The majority of the game is played at long range, so moments like this are fairly frequent, which means there’s a lot of fist-pumping along the way. The quick audible feedback, followed by the target dropping out of his sniper tower when the shot struck true from 300 meters away (regardless of whether or not it alerted the enemy to my position) was often the best part of beginning an encounter. But the shots I made with my eye down the barrel or through a high-powered rifle scope were often the most exhilarating - they challenged me to think tactically, rather than just react to the environment. There isn’t much to shooting from the hip, even after you’ve put points into that particular skill. The long-range snipe is where Wildlands really shines. But in spite of the unintuitive cover system and the shrug-worthy gunplay, there were a handful of moments that made the game worth playing. The latter obscured my line of sight but didn’t give me any protection from enemy fire. The cover system is unreliable, accounting for at least a third of my deaths - it was hard to stay fully protected because there was little indication as to what was considered true cover and what was only a cosmetic hiding spot. The gunplay is mediocre in comparison to any number of third person shooters, including Ubisoft’s own The Division, mostly because the contextual cover system is twelve ways to ridiculous. Thankfully, between decent gunplay, enjoyable long-range combat, and a drone that has more personality than anyone else on your squad, it manages to claw its way back to mediocrity. Story isn’t always necessary to enjoying a game but, sadly in this case, Wildlands misses the mark almost all the way across the board. Sniping is everything and your drone is your only friend Wildlands is a poignant reminder that painting broad strokes on top of existing real world issues is not the way to tell a compelling story. Wildlands’ couldn’t decide whether to be serious or satirical, evident by its bombastic characters that felt too ridiculous to be taken seriously, even if that was the purpose. Lincoln Clay, Mafia 3’s protagonist, and his gang leaders feel tangible, believable. The Mafia games, especially the most recent installment in the series, provides a far more nuanced perspective of what it means to run a large drug operation. There’s a way to handle those themes that doesn’t rely on stereotypes or tired tropes. Not only is Wildlands’ narrative conclusion a massive letdown in terms of tension and story resolution, its treatment of drug trafficking and cartels is appallingly ignorant and still somehow heavy-handed. But it was the ending - both of them - that was the worst offense. Its flaws start with inconsistencies in the story but completely unravels when yet another cinematic rewrites a major plot point. The deeper Wildlands’ thready narrative gets, the more stale the ideas feel. Ten hours after starting the game, its repetitive nature and tone deaf narrative caught up with me. I got so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of provinces to explore and buchones to execute that I began to resent the cartel map and its execution targets. Which sounds great until you’re stuck in choice paralysis. Unfortunately, Yuri and Polito’s end was one of the only satisfying story conclusions in the game.Įverything in Wildlands takes place in an open world, which means that the buchones can be taken down in any particular order.
Their cringe-inducing talk of necrophilia was enough to motivate me along the missions that would lead to their inevitable execution. Yuri and Polito, the first province’s buchones (minibosses), were a fascinating pair to track down. But it isn’t long before you discover the myriad flaws and plotholes that run rampant throughout the game’s latter half. Your mission is to clear out the Santa Blanca cartel and rid Bolivia of its narco-state ties. You play as a Ghost Recon operator, call-sign Nomad, in the wild lands of Bolivia, under the CIA’s Operation Kingslayer.
Wildlands’ narrative starts off compellingly enough. A good start to the story breaks bad quickly But Wildlands quickly reveals itself as a husk, devoid of any life or meaningful story, with more veneer than actual substance. The rocky hills in Itacua, the first province in the game, create a beautiful, treacherous landscape that is glorious to behold. 5 tips you'll want to know before you start 'Ghost Recon: Wildlands'Īt first blush, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a mesmerizing experience.