GHOST RECON WILDLANDS
Tom Clancy’s latest open worlder kicks it up a Metal Gear
As we hurtle out of the chopper and down towards sweet, solid Bolivian soil, we can’t shake the feeling we’ve done all this before. Indeed, we played this very level of the third-person open-world shooter at this year’s E3, infiltrating the drug cartel base with three teammates – and detonating more explosive barrels than was probably necessary. Now that the reactive sandbox is shrouded in inky-black darkness and shimmering sheets of rain, it’s time to test out a stealthier night approach. Ghost Recon Wildlands’ day/night cycle and changing weather means the dust beneath our feet has transformed to silken mud. Thunder booms overhead. The precipitation is bound to obscure the guards’ views – there’s even a good chance that some are taking a cheeky nap right about now, as they all operate on different shifts.
It could make grabbing cartel leader El Pozalero a much smoother affair this time around. Our drone is invaluable: hitting 8 sends it into the sky. Tagging enemies while we scope out a route towards our target pops a permanent red Polo over their heads – if they hear us skulking about, become suspicious and move, we’ll spot the potential kerfuffle a mile away. Finally, we find our mark pulling an all-nighter. We’d be impressed by his work ethic if it weren’t for the fact he’s, y’know, peddling the naughty powder.
We’re determined not to wake the neighbourhood this time, either. Two of our group head off to disrupt the power generator. (You can’t set off alarms that don’t work… Heh heh.) We crawl behind low concrete walls as thugs chatter in Spanish. One loner gets a chokehold, dragged into the shadows. Suddenly, everything’s dark.
LIGHTS OUT
That’s the generator gone. Feathers are ruffled now, foes investigating the power cut. Night vision goggles on, we go in, plopping cautionary C4 onto surfaces. Our buddy fires bullets over our shoulder at guards. By the time we’ve bundled our target into the boot like he’s a damp Labrador, things have escalated. Turns out our pals have released a load of rebels, helpfully taking revenge upon their captors. That, plus a timely detonation of all that C4, has our getaway secured.
The déjà vu is strong in more than one sense; we taste the iron tang of Metal Gear Solid V all over this. That’s no bad thing. Co-op stealth in massive, sophisticated sandboxes? Count us (and our mates) in.
“WE BUNDLE OUR TARGET INTO THE BOOT LIKE HE’S A DAMP LABRADOR.”