Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands

The story of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands receives mixed reviews from critics. Some reviewers, such as Cheat Code Central and Game Informer, appreciate the game's deep and complex storyline with a unique approach to open-world gameplay. They highlight the engaging premise of dismantling a powerful drug cartel in Bolivia, which sets up the gameplay experience effectively. Additionally, IGN Spain and Guardian commend the game for offering a simple yet engaging premise for action-packed gameplay, with the setting of Bolivia described as a character of beauty and cruelty. These positive aspects of the story contribute to creating an immersive and dynamic gaming experience for players. On the other hand, several critics express concerns about the story's shortcomings. CGMagazine and Slant Magazine criticize the narrative for being generic, predictable, and lacking real freedom or depth. They find the missions repetitive and the characters one-dimensional, diminishing the overall impact of the storytelling. Furthermore, Metro GameCentral and PLAY! Zine raise issues with the political and cultural representation in the game, highlighting inaccuracies and questionable portrayals of Bolivia that have led to formal complaints. These criticisms point towards a lack of nuance and meaningful connections within the narrative, impacting the overall immersion and engagement of players. Overall, the consensus among critics leans towards a mixed reception of the story in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands. While some reviewers appreciate the game's unique premise and engaging setting, others find the narrative to be lacking in depth, originality, and character development. The game's strengths lie in its immersive open-world experience and action-packed gameplay, as noted by Game Informer and IGN Spain. However, the weaknesses in storytelling, political representation, and character engagement, as highlighted by CGMagazine and Metro GameCentral, detract from the overall quality of the narrative. Ultimately, the varying opinions reflect a divisive reception towards the story of Ghost Recon: Wildlands, with both positive and negative aspects influencing the overall player experience.

The Gameplay of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands has received praise from several critics for its positive aspects. Critics like CGMagazine, Game Informer, and Twinfinite highlight the variety of ways to tackle missions, the wide range of weaponry and equipment, and the ability to approach objectives with tactical freedom. GameCrate and Worth Playing appreciate the solo or co-op experience, competent AI squadmates, and the customization options available through the skill tree and weapon customization. Xbox Achievements also commends the game for being an enjoyable open-world squad-based shooter, offering a diverse playground for strategic gameplay and dynamic weather conditions that impact mission approaches. On the other hand, some critics have pointed out the negative aspects of the Gameplay in Ghost Recon: Wildlands. COGconnected, Digital Chumps, and Metro GameCentral criticize the repetitive mission design, lack of variety in gameplay mechanics, and unreliable cover system. Gaming Nexus mentions the challenging terrain and wonky driving mechanics, while Digital Chumps and Slant Magazine note limitations in choices on higher difficulties and the punishment for taking certain actions. Additionally, Game Revolution highlights that playing solo with computer-controlled teammates can feel dull and lacks challenge. Overall, the consensus among critics regarding the Gameplay of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands leans towards a mixed reception. While the game is praised for its tactical and rewarding gameplay, offering players the freedom to approach missions in various ways and engaging in cooperative play for creative solutions, there are concerns about repetitive mission structures, lack of impactful choices, and some flawed mechanics. Despite these drawbacks, the game manages to provide an enjoyable experience for those who appreciate strategic gameplay and open-world exploration. Critics like Game Informer and Xbox Achievements emphasize the fun and diverse aspects of the gameplay, while others like COGconnected and Digital Chumps highlight the need for more variety and depth in the mechanics to enhance the overall experience.

The critics generally praise the Graphics and Visual Design of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands for its stunning and diverse environments. Game Informer, Gaming Nexus, and Wccftech commend the game for its gorgeous and biodiverse open world setting in Bolivia, featuring mountains, valleys, rivers, villages, and strongholds. IGN Italia and IGN Spain highlight the vibrant and meticulously detailed world of Bolivia, with changing locations, day/night cycles, and variable weather conditions. The game's attention to detail in creating visually stunning and realistic scenery is also noted by Hardcore Gamer and Attack of the Fanboy, who mention the impressive visuals and attention to detail in the environments. On the flip side, some critics point out certain drawbacks in the Graphics and Visual Design of the game. COGconnected mentions technical issues like texture pops and glitches that mar the visually appealing aspects of the game. GameSpew and Slant Magazine note that while the world design is extensive, the villages feel dead and empty, lacking liveliness and immersion. PC PowerPlay criticizes the open world for being too big and empty, suggesting a lack of variety in visual design. Additionally, ICXM criticizes the graphics for unrealistic vehicle damage visuals and a lack of environmental design details that could enhance combat strategies and level design. Overall, the consensus among the critics is that Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands excels in creating a visually stunning and diverse open world environment, with detailed landscapes, weather effects, and attention to environmental variety. Despite some technical issues and criticisms regarding empty villages and lack of environmental design details, the game is generally praised for its impressive visuals and immersive world-building. Critics like Guardian and Twinfinite appreciate the scale and beauty of the world, while acknowledging some shortcomings. The game's depiction of Bolivia as a vast and visually captivating setting seems to have resonated positively with most reviewers, making it a visually appealing experience for players seeking a rich and expansive open-world adventure.

The Sound Design and Music of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands received a mix of positive and negative feedback from critics. Hardcore Gamer praised the voice acting, mentioning that it was top tier and helped reinforce the presence of the drug cartel in Bolivia. Worth Playing also highlighted the tense tracks during firefights, the Latin music on radio stations, and solid voicework and sound effects, contributing to the immersive experience. MondoXbox appreciated the well-done audio, Italian localization, and notable voice acting, further enhancing the overall immersion of the game. On the flip side, there were criticisms regarding the Sound Design and Music of the game. PlayStation Country and VideoGamer both noted that the radio chatter and music could become tiresome, with VideoGamer specifically mentioning that the banter and dialogue from in-game squadmates were not up to par and could be excruciating. ICXM criticized the weak explosion effects and destruction animations, making grenades and explosions feel underwhelming, like weak firecrackers rather than impactful blasts. PLAY! Zine described the sound design as weak, indicating a lack of depth or impact in the audio experience. Overall, the consensus among critics leans towards a positive assessment of the Sound Design and Music in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, with several reviewers appreciating aspects such as voice acting, Latin music, and immersive audio elements. However, there were also notable criticisms regarding repetitive radio chatter, tiresome dialogue, and underwhelming sound effects. Despite these drawbacks, the majority of critics found the sound design to be solid, contributing to the overall atmosphere of the game. It is clear that while there are areas for improvement, the Sound Design and Music of the game generally received a favorable reception from the critics, with some aspects standing out more positively than others.

The voice acting in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands received mixed reviews from the critics. Some reviewers, like Hardcore Gamer and MondoXbox, praised the voice acting, highlighting notable performances that enhanced the characters and storytelling within the game. GamingTrend also appreciated the banter between team members, noting that it added authenticity to the game and created entertaining moments. Worth Playing commended the effective delivery of lines by characters, despite minor synchronization issues during cutscenes. These positive aspects of the voice acting contributed to creating a more immersive experience for some players. On the other hand, several critics expressed negative opinions about the voice acting in the game. Push Square and PLAY! Zine criticized the voice acting for being bad, derailing any attempts at engaging storytelling. Telegraph and TheSixthAxis highlighted issues with the dialogue and banter between characters, describing it as childish, repetitive, and unpleasant. Digital Chumps pointed out that while the AI squadmates had unique appearances and voices, their dialogue felt out of place or mis-timed, breaking immersion for players. Gaming Nexus also found the teammates to be mostly useless, lacking meaningful instructions and actions, which further detracted from the overall experience. Overall, the consensus among the critics regarding the voice acting in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands leans towards a more negative perception. While some reviewers appreciated certain performances and interactions that added depth to the characters and storytelling, the majority of critics found issues with the dialogue, banter, and overall execution of the voice acting. The lack of engaging storytelling, unrealistic behavior of AI squadmates, and repetitive and unpleasant dialogue were common points of criticism that affected the overall immersion and enjoyment of the game. Critics like Push Square, TheSixthAxis, and Gaming Nexus highlighted these shortcomings, indicating that the voice acting in the game fell short of delivering a compelling and cohesive experience for players.

In terms of the technical performance on the PS4, several critics noted some positive aspects. CGMagazine highlighted stable matchmaking and good AI, while Digital Chumps mentioned that the game runs and plays well. Worth Playing also commended the steady 30fps frame rate and overall stability during gameplay. These aspects indicate that the game on PS4 generally offers a smooth experience for players. However, there were also notable negatives mentioned by critics regarding the PS4 version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands. COGconnected, GameSpew, and Gaming Nexus all pointed out issues with driving mechanics and AI teammates, impacting the overall experience negatively. Twinfinite encountered various glitches and bugs, including character getting stuck and dialogue overlapping, which hindered the gameplay. These technical issues detracted from the overall enjoyment of the game on the PS4 platform. Across all gaming platforms, the consensus among the critics leans towards a mixed reception regarding the technical performance of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands. While some critics like Metro GameCentral and Time noted minor bugs and glitches that were more distracting than critical, others such as Game Revolution and IBTimes UK highlighted more severe problems like co-op connection issues, frequent framerate drops on PC, and poor execution on the PC platform. The overall sentiment suggests that while the game may offer stable elements like matchmaking and frame rates on certain platforms, technical flaws such as AI coding issues, bugs, and glitches persist across different versions, impacting the gameplay experience for players.

In terms of positives, several critics highlighted the co-op gameplay as a major strength of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Arcade Sushi praised the game for being a great way to blow off steam with friends, emphasizing the exceptional co-op experience. Cheat Code Central and Digital Chumps also commended the multiple paths and angles for missions, as well as the deep upgrade system that enhances the replay value. Worth Playing appreciated the open-world setting, side missions, and diverse activities that contribute to the game's replayability, especially in co-op and solo play. On the negative side, repetition was a common concern among critics when discussing the replay value of Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Game Informer, GameCrate, and Push Square all mentioned the repetitive nature of missions as a limiting factor for long-term engagement. Metro GameCentral criticized the underlying action for being shallow and repetitive, while PLAY! Zine noted that the game can become boring quickly due to strong AI teammates and lack of penalties for reckless actions. Wccftech also highlighted the lack of meaningful depth and the game becoming stale over time. Overall, the consensus among critics leans towards acknowledging the replay value of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, particularly in its co-op mode. Critics like COGconnected and Hardcore Gamer appreciated the addictive elements and freedom to play solo or cooperatively, respectively. However, the overarching theme of repetition and lack of mission variety is a recurring point of concern that may impact the long-term appeal of the game. Despite the mixed opinions on certain aspects like driving mechanics and mission structure, the game's ability to offer engaging co-op experiences and diverse activities contributes to its overall replay value, especially when played with friends.