Ghost Recon: Wildlands Hands-on Impressions

Ubisoft finally decides to dust off their long dormant military shooter brand, setting itself apart from the current genre giants with its ambitious attempt at being an open-world squad-based tactical shooter. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands will have you trekking through harsh landscapes, lush forests and scorching salt marshes with up to 3 of your friends, free to tackle any objective at any angle and at any playstyle.

During my time with the game, the first two things to notice are freedom and scale. As soon as I was dropped into Itacua, I was free to explore wherever and however I choose. The test area alone is huge, packed with loads of activities to sink your teeth into. I celebrate the fact that Wildlands can be played entirely in singleplayer, for some, much like myself, often prefer solitude when exploring open-worlds. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the multiplayer aspect in Wildlands is important or most of the objectives start to feel dull, otherwise. If Wildlands didn’t rely so much on multiplayer, you’re better off playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

Both games share a rather similar concept, with co-op being Wildlands biggest and possibly, only advantage. It may not be fair to compare Wildlands control depth to that of MGSV, but I found it lacking even compared to the latest Splinter Cell, which is their own. Simply put, your toon just doesn’t interact well with the games own, enormous open world. Thankfully, much of Wildlands tactical prowess shines best when utilizing your squad, and hopefully, there’s time enough to polish the controls before the game’s release on March 7.

If we do focus on Wildlands strongest feature, however, there’s not much out there that can compete; maybe Destiny, sure, but certainly not The Division. It’s an incredibly massive sandbox that’s especially fun when played with other people. Tactically synchronizing with your squad and pulling off flawless executions can be immensely rewarding.

Have you gotten a chance to try out Wildlands open-beta? If so, let us know what you think in the comments below. The game comes out on March 7th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For more hands-on impressions like this, keep it here, on Flipgeeks.