Anybody who has ever played Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (Feb 2012) would ultimately agree that this game is either the best FPS shooter of all time or definitely in the top 3
This game is tactical. It's stealthy. It's badass. It's Immersive. This game delivers
It's an absolute whack in the face with this game that's well ahead of its time. It created the standard for all Tom Clancy games with its fantastic mechanics, which are still holding to be the best of all games, even now! The cover feature was just bliss, going from 3rd person perspective to aiming down your sights in 1st person whenever you're looking down the rifle scope for your next kill, or switching sides of cover so you could get the best approaches possible.
An absolute beauty that all game designers should take notes from. It's not just great, it's a fantastic feel for the player as well.It just absolutely stands out. The graphics of this game just drew me all the way in, almost engulfing me within the scenery itself for its time; and the gunsmith pulled me that extra part in.
The weapon was mine, and entirely mine. I could customise everything I wanted on the gun, from the most obvious things like barrels, suppressors and sights, to the most minute things like triggers and gas systems! And each and every component had a purpose in the game. It wasn't just added for the sake of making content for the player to fiddle around with, each modification had its own purpose. (Also, marksman rifles on top!)
And I haven't seen a game that nailed the "Future Soldier" part better
You're an elite class soldier, in a squad with 3 very memorable squadmates that all banter with each other and interact. Equipped with the highest level of tech, you feel fantastic, yet it also has the reigns held so you're not in a COD: Advanced Warfare game with exoskeletons and impossible engineering all over the place. You're equipped with an optical camouflage suit that almost makes you invisible to the eye (Apart from your floating helmet) with sensor grenades, shock drones and tri-prop UAVs to set up some crazy tactics using one of the best features I've ever seen in a game:
Sync Shots
Goddamn, have I never seen something cooler than these
You assign your targets, your teammates get into position. 3, 2, 1, on your count, 4 shots whizz through the air, perfectly in time, and all the bodies drop. This brings out the best squad work I've ever seen. And if you missed your shots? Don't worry, that burst of adrenaline will slow things down for you for around 2 seconds so you can make your one drop too. You'll need it a lot, especially with the firefights....The firefights in this game, are the best I've ever seen. Just writing about it now brings back so many memories of them... It's intense, it's jarring, it really makes you think about what is the best action to take, and your enemies are no numbskulls either.
Midway through the game, you'll encounter more than your average soldier; It's the Bodark, Russia's elite of the elite, and on point with your squad. You thought you were the only one that developed optical camouflage? And EMP grenades are the only way you can handle them, so you better give your boy 30K a kiss on the forehead for lugging around the seemingly useless grenades everywhere (Which he also remarks about, since he hates anything with batteries... which just goes to show how much care the developers care)
Game Modes: Campaign
The campaign, I'll be honest, had a single filler mission. The rest? Absolutely held their place inside of the game. From tracking down arms dealers in the far outskirts of Africa, to the tight corridors of Russian drilling ships, to fighting in Norway, and then back to Russia. (Of which 30K keeps teasing Kodak about, even though he is only half Russian)
It's fantastically gripping, and each mission is replayable over 100s of times, with numerous new things to do each time - whether that be completing that final challenge to get a new weapon, or because you wanted to replay that sick moment where you blast enemies to kingdom come with the Warhound, a pilotable "mech" of sorts.
Multiplayer
Just look at the reviews, and you'll see thousands of the most happiest players ever, talking about their great memories of the multiplayer games with their lifelong friends they made along the way. The numerous game modes and fun, proper well-made maps make for a great game with your friends, further enhanced with voice chat features. It's everything you could ask forAll in all, this game is a true hidden gem in the FPS world, that even now I'd still have a blast playing. If you can ever get your hands on a copy, use 2 hands and never let go!
(Also, using Kinect for actions in-game is a fun little touch lmao - and it appears I've written quite a long review)