Hands On with Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Before E3 2016 even started I was able to get my hands on one of my most anticipated games of the show. We were teased by Ubisoft with the reveal of Ghost Recon: Wildlands at E3 2015, but since that point all we’ve seen is one other trailer. Now don’t get me wrong, that trailer got me even more excited than before, but nothing compares to hands on. Sitting down at that booth with my team leader and two brothers-in-arms  to actually play the game gave me goose bumps.
Here’s the strange thing; I’m not your typical Ghost Recon kind of guy, so the fact that Wildlands had me interested, well has ME interested. Why would I suddenly be keen on a game that’s taken nearly none of my attention in year’s past? What the hell is so different? I honestly couldn’t have answered that question before, but I can now and in one word; accessibility.
Let me explain myself, I don’t do tactics well, and definitely not in a team setting. I don’t Rainbow Six, I don’t SOCOM, I don’t often Battlefield. I’m a lone soldier and I have an almost unreasonable fear of games that get too gadget heavy. Sitting down to Ghost Recon Wildlands, that all felt very different, I immediately felt comfortable. Sure, I had a drone to deploy, and I had the basics with a sidearm, sniper rifle, automatic and frag grenades, but not much more. Surely the game will get more in-depth than that in the long run, but for the purposes of the demo that was all I had and I really feel like that was all I needed.
______________________________
“Sitting down at that booth with my team leader and two brothers-in-arms  to actually play the game gave me goose bumps.”
Deploying into the wildlands of Bolivia we were in pursuit of our target in a small compound that happened to have a fair number of innocents to work around. Guns blazing wasn’t really our best option. Slowly making our way in taking out targets from the bluff was probably our best option… until I fucked that all up. One missed headshot (rookie mistake, I know) and all hell breaks loose. As the four of us rush in, and school kids duck for cover we see our target hop into a pick-up truck and hit the highway. I manage to find a motorbike and tail him while my teammates all find their own way over to a rundown gas station where he’s decide to hole up. While the team takes out the cartel I manage to breach the building and interrogate the suspect. They keep my back protected, we get what we need, then we blow the gas station to shit and be on our merry way.
Despite the lack of gadgets, with good communication between my team mates and myself we were able to have a great time and not feel restricted in the game play at all. And THAT is what I mean by accessible. A guy who just doesn’t have the mindset for a game of this nature, is able to settle in and really enjoy the experience.
Our second mission was much bigger, but just as accessible. Even a complete lack of following the instructions of our team leader resulted in a chaotic and insanely enjoyable shit show. By having a fully open world we were able to breach a massive camp from both sides and start working our way to our target. Drones are deployed as we assess targets from a distance and the slow move in begins. Snipe some lookouts, breach the wall and release some captives who are more than willing to take up arms and join the fray.
We sure as hell didn’t manage to stay stealth, but the chaos that ensued was ridiculously fun. We frantically try to escape and I go down an embarrassing two times where my team leader needs to save my ass. Explosions are everywhere, mortars rain down on my head and my team leader screeches at me to get to the choppah! Ok, well it was a jeep, but it felt just as epic.
As the demo came to a close it hit me that I’d just had a really good time in a genre that I have almost dutifully avoided. Not once did I feel out of place, outsmarted or like a rookie with no idea what the hell was going on. An absolutely boggling sized map, the biggest Ubi has ever created for any open world game, and the ability to approach it all in any manner you want is appealing. Whether you want to play solo or with friends you’ re going to be able to enjoy this game even if you’re a far less tactical player like myself. By opening up the accessibility of a game like this to people of all skill levels they are astronomically increasing their target demographic too. Of course, while I’m certain sales are important, the bigger thing to take away is that it makes the game better. Obviously a couple missions doesn’t give you the insight to provide any sort of in-depth review but the 30 minutes I spent did their job well. I want this game, and something tells me I’m not alone.
