you have options, with your helicopter able to drop your team in one of two locations. Depending on where you choose to drop, you can tackle the mission in one of three ways.

The most obvious is to take the first route you encounter, taking out an enemy convoy and then attacking the camp from the rear. Alternatively you can go straight through the village, taking out any rebels on your way. The final option is to sneak around the side of the map, going under the main bridge and attacking the outpost from behind. Just as in GRAW and GRAW 2 on the Xbox 360, you have access to a scout drone that can fly off and give you a tactical advantage over your enemies. It proves essential when setting up carefully orchestrated attacks.

Despite still undergoing various bug fixes and polish, GRAW 2 on PC is shaping up very nicely indeed. Visually it's more gritty and subdued than its Xbox 360 counterpart, but that's no bad thing. The game is a slower, more precise affair, with none of the cosnole friendliness seen in the 360 game, so a harsher appearance fits very well indeed. Multiplayer will of course make an appearance and should satisfy PC gamers who long for more tactical encounters, but we'll have to wait until the review to find out how the full game pans out.

PC Games Review : Halo 2 Vista

Players:2 - 16
Price: $49.99

Platform(s):PC

Developer: Bungie

Publisher: Microsoft Game StudiosESRB: MatureWebsite:Microsoft.com/Games/Halo2

Why don’t I sum up this entire game experience by saying Halo 2 on the Xbox is one of the greatest console shooters for the Xbox. Despite issues with the story and single-player level designs, you have to admit that it contained straight-through solid gameplay features and one of the biggest multiplayer experiences of all time. So what does that make Halo 2 Vista? Unfortunately it’s a pseudo remake of a great game.

With a painless, almost too user-friendly installation and play-as-the-game-loads setup, there’s nothing burdening about getting Halo 2 Vista up and running. I mean, if you actually upgraded to Vista you’ve already jumped over a freaking boulder, so the games should be painless to install, right? Of course.

I won’t waste time about nostalgic experiences, etc., etc., so I’ll just get right to it: The story is the same space opera as its console counterpart, as Cortana and Master Chief return to battle the Covenant and the multiplying zombie horde, the Flood. If you honestly never played the game on the Xbox (or Xbox 360) I’m not going to give too much away, but I will say that playing the Arbiter in Halo always seemed a bit odd. Simply given that while it added new direction and focus to the story, it took away from the integral foundation of Master Chief as a lead character. That’s like Arnold in the movie Commando needing help from a British SAS soldier, fighting from within the bad guy ranks. See how strange that is? Yeah, well take that concept and apply it to Halo 2 and that’s how the story sort of feels. Regardless of peeves, at least the dialogue and plot consistency stays on track. It would have been nicer to still have more fleshed out stages on Earth, as opposed to jettisoning off into space to fight the Covenant once more. But then again, this is a remake not a redo.

The single-player gameplay (if you honestly don’t know) consists of first-person shooting, with the ability to independently dual-wield select weapons. And there’s several new vehicles...well, old vehicles in comparison to Halo 3, but new vehicles in comparison to Halo 1. The Warthog comes in two formats; one with a mini-gun and one with a gauss cannon. There’s the available Spectre, Wraith and a few other playable Covenant vehicles that can be manned and used against the enemy. Hijacking is something that never gets tiresome, and should be further exploited in newer games, despite being a feature that’s three years old. And the new weapons and modifications to old weapons are more miss than hit (the original M1 assault rifle should have stayed put, but that’s what Halo 3 is for, I guess).

I still can’t get over the fact that Marines can’t be directed or controlled on the battlefield. It’s a pain not being able to setup formations. But then again, the stages would require better designs to utilize tactics that you might execute in a game like Rainbow Six Vegas or Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Realistically, though, I always hated the single-player stage designs in Halo 2. You can rant and disagree all you want, but Ghost Recon, Half Life 2, Metroid Prime, Max Payne and many other shooters out there on the market have better single-player maps than Halo 2 and subsequently, Halo 2 Vista. That’s not to say that some of the stages weren’t fun, it’s just that I still find the Covenant level designs to be tedious and repetitive.

Now some people have been punching down hard on H2 Vista’s graphics. But truthfully, it doesn’t look much worse than Halo 3. Some of you can complain, riot and protest, but the model designs and some of the lighting, shooting and explosion effects aren’t very far off from the soon-to-be-released H3 for the Xbox 360. I’m actually convinced Halo games stopped being visual top-dogs after Halo 2 for the original Xbox. But that’s just my take on the matter.

As for the audio, one can’t complain. The sound effects are on par with being clean and most of the weapons have [fairly] appropriate kickback, as necessary. But look, I have to be honest, Halo has one of the best soundtracks around – and the single-player campaign, while shoddy in its creativity, at least has a veritable soundtrack with the sweet, sweet sounds of Marty O’Donnell. Say what you will, but I’m a sucker for a good theme song. This saved H2 Vista a half-a-star right here (and it brought Pirates for the PS2 down half-a-star for not having the original Hans Zimmer theme song from the movie...live and learn).

Even with the new multiplayer maps, Halo 2 Vista is a bit too constrained in its attempt to open up the series to PC gamers. There needed to be more weapons; there needed to be more customization tools for players to easily edit or change the characters they play and not just logos; there needed to be more vehicles; there needed to be better physics adjustment and there needed to be a slight redo of some of the single-player levels that suffered from sameness. Perhaps the map editing tools and user-content will widen the floodgates to ensure that the game feels more “PC oriented”. But by that time there will probably be flashier and fancier games already available and better suited for hardcore PC gamers.

I think, though, for the price in which it was released, Halo 2 Vista lacks the ingenuity to live up to its current retail tag. For anyone who never played Halo 1 or Halo 2 on the Xbox – or you just don’t fancy owning a console, but want to play console games – you might want to wait for this game to drop down to a budget price and then have a go at it.