GR Differences on Consoles

[Samz707]

I've started playing Jungle Storm and noticed the following:
Some of the kits have been replaced, instead of the 9MM SD, Riflemen get the 9MM SA as their pistol and machine gunners take the regular M9 now, Riflemen can also take Hand Greandes instead of the M203.

Not sure if you can unlock more (I Hear you can in the original Ghost Recon on PS2) but you now have at least one alternative weapon kit for all Classes even in the campaign mode. (All Riflemen can select the MP5SD, all Machine Gunners can select the M240, All Snipers can select The Barrett M98 and all Demo soldiers from the start can select the Z84 as a primary weapon.)

It seems the chance to be instantly killed when shot is either removed, highly decreased, or only applies to the enemy, Ghosts can consistently survive getting shot once or twice but your vision will get blurry when hit making returning fire more difficult. (Honestly if we got a GR remake, having the "die instantly" chance be something optional might be a neat feature for those less experienced with tactical shooters since you can only survive 1-2 shots anyway.) 
EDIT: I did die instantly once, I can't say for sure but I think maybe instant kills are now only a thing if you're actually hit in the head.

Enemy AI is less accurate, they still seem somewhat accurate but standing up doesn't make you a bullet magnet.

You cannot "Run and Scope" anymore, moving anything faster than a very slow walk will force you to descope, even with the M16, also being injured will cause your aim to "wobble" as the reticle indicating accuracy will actually increase and decrease a bit when at maximum accuracy. (so you'll always be a bit inaccurate when injured instead of just taking longer to aim.)

There's no ability to change firemodes and the M16 is now full-auto, the M16 has a new model with a Acog scope even with the M203 equipped.

There's new dialogue, I've noticed the new dialogue for the "Tactical Exercise" tutorials (GR1 MP only maps but with AI) maps is actually the HRT Briefing guy from Sum of All Fears.

Enemy dialogue is much louder, in GR1 PC you had to be pretty close to be able to hear the enemy dialogue, now their dialogue can be heard clearly from further away.

Split-Screen is now a playable mode, sadly Split-screen only allows for no AI backup, there's no option to have Player 1 lead Alpha Team and Player 2 lead Bravo Team, they can only be a single soldier each.

More CG Cutscenes, all of the maps I've played so far have new "outro" cutscenes. (Such as the Ghosts driving away the crates from the first mission of Island Thunder or Ariel Priego watching the Ghosts secure the camp from the second level with a pair of binoculars.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Samz707

[Samz707]

I have now finished Island Thunder:

The AGS-17 has been removed, most AGS-17 turrets were turned into machine gun turrets, however in "Ocean Forge", you still need to secure the AGS-17, it has a new model and is now an "packed up" AGS-17 that is not set-up to fire and is placed down on the ground. (So it's unusable.) 

Every mission has a new ending CGI cutscene.

Some of the Specialists have changed weapons:

Harold Gordon uses a FN FAL instead of the M16A2, Klaus comes with a 9A-91 with 15 spare magazines instead of the MM-1 and Jack Stone's SR-25 is supressed.

The Distance Fog is greatly expanded in certain maps, in Hidden Spectre you can see the other end of the Airfield from one end for instance. (Making surviving the ambush easier)

Less Vehicles and less enemies attack the voting polls in Liberty Storm.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Samz707

[lowfi23]

Having seen Xbox version, I would say it seems far from "better". I don't see how the AI has been improved at all. In fact I would say it's been dumbed down, or at the very least simplified. The AI on original Ghost Recon was already quite good, using suppressive fire, taking cover behind objects, trying to flank and sneak up on the player, throwing grenades over areas the AI couldn't see but suspected the player of being. On the xbox I did notice that the AI deliberately misses more often. If you get really close to them, you can actually see their aim redirect to fire at the floor and gradually move closer to aiming directly at you while firing, probably due to the restrictive nature of using a controller. They also seem to take longer to get into cover and aren't quite as aggressive.

I noticed that there does seem to be more enemies, probably to make up for the fact that the AI is less deadly, but the PC version also had enemies that patrolled along routes, but they were far more sparse and not quite as noticeable.

I noticed the effects for smoke and explosions are also significantly worse than the PC version.

I will say that the sound design does appear to be quite better with more ambient sounds and more sound effects based on your status, such as your footsteps echoing in the cave in Iron Dragon, and your ears ringing if an explosion went off too close to you.

The textures themselves overall also seem to have been reduced in their natural resolution. On PC, they really POP on high settings and have a great deal of sharpness and clearness to them while on Xbox they just seem blurrier.

[Samz707]

On 05/02/2024 at 08:11, lowfi23 said:

Having seen Xbox version, I would say it seems far from "better". I don't see how the AI has been improved at all. In fact I would say it's been dumbed down, or at the very least simplified. The AI on original Ghost Recon was already quite good, using suppressive fire, taking cover behind objects, trying to flank and sneak up on the player, throwing grenades over areas the AI couldn't see but suspected the player of being. On the xbox I did notice that the AI deliberately misses more often. If you get really close to them, you can actually see their aim redirect to fire at the floor and gradually move closer to aiming directly at you while firing, probably due to the restrictive nature of using a controller. They also seem to take longer to get into cover and aren't quite as aggressive.

I noticed that there does seem to be more enemies, probably to make up for the fact that the AI is less deadly, but the PC version also had enemies that patrolled along routes, but they were far more sparse and not quite as noticeable.

I noticed the effects for smoke and explosions are also significantly worse than the PC version.

I will say that the sound design does appear to be quite better with more ambient sounds and more sound effects based on your status, such as your footsteps echoing in the cave in Iron Dragon, and your ears ringing if an explosion went off too close to you.

The textures themselves overall also seem to have been reduced in their natural resolution. On PC, they really POP on high settings and have a great deal of sharpness and clearness to them while on Xbox they just seem blurrier.

Yeah I do think they're easier and mostly prefer that since it feels less trial/error and cheat-y on the AI's side.

 

Not played that specific version but I do prefer the AI not being quite as laser accurate. (Not to mention the absurdity of a ghost laying prone on the ground with no cover in daylight being a harder target than a Ghost who's standing up at night and is mostly covered by a rock due to how stance is the most important factor for AI accuracy.) 

I feel like Classic Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six just made the AI hyperheadshot accurate (despite how unrealistic it is) to make up for the simple AI.

If Ubisoft ever in the unlikely situation actually made refined ports of old Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon, being able to mix-match or at least switch between the "simplified" console AI and the "original" hardcore PC AI would be a great difficulty setting ontop of the original difficulty settings.

This wouldn't even be strictly new as Xbox 360 G.R.A.W 2 already does this, AI on the normal mode aims for Mitchell's body mostly while AI on the hard mode (in addition to Mitchell only consistently surviving 1-2 torso shots) actually tries to aim for the head (which is still an instant kill on normal if Mitchell is hit there.) and the PS3 port added a "Classic Ghost Recon" difficulty where Mitchell dies in one shot anywhere.

 

Edited August 2 by Samz707