Introduction

When Ubi Soft announced that Ghost Recon 2 would be onshow at E3 in May 2004, GhostRecon.net knew we had to get someone inside to check it out and give us first hand info from the floor of E3! So we were lucky that Dick Splash stepped up with his trusty digital camera and sneaked in with the sort of stealth that Sam Fisher would have been proud of. So here it is, Dick Splash's E3 report including photos and tiny shaky cam movie footage!

Click on any image in this report for the fullsize image.

Ghost Recon 2 at E3 by Dick Splash

Let's start with the downloads so you can be reading while the files are transferring to your PC! Grab our 3Mb - 5 movie pack here. This is a dial-up friendly pack, so the movies are very small, but you can hear some interesting comments on features by the commentator, including medics and picking weapons up.

I interviewed a designer from Red Storm, whom I understand frequents the Ghost Recon.net forums, and I noted down in brief what was discussed;

The good news is that there was a GR2 presence at E3. The bad news is that it was represented by the XBox platform only. This now adds weight to the rumours about Ubi prioritising the console platform! Although the PC and PS2 versions are being developed, in both North Carolina and Shanghai respectively, they are uncertain and can't guarantee that there will be a multiplatform global release on day one.

A Korean conflict was chosen for GR2 rather than say the Middle East as, in keeping with GR2 it is supposed to be a war in the future and the Middle East would have been deemed inappropriate and insensitive because of the current climate there.

Now.......another 'major' controversy. It is not a 3rd person game, but it is an OTS [Over the shoulder] game, with an option to play in 1st person. However, when you aim in the OTS view, it becomes FPS. This view will apply to all platforms and although can't be changed in game, it can be changed at the start of a game. There will probably be an option to choose either in MP. In single player you will control a team of four, rather than six. This is in keeping with current Western military doctrines for fire team and patrol strengths in both Army and SF respectively. There will be a total of eight skin, six male and two female. Remember the photo shoot of the girl in the uniform outside Red Storm that were posted here at GhostRecon.net earlier this year?!!! Also, to satisfy some sim fans out there, there is also medic support.

The overall development emphasis is on new features rather than improving old GR code, but still keeping in touch with GR roots.

Personally, the XBox demo shown was visually different from any GR we've seen before [a conscious effort on Red Storm's part!], it looks and plays great and will undoubtedly create new interest for gamers not familiar with GR and will help rekindle interest in the GR community.

One thing is for certain though, if Ubi is prioritising the XBox, then GR's future will certainly be more mass market than niche.

Part 2 containing the rest of my adventures inc. a healthy quantity of 'booth babe' photos can be found here!

Dick Splash 14 May 2004