Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (aka Ghost Recon 3) for the PC has arrived and over the next few weeks we will be puzzling out whether it was worth the wait. We’ll include some initial screenshots in this article as well.

The original Ghost Recon was a superb game and continues to deliver for rigs lacking the latest hardware. GR2 for the PC certainly wasn’t worth the wait, as it was never completed, and the PlayStation 2 version was horrible. Only the Xbox got a playable version of GR2.

But now we have GRAW and are hoping Ubisoft has redeemed themselves. The package includes four CDs and requires 5GB of space on the hard drive, a full 1GB of RAM, and a 128MB graphics card, minimum. By comparison, a Dell 9300 laptop that plays last year’s Battlefield 2 respectably at medium resolution and detail struggles to play GRAW on low settings.

Team command and control seems pretty usable and reasonably intuative. The ability to “see” from your teammates’ videocams is interesting. Unlike some first-person shooters, this tactical simulation is unforgiving. Expect to reload from the last save point a lot.

Below are some preliminary screenshots. Note that graphics settings are on low.

Main game menu, with Campaign, Multiplayer, Options, Quit, and Credits.

Above is the zoomable satellite command map, from which you can build and execute movement, attack, and cover plans. Enemy forces are live and visible on this 3D view.

Sending orders to team from command menu (center of screen). Options include Move, Attack, Cover, Stop, Follow, and Cancel. Note that entire Ghost Team is selected in menu to upper left. By selecting individual team members, orders can be sent selectively.

Sighting through scope at enemy in vehicle while viewing Brown’s view in HUD (upper left of screen, note that first team member is selected).

Nicely-destructable enemy flowerpots meet their maker.

So far, GRAW is resource intensive but plenty of fun.

Tags: PC · Platforms