Tom Clancy's
GHOST RECON
Date of Release:
November 13, 2001
LATEST UPDATES:
This page last updated on: 2004 Feb 1
Fixed some broken links
RECOMMENDED QUICK LINKS
The purpose of this page is to provide fans with a one-stop resource center for
the best links to get information about Ghost Recon. This particular
"Quick Links" section is here to give you rapid access to the links that will
provide you with the most comprehensive and essential information you need to
know about Ghost Recon.
Official Site
Ghost Recon.com
The latest GR patch
Downloadable GR demo
The official Xbox site for Ghost Recon
Interviews
Ghost Recon Week by PC Gameplay UK
OVERVIEW
"If you meet them in combat ... you're already dead"
The Ghost Recon series is "effectively" Red Storm's
follow-up to their Rainbow Six series.
(Think of it as how StarCraft was Blizzard's "sequel" to WarCraft.) It brings us to the next
level of the "one-shot, one-kill" small-squad tactical shooter genre that was pioneered
by Rainbow Six.
Ghost Recon focuses on military objectives in large outdoor spaces which differs
significantly from the counter-terrorist close quarters battle emphasis in the Rainbow Six series.
Ghost Recon also lets you jump into the action quicker as it uses "on-the-fly" orders rather than
Rainbow Six's pre-mission planning.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
The following is a short summary of the development history of Ghost Recon.
Also check the Ghost Recon development team's Designer Diaries for
the best look into the work that went on behind the scenes when creating Ghost Recon!
Dec 5, 2002
Ubi Soft announces that GR for the
PlayStation 2 has shipped. The PS2 version includes all the missions from Ghost Recon and Desert Siege,
but does not support online multiplayer.
Nov 6, 2002
Ubi Soft issues a press release stating that
the Xbox version of GR has gone gold. GR for the Xbox is a launch title for Microsoft's
Xbox Live online multiplayer system that starts on Nov 15, 2002.
Oct 23, 2002
Red Storm releases a fourth patch
(v1.4.0.0) strictly for fixing bugs (no new gameplay features) and restoring the limping wound behavior
that caused a huge community uproar when the limp was removed in the v1.3 patch.
Oct 9, 2002
The November 2002 issue of Computer Games
magazine gives the first confirmation of Ghost Recon 2. A Ubi Soft representative states that
GR2 is in the conceptual phase and will be seen "in the next year or so".
Oct 7, 2002
MacCentral posts news
that Ghost Recon: Game of the Year for the Mac has gone gold. The Mac port of GR was done by
Aspyr Media.
Sep 24, 2002
Coinciding with the release of the Island Thunder mission pack,
a third patch (v1.3.5.0) is released
which features a huge list
of improvements for Ghost Recon.
Aug 21, 2002
Ubi Soft issues an official press release
announcing the second Ghost Recon mission pack: Island Thunder.
Jul 17, 2002
Aspyr announces that
they are working on the Mac port for Ghost Recon. The port will also include the Desert Siege mission pack.
Jul 2, 2002
A QuickTime video (18MB)
is released showing the console version of GR for the Xbox. The video also states that
versions of GR are also being developed for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. The official
Xbox site for GR states that the
console version will feature all missions redesigned from the PC version, all-new introductory cut-scenes,
and that it will be released to coincide with the Xbox Live! online service.
Mar 27, 2002
A second Ghost Recon patch (v1.2.10.0) is released to make
Ghost Recon compatible with Desert Siege, which is the first mission pack for GR.
Feb 6, 2002
Red Storm releases the first patch (v1.1.5.0) for Ghost Recon.
Nov 13, 2001:
Ghost Recon ships to stores. This is one week earlier than the initial projected release date of Nov 20, 2001.
Nov 6, 2001:
The Ghost Recon demo is released.
Nov 1, 2001:
Rogue Spear: Black Thorn is released with an exclusive "Making of Ghost Recon" CD.
Oct 23, 2001:
Ghost Recon goes gold master.
Sep 6, 2001:
Ubi Soft's official Ghost Recon.com
website goes live.
Aug 6, 2001:
RSE Chief Game Designer, Brian Upton, announces in a
GameSpot news article
that GR will go beta in one week's time.
May 17, 2001
On the first day of E3 2001, Ubi Soft issues this official
press release introducing
what Ghost Recon which includes this interesting statement:
"Conducting extensive missions on foot, the Ghosts occasionally have assistance
from troops in tanks, helicopters and close airsupport."
Apr 4, 2001
After a long silence about what Red Storm has been working on after 1999's
Rogue Spear, the May 2001 issue of GamePro magazine is the first to break the
news that Red Storm's
new title is called "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon". The article seems
to indicate that vehicles and helicopters seen in screenshots will play an
important part in the game. The GamePro article is later found to be somewhat
inaccurate on this
and several other points.
Jul 17, 2000
Reports surface that indicate
Red Storm is the first third-party developer to receive one of the Xbox SDKs
(Software Development Kits). This is the first indication that RSE's next major title
after Rogue Spear will appear on the Xbox console.
GAME FEATURES
Here are some links to more information about the following game features:
Specialists: Completing certain
optional objectives in Ghost Recon missions will unlock specialist characters. They will add much needed
firepower to your team with their own distinctive weapons. Learn more details about the each of the
12 specialists that appear in GR here.
RPG Elements: Ghost Recon brings in
certain "role playing game" elements to the tactical shooter genre. There is a class system
for characters which divides soldiers into four categories: Rifleman, Support, Demo, and Sniper.
What character class you chose influences what kit selections are available. For example, a rifleman's
kit will include a M16A2, whereas a support soldier's kit will contain a SAW (squad automatic weapon).
Furthermore, each team member has the four skills listed below that can be upgraded after gaining experience ("combat
points") following each mission:
Weapon: Determines how quickly the aiming reticle closes and how tight it gets.
Stealth: Decreases the chance that the enemies will detect that character.
Endurance: Keeps you character more active even after taking wounds.
Leadership: Provides a performance boost across the board for all members of the fire team.
Medals: Ghost Recon features a awards
system to decorate your team members depending on their performance. Check out more details about
what each of the medals mean at GR.net here.
Threat Indicator: This is similar to the
Heartbeat Sensor in Rainbow Six. Because GR maps are so large (400x400m) it is easy to get lost searching
for that one last enemy on the map. The threat indicator (which can be toggled on and off)
does help to point your team to where enemies are, which can be compared to what military airborne/satellite
surveillance would do in real-life. To see what each part of the threat indicator does, check out this
image. Also, read more about the
threat sensor at GR.net here.
Multiplayer: Ghost Recon
supports up to 36 people for online multiplayer games via Internet (TCP/IP) or LAN.
Dedicated Server: Ghost Recon is the
first Red Storm game that supports running a dedicated server. Find out more details about how
to set one up here.
THE STORY
The Caucasus 2008.
Russian ultra-nationalists have taken control of the country and begin to invade
bordering countries in an attempt to rebuild the Iron Curtain. The U.S. responds to calls for
military help by the neighboring republics and the Ghosts are sent in. Lead the Ghosts through a
series of military missions, ranging from covert actions, to search-and-rescue operations,
to all-out firefights in this first-person squad-based action game.
SUMMARY OF MAPS
Ghost Recon comes with a total of 21 maps:
Training Maps
1. Training
Single Player Maps
1. Caves (Day)
2. Farm (Night)
3. Railroad Bridge (Day)
4. Village (Day)
5. Embassy (Day)
6. Castle (Night)
7. River (Day)
8. Battlefield (Day)
9. Swamp (Day)
10. Ruined City (Day)
11. POW Camp (Night)
12. Docks (Night)
13. Airbase (Night)
14. Mountain (Day)
15. Red Square (Day)
Multiplayer Maps
1. River (Day)
2. Night Battle (Night)
3. Railroad (Day)
4. Valley (Day)
5. Docks (Day)
6. Castle (Day) - Note: Only comes with the GR patch
WEAPONS
Please refer to the
Ghost Recon Weapons page for the complete list of weapons used by friendly and enemy forces in the game.
VEHICLES
Although vehicles are not playable in Ghost Recon,
they still play a very important role. Vehicles in GR can either be static (non-mobile
vehicles that are built into the map geometry) or dynamic. Here is a list of most of the major vehicles
that show up in the game:
F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet (static)
Russian T-72 and T-80 tanks
Seahawk helicopter (static)
Russian SA-13 armored SAM launcher
Russian BMP armored fighting vehicle
Russian self-propelled howitzer
M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank
M2 Bradley Infantry AFV
M35 military truck
INTERVIEWS
Please refer to
GR Retreat's Interviews page for
a complete list of the Ghost Recon interviews done online.
PREVIEWS
No one has done a better job of collecting links to
various previews of Ghost Recon than Rocky at GhostRecon.net. There's no point for
me to replicate his list here, so here's a link to GR.net's
Previews section.
REVIEWS
Once again, Rocky has done an outstanding job
collecting links in GhostRecon.net's
Reviews section.
Also check out Gone Gold.com which has an extensive collection of links to
various reviews of Ghost Recon and all its mission packs.
STRATEGY
The best place to find detailed walkthroughs
for Ghost Recon is at GR.net's Walkthroughs section.
Ghost Recon also has an excellent replay feature where you can observe and learn how others play the game.
Check out our Replays section to see
outstanding demonstrations of how missions in Ghost Recon are completed. If you are having problems
starting out with Ghost Recon, view these replays to get an idea of how the game should be played.
Looks like the most detailed and easy to follow single player
campaign walkthrough at Xezol.com is currently unavailable. Although
it is not complete, it provides you with a good introduction on how to approach the game.
For strategy tips, check out GeekGirl's excellent
"Living with the AI in Ghost Recon" article. (Site appears to be down presently.)
SCREENSHOTS
Please refer to
GR Retreat's Screenshots page for
selected screenshots of Ghost Recon.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The following is a list of the miniumum requirements for Ghost Recon. For best
performance, check out our recommendations in our
GR Tech Support page.
Minimum System Requirements
CPU - Pentium II 450 MHz processor or equivalent
Memory - 128 MB of RAM
Operating System - Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP
DirectX - DirectX 8.0 or higher (included on CD)
Hard Drive Space - 1 GB minimum hard drive space
CD-ROM - 4X or better
Video Card - 16MB DirectX 8.0 compatible 3D card
Sound Card - DirectX 8.0 compatible sound card
Internet/Network - Properly configured TCP/IP connection at 28.8 kbps or faster
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