Reviewed: November 1, 2002
Reviewed by: Elias Fixler
Publisher
Ubisoft
Developer
Red Storm Entertainment
Released: September 24, 2001
Genre: FPS/Strategy
Players: 32
ESRB: Mature
9
9
9
7
8.5
System Requirements
Despite the hype, I don’t know how much personal input Tom Clancy puts into the computer games which bear his name. I suspect it’s more than we’d give him credit for, because his games really do bear his mark. I’ve read a number of Clancy’s books and I can honestly say that he does for political and military thrillers what Stephen King has done for horror.
What makes Clancy’s books so popular is the fact that he can make the reader’s heart pound with the same fear his characters must be feeling as they race to save the world without getting themselves killed in the process. His games can do the same for any gamer willing to really immerse himself in the situation.
Ghost Recon: Island Thunder, the second expansion pack in the Ghost Recon series, puts the player in charge of a group of elite infantry soldiers (called ghosts), and places him in an intriguing political “what-if” situation: What if, six years from now, Fidel Castro were to die leaving Cuba in political turmoil? What if the tiny Island country had the opportunity to become a true democracy (with good old American interference, I mean, help)? It is up to the Ghosts, with you as their leader, to perform a series of surgical strikes to make sure that happens. The premise is engaging, and I like the fact that, true to Clancy, it involves a real country, not some mythical soviet satellite like Kafarkistan.
Features:
- 8 new single player campaign missions set across the island of Cuba.
- 5 new dedicated multiplayer maps.
- 12 new multiplayer weapons including the M4 SOCOM rifle and the MM-1 automatic grenade launcher.
- 2 new multiplayer game types.
- New Cuban enemy vehicles, new allied vehicles, and insertions by helicopter.
For those of you who’ve played the original Ghost Recon, Island Thunder (IT) is simply more of the same. No real innovations or surprises, aside from some new toys like binoculars, and a couple of new multiplayer game types. But by no means is the expansion stale, any more than the third Lord of the Rings book would be “stale” to a true Tolkien fan. In fact, if you loved Ghost Recon, you’ll love Island Thunder- the gameplay and graphics remain as fresh in this sequel as they did when you ripped the shrink-wrap off of the original game.
For those of you who haven’t yet enjoyed the series, this review applies as much to Ghost Recon as it does to Island Thunder. IT is a first-person military simulation, kind of a “thinking man’s shooter”. While much of the game play involves taking out bad guys “shooter style”, there’s a lot to distinguish this game from the Quakes and Half Lifes.
To start with, this is a military simulation in a real world setting. You command small groups of men, fire teams who are outfitted with realistic weaponry, and must achieve specified military objectives in order to complete each mission. You personally control the lead soldier of a specified fire team, and can switch between teams at will.
“One shot kills” has always been Tom Clancy’s gaming catch phrase, and it certainly applies here. Your soldiers don’t take a hundred points of damage, and they don’t respawn. A well-placed shot by an enemy soldier will kill one of your men, just as it would in a real combat situation. As a true leader, you must command your men wisely both before and during a mission in order to keep them alive- for the sake of your mission, and for the sake of your men.
Keeping your men alive is not that easy to do, as your enemies are very good shots. This is one of the minor negatives (I won’t say flaws) of the game. Don’t expect a scene out of a James Bond movie where a dozen henchmen are squeezing off rounds and can’t score a decent hit. Island Thunder requires both intellect and patience, and has a bit of a learning curve as well. Sloppy gameplay will not work here, and even seasoned gamers may expect to have to replay some missions. But for those with patience, Island Thunder provides some very rewarding gameplay.
Since IT is a simulation, good graphics are necessary to immerse the player in the role of an elite soldier. While the graphics in Island Thunder aren’t an evolutionary step beyond those in Ghost Recon, the designers did make good use of the Cuban setting to create some striking visuals. Locations are diverse, suffused with atmosphere, and fit logically with the setting and storyline. Fighting takes place on plantations, in urban areas, airstrips, jungles, just about any setting one might imagine finding in Cuba. The locales get more interesting as the game progresses, building interest the way a good book builds suspense. A nice touch if this was intentional.
Climate and weather changes enhance the effect, making for some intense and immersive gameplay. Fighting in the jungle in the rain, funny as this sounds, is an absolute joy to experience.
The settings and weather patterns do more than add atmosphere and support the basic story. They affect gameplay strategy. A wide-open level, for example, would require a different approach than a jungle. Rain reduces visibility. Overall the graphics in IT are a large part of what makes it a good game.
I’ve said this before- in certain types of games; sound is every bit as important as graphics. In simulations like IT, it can make or break the feeling of realism. .
Sound complements the graphics in Island Thunder, everything I said in the previous section applies here as well. The designers took full advantage of EAX positional audio, and if you’ve got a decent sound card, the game will sound good even if you have a two-speaker setup (but more is always better).
One gets the feeling that all of the game’s designers worked as a single unit, rather than separate “teams”, because the sound, graphics, and gameplay merge into a well polished package. This is to be expected, as IT is the third installment of a game, which was excellent to begin with.
Island Thunder gives good value for its modest $20 street price. Besides its solid single player campaign, this expansion offers five new multiplayer maps, and two new modes of multiplay in addition to those multiplay options introduced in Ghost Recon and Desert siege.
Replay value is also high, I found myself wanting (as well as needing) to replay various missions to see if I could do better with a change of tactics.
Island Thunder (as part of the entire Ghost Recon world) is supported by a large online community where you can find skins and other mods which keep the game on your hard drive just when you think you’re ready to make room for something else.
Island Thunder (and for that matter, Ghost Recon) is a terrific game that almost qualifies as a genre buster. The only things keeping it from universal appeal are its difficulty and the patience required- not only to become a good player, but to effectively command your men in the heat of battle. Some gamers might not want to make that kind of effort. It’s their loss.
The only other thing keeping IT from earning a higher score is the fact that there was nothing truly new or innovative about it compared to its predecessors. That aside, Island Thunder is a great addition to a great series and as with Ghost Recon, it should not be missed.