Nov 21, 2010
Ubisoft have announced their latest PSP title, Ghost Recon Predator. Ghost Recon is a massive title in the Ubisoft portfolio, a brand that started in November 2010 and continues to be a mainstay of Ubisoft’s financial reports thanks to various reincarnations across an increasing range of platforms over the last decade. How does it cope with the limitations of the small form factor offered by the PSP, and does it provide that tense tactical gaming experience that fully fledged PC and consoles enjoy?
While the dilution of the Ghost Recon franchise across various platforms has in some cases resulted in a gameplay that bears little resemblance to the award winning original, it has to be said that at least the PSP version “Predator” does make an effort to include some of the elements of its big brother, and with some degree of success at least. For example, yes you can order your squad around, and yes there is a cover system that works pretty well. Squad orders are limited to sending them to an exact location, and attacking a specific enemy. Although the AI is open to criticism at times, the same could also be said of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, so perhaps Predator is staying truer to it’s older brother than we would like, at least in this respect.
One very positive point regarding the squad in Ghost Recon Predator is something that it takes from the original Ghost Recon, but was sadly lacking in the Advanced Warrior titles – taking control of your AI team. In Predator you can jump into any of your team mates and take control of them, allowing you to benefit from either their position or weaponry for example. This was a cracking design decision and definitely adds to the gameplay.
Another interesting gameplay addition to Predator that was missing in Advanced Warfighter, but lent so much to the gameplay of the original Ghost Recon was the presence of civilians. Not only does Predator have non combatants, it also includes a reputation feature that is damaged if you take out too many civilians. Having civilians in the battle zone not only adds that little touch of realism, but it also adds to the gameplay – you simply cannot assume that anything that moves is a fair target. This really prompts the player to focus, especially if he wants to maintain squad reputation.
Other elements that carry forward from the PC version include character classes such as Sniper and Heavy Weapons, and also a range of weaponry to select from prior to each mission. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter introduced multiple insertion points to try and increase the immersion and the player planning element, and this also appears in Predator.
Where Ghost Recon Predator differs from Ghost Recon or Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is the perspective. Ghost Recon titles have always been first person shooters; gamers did eventually enjoy playing Advanced Warfighter 2 in third person thanks to a fan made GRAW2 mod, but officially, first person was a given for Ghost Recon titles. So Predator breaks the mould in this respect, being a third person shooter.
Other features include two player co-op over a local network which is very cool. Ghost Recon was always a very strong co-op game, and Predator does well to include this feature.
In conclusion then, Ghost Recon Predator tries and succeeds to bring a Ghost Recon experience to a handheld device. It must be applauded for bringing several loved features from previous Ghost Recon titles and bringing them together in one game, and doing so on a portable device like the PSP is all the more impressive. While the limitation of only one analogue stick on the PSP does introduce some control difficulties at times, overall this is a fun shooter that offers hours of entertainment for old and new Ghost Recon fans alike.
