Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands Analysis
1 Overview
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is an open world 3rd person tactical shooter game with light RPG elements. It was developed by by Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft in March, 2017.
2 Formal Elements
2.1 Players
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands can be played as a single-player game or as a multiplayer cooperative game. In either case, the player takes control of one member of a four member military squad. The player can customize the member’s gender, facial appearance, and clothing, although this has no effect on gameplay. The player and the other three members of their team is deposited in a fictional version of Bolivia.
2.2 Objectives
The player is in Bolivia to take down a cocaine cartel called Santa Blanca, which is headed by a drug lord called El Sueño. His cartel is divided into four branches: Security, Influence, Smuggling, and Production. Each branch has a head of operations, subhead, and between four to six buchons, or bosses. The player must ”gather intel,” which consists of going to a pre-tagged location and interacting with an object or talking to a person, and then completing a mission. The mission will consist of a very limited number of types: killing or locating an NPC (without being detected), locating (and destroying) some object(s), or escorting/protecting an NPC/object to a location for a certain amount of time. After between three to six of these missions, a mission to take out the buchon will be unlocked, which will be a mission of one of the above types, and after enough buchons have been taken out, the player can start a mission to take out the subhead, which will be one of the above mission types, and then start a mission to take out the branch head, which, you guessed it, will be one of the above mission types. After two heads have been taken out, the player may make a move on El Sueño himself, or the player may try to totally dismantle the cartel before moving on El Sueño.
2.3 Rules
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands features a wide ranging rule set.
2.3.1 Equipment and Vehicles
The player may only have three weapons at any time: two large rifles or SMGs, and a pistol sidearm. Grenades, mines, C4, diversion lures, flashbangs, and different kinds of drones may also be equipped, provided that the player has invested the skill points in unlocking them. Each weapon type also has a number of modifications which the player may change, sometimes on the fly. For example, sniper rifles come with different lengths of barrel, different barrel attachments, different scopes, stocks, magazines, and triggers, each of which affects the use of the rifle. Longer barrels make the weapon more accurate at range, and increase the range, but also make the gun slower to raise and lower. Suppressors reduce but do not completely eliminate noise, making it easier to sneak around, but also reduce the damage and penetration. Etc. However, enemies only come in three or four varieties, and they all take roughly similar amounts of bullets to kill. Further, new types or levels are not unlocked as the game progresses, making much of the variety and customization mostly mute. There are two main decisions a player must make: loud or quiet, and CQC or distance. From those two choices, the type of weapons a player should choose naturally follows.
There are also many different types of vehicles:
- motorcycles: only seat the player, fast moving and somewhat useful for offroading
- cars, two-seaters: handle slightly differently depending on the model, and can take different amounts of damage
- cars, four-seaters: handle slightly differently depending on the model, and can take different amounts of damage.
- vans: handle slightly differently depending on the model, and can take different amounts of damage. Some have mounted machine gun turrets.
- trucks: handle slightly differently depending on the model, and can take different amounts of damage.
- helicopters: handle slightly differently depending on the model, and can take different amounts of damage. Could be scouting, transport, attack, or heavy attack models.
- airplanes: handle slightly differently depending on the model, and can take different amounts of damage.
- boats: handle slightly differently depending on the model, and can take different amounts of damage. Most come equipped with different machine gun turrets.
These are scattered around the map, and the player can even hijack cars passing by on the roads. Given the size of the map, it can still be quite a hike to reach one, especially a helicopter or airplane. The player’s AI controlled squad mates will automatically spawn into any vehicle that the player takes control of. It is possible to die while in a vehicle, and depending on the circumstances, your squad mates may or may not be able to revive you.
2.3.2 Stealth
A great part of the game will involve sneaking around. Your basic enemy soldiers are somewhat perceptive, but not as perceptive as in the Dishonored series: they will notice dead bodies, shots fired at them or near them, but will never notice a missing soldier on patrol, and sometimes not react to lights being shot out, etc. The player can use a drone to mark them, and can use ”Sync shot” to take out more than one enemy at the same time. Moving at night or staying in shadows during the day further reduces the chances of being spotted. The player may also adjust their stance from standing to crouching to prone, which also reduce the chances of being seen. If the player is spotted, all nearby enemy soldiers will be alerted and will begin to move in on the player’s location. Depending on the circumstances, enemy reinforcements maybe called in for support.
All is not lost, as the player can often fight their way out of the situation, or try to break the enemies’ line of sight, hide, and wait for them to return to ”normal” behavior. Even if the player is spotted, if the player can kill the enemy quickly and silently enough, no enemies will be alerted. Once the player is spotted and attacked, the status will change to ”Engaged,” but if the player can hide, then it will change to ”Hunted.” If nearby enemies have seen or heard something, but are not sure what it is, the status will be ”suspicious.”
2.3.3 Stats and Leveling
The exact amount of health the player has is hidden, but you can take several shots before dying. When you die, your squad mates will approach you and attempt to revive you. Initially, this may happen only once during a fight, but as the player levels up, the amount of damage you can take can be increased, as well as the number of times you may be revived. After taking damage, your health will slowly regenerate, as in almost every cover-based shooter since Gears of War.
The player also has a hidden amount of stamina, which really only determines how long the player can run before returning to walking/jogging. This also regenerates and can be increased by leveling up the appropriate skill.
Marking enemies, killing them (while undetected)/(by headshot)/(at a distance greater than 400m) will grant the player different amounts of XP, which eventually raise the player’s level, granting skill points. Skill points can also be found as ”commendations” which are scattered around the map. The player can also pick up ”medals” which provide a small bonus to particular skills, such as increasing damage against vehicles by 5%. Similarly to The Witcher series, a larger amount of XP is granted by completing story missions, but unlike that series, almost no effort has gone into making them interesting or compelling for the player. Skills are arranged in six categories, which are divided into four tiers each. Most skills have several different levels, which require more and more skill points and resources to unlock. The first tier of skills is available from the beginning, but the second and third only unlock after reaching particular levels, while the fourth contains a special skill that unlocks automatically once the player has invested in the first level of each skill in the category.
Besides enough skill points, the player needs enough of one of four resources to level up a skill: gasoline, medicine, food, and comms. Like skill points, these are scattered around the map, but the player can also receive larger amounts by completing optional side missions that might involve tagging a convoy, hacking a radio station, defending a radio transmitter, or racing from one radio tower to another within a certain time limit.
2.3.4 Areas
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands takes place in a fictional Bolivia. Although exact figures are difficult to come by, the map is anywhere between 200 km2 and 600 km2, or about 20 km by 20 km to 24 km by 24 km. The game is huge, and the terrain is varied and diverse, with no loading screens anywhere, except for the interminably long one you will face upon starting the game, oh, and every time you die, which on harder difficulty settings will be often. Oh, and when you fast travel, which also might be often as you want to avoid the minutes long track from one place to another. You can explore jungles, deserts, swamps, grasslands, sea/lake cliffs, and numerous mountain formations. The terrain and world are beautiful and breathtaking, and looks great, with very little pop-in, screen tearing, or other artifacts to interfere with your enjoyment of the scenery.
Its very size, however, is something of a backfire, as it takes forever to get anywhere by foot, and can take over 10 minutes to fly from one side of the map to the other. The vehicles, almost without exception, handle like a greased water buffalo, floating and sliding around with little control or regard for user input.
2.4 Procedures
2.4.1 Leveling and Upgrading
The player will level up throughout the game, and will probably be able to unlock every ability, which mostly make small incremental changes to player stats, although some unlock new items for use, such as C4 or nightvision.
2.4.2 ”Exploring”
There are a great of items scattered around the map: weapons to collect, skill points, bonus medals, resources, and weapon mods, and also many side missions. In typical Ubisoft style, some are marked on your map from the beginning, while others can be unlocked by gathering intel from enemies, which are also marked on your map. For the most part, due to the size of the map, the player will rarely feel like they have discovered something, or if they do find something that was not previously marked on their map, it is register as a non-event or fluke.
2.4.3 Completing Missions and Boss-Slaying
As mentioned before, there are a great many missions in the game. There are 20 buchons, four subheads and four heads, plus the final boss of El Sueño. Each buchon requires the player to complete between 3-6 missions in order to unlock it, creating an actual total of 110 story missions. Unfortunately, they mostly fall into an extremely small number of types, and lack enough distinguishing details to make them interesting or distinct in the player’s mind. After completing the 3-6 missions, the player will be able to engage in a ”boss-battle” with the buchon. This might involve killing them, or reaching their location and extracting them to a rebel outpost.
2.5 Resources
2.5.1 Abstract
- Health: Unknown amount, if it reaches zero you die, and must wait for a companion to revive you. If this has already happened in the fight, you must reload from an autosave point. While not being hit, it slowly regenerates.
- Stamina: Same story as health.
- XP: Almost same story as the above. It is mostly hidden to the player how much XP you get for everyday activities like sniping, killing enemies, and the like. Completed missions display this clearly, for some reason, but the player is not shown how much XP they currently have, nor how much is needed for the next level.
- Skill points: These are used for unlocking new abilities or for upgrading existing ones.
- Suspicion: Moving in front of enemies at close distances in well-lit conditions increases suspicion, as does making noises.
- Level: A marker for player progress through the game. Receiving enough XP increases to the next level and grants skill points.
2.5.2 Physical
- Gasoline/Medicine/Comms/Food: These are different crates that can be found dispersed over the map, and also in large convoys that patrol the map. Necessary for leveling up.
- Intel: Items found or interacted with in the world give the player intel, which reveals the locations of items or missions in the world.
- Ammo: Can be replenished at ammo boxes, and also by walking over dead enemies.
- Weapons: Can be found all over the map. Described above.
- Vehicles: Can be found all over the map, must be abandoned if damaged too badly lest they blow up with you in them.
- Escort/Allies: If an escort dies, you must restart the mission. Your companions, on the other hand don’t matter.
2.6 Conflicts
2.6.1 Stat Point Investment
Increasing a skill requires an arithmetically increasing number of points, so deciding which skill you want could make a significant different in gameplay and of course influences what other skills you will be able to invest in.
2.6.2 Factions
There are three factions in the game: Santa Blanca, the rebels, and Unidad, and whenever one encounters another, they will open fire on each other. The player can also use vehicles marked with the appropriate faction’s logo to gain access to certain areas without raising alarms or suspicions.
2.6.3 Stealth vs. Loud
The player may choose to tackle missions by going in guns blazing or trying for a stealth approach. Either is usually feasible, although the guns blazing approach may not be allowed depending on the mission requirements. Given the player’s limited health, and the ability of most outposts to call for reinforcements, it generally makes more sense to at least scout the location and disable the alarms before going all Rambo on them.
2.7 Boundaries
2.7.1 Stat Point Investment
After the player has max out all abilities, there is no more progression possible.
2.7.2 NPCs and Factions
If you kill three civilians within a short time of each other, you will be forced to restart the game, but other than this civilians have almost zero impact on the game. They will not alert the cartel of your presence, you cannot ask them for assistance or info during missions, and your efforts at destroying the cartel have zero appreciable effect on their behavior, living situation, etc.
As for the factions, they do not seem visibly affect by the player’s actions either. The cartel does not become weaker, less well-supplied, or more disorganized, and Unidad is not altered in any way either.
2.8 Outcomes
There are two main outcomes, depending on how much of the cartel the player has dismantled before attempting the final mission, but this is BUGGY! I completed every mission and still I was given the ending for players who had not. After the mission, I even received the message ”You have only completed 100% of the game. Continue to explore Wildlands and dismantle 100% of the cartel to see a different ending.” In the forums, it is claimed that the missions of taking out El Sueño are included in the total, which is stupid, as it forces the players who have already completely dismantled the cartel to complete the last two missions twice in order to see the ending that matches the state of the cartel. It especially makes no sense as in the first playthrough El Sueño IS FUCKING KILLED, so how can the player take him out again?
3 Dynamic Elements
3.1 Time
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands has a dynamic day-night cycle, which influences the playstyle to some extent, as it is easier to be spotted in the day than during night.
3.2 Weather
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands also has a dynamic weather system, but this seems mostly for show/immersion, and has no known effect on gameplay.
3.3 Patterns
This section focuses on game patterns as discussed by Ernest Adams and Joris Dormans in Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design.
3.3.1 Stopping Mechanism
The stopping mechanism pattern occurs in several areas of gameplay. First, the player may be revived a limited number of times each fight, preventing the player from abusing this ability. Second, the player may only use one rebel support action at a time, and there is a cooldown timer these, again preventing the player from using it too often.
3.3.2 Dynamic Friction
The dynamic friction pattern also occurs in several areas of gameplay. First, in stat point investment: the player needs increasing amounts of resources and numbers of skill points for each level unlocked. Second, in notoriety: if the player goes loud, it is possible that Unidad will be alerted to the player’s location, which if the player continues to stay visible and attack loudly/aggressively, will cause more and more Unidad patrols to be sent to attack the player.
3.3.3 Play Style Reinforcement
The play style reinforcement pattern is present in the sense that as the player levels up, they may invest in skills and item unlocks which make it easier/more fun to play in their particular way.
4 Dramatic Elements
This game analysis has already said some very cruel (but true) things about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, but unfortunately for this game, it only gets worse from here.
4.1 Characters
The characters are stupid. The less said about them the better it will be for the reputation of Ubisoft’s writing team. All of them are one-dimensional, lacking in personality, and come off as stereotypes or caricatures.
4.2 Story
The story suffers similarly. A lot of effort has clearly gone into making the audio files, text files, and videos explaining the story and giving the player info about the characters, their history, and their motives for doing what they are doing, but none of it is very interesting or compelling. After watching the first three or four videos, I stopped caring for the rest of the game. It is all quite transparently setup for the player to explore each area of the map, which is where the majority of development time and effort were clearly devoted.
In brief, there is a cartel in Bolivia which is selling drugs, which is bad. There are bad people in the cartel. You need to kill them or capture them. That is the whole story. Explaining the rest would just further aggravate me for having to write it and you for having to read it.
4.2.1 DLCs
There are several free DLCs, one featuring Sam Fisher from the Splinter Cell franchise, and another featuring the predator from the Predator franchise. Somehow, Ubisoft managed to make both of these horrible. The Sam Fisher DLC requires some uber-sneaking skills for the first section, before plunging the player in a punishingly difficult firefight which they must endure for several minutes before extracting him to another location. Similarly, the Predator DLC features a short investigation followed by a long and repetitive battle against the Predator.
5 Conclusion
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a missed opportunity for Ubisoft. Although the terrain generation is fantastic, they filled the terrain very poorly with boring missions and activities, and made moving around it tortuously slow on foot, excruciating by car, and simply boring by helicopter and airplane. I cannot recommend this game to anyone except as an exercise in what not to do when designing an open world game.
5.1 Potent Elements
The shooting elements are solidly done, and the world itself is pretty amazing to behold.
5.2 Areas for Improvement
The rest of the game goes here. The story is bland, and the player lacks any real sense of agency, as after totally dismantling the cartel, nothing in the world has actually changed: the NPCs struggling to live under the cartel still go about their random walks and live in shitty cinder block houses. They will not thank the player, and the player has not changed their lives at all. As the player battles the cartel, it undergoes no changes as a result of the player’s actions, so killing those soldiers in training and their training officers does not result in lower numbers cartel soldiers elsewhere, nor in weaker soldiers due to lack of training. It was just an excuse to make the player explore that area of the map, which is the real showcase. The player is not even given any videos showing how their efforts are making a difference to the drug trade abroad.
