Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - boxed - PS3

Future Soldier is the fifth main entry in the Ghost Recon series. As with the other instalments, it's a tactical third-person shooter in which a strategic approach based on cover and stealth is favoured over the use of all-out firepower. The game is set in 2024, and the main campaign consists of twelve missions. It begins in Nicaragua, where the Ghost team Predator tries to stop arms smuggling in the region. During the mission, the team is killed by a dirty bomb, after which a new team called Hunter is sent in to investigate the source of the bomb. The player controls the four-man team through a story that takes them to Bolivia, Zambia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Norway and Russia.

The game is played from a third-person perspective, but switches to a first-person view when aiming at a target. Enemies can be taken out with firearms, but also with silent melee attacks. Soldiers can move freely through the environment, mostly from cover to cover, and have access to adaptive camouflage that makes them invisible when moving slowly, activating and deactivating automatically. Cover can be destroyed, and camouflage is disabled when attacked or fired upon. Another piece of equipment is the Magnetic view, which highlights all metallic objects in the environment. Before a mission begins, the loadout is set, consisting of a primary and a secondary weapon plus two items. Weapons can be fully customised in Gunsmith mode, where various attachments and modifications can be fitted. Combinations can also be tested on a shooting range before a mission begins. Other pieces of equipment include sensor grenades, air strikes and remote-controlled drones. The drone provides an aerial overview, has its own camouflage and a sonic blast to disorient enemies, and can be used both as a scope and to mark enemies. In one mission, the War Hound, a remote-controlled heavy robot, is deployed.

Players can prioritise targets with Sync Shot, marking up to four targets that are then taken out simultaneously by the whole team. Team members don't blindly pursue targets and hold back if doing so would permanently endanger their position. Their other actions are carried out by an autonomous AI that isn't influenced by the player. The tagging system replaces the direct command system from previous games. When the player's soldier is hit by suppressive fire, their field of view narrows, making aiming harder. Each campaign mission has four additional objectives to unlock further weapons and upgrades. Much of the story is conveyed through chats between team members.

Multiplayer includes a four-player co-op mode with the campaign and a separate Guerrilla mode, in which an outpost must be defended, as well as a competitive multiplayer mode with four game modes based on the two factions Ghosts and Bodark:* Conflict: Two teams fight over objectives on a map. Once an objective has been captured, it must be defended against the other team for a set amount of time.

• Decoy: Two teams fight over three objectives across three ten-minute rounds. Two objectives are decoys and one is the real target. Once the latter is revealed, a fourth and final objective is revealed. Neither team knows which is the main objective, and they alternate between defending and attacking. To win a round, the attackers must reach all objectives and the other team must defend them. After the real objective is reached, the round timer is extended to allow more time for the final objective.

• Saboteur: Two teams try to secure a neutral bomb in the middle of the map in order to blow up the enemy base. Whoever is carrying the bomb cannot run and can only use a secondary weapon. If the bomb hasn't been detonated after ten minutes, the team with the most teamwork actions wins.

• Siege: Over three five-minute rounds, the offensive team tries to transmit information while the defenders protect the objective. There are no respawns, and defenders initially spawn near the objective, while attackers spawn anywhere on the map and have a ten-second spawn handicap.

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