A true sequel in every sense of the word.

User Rating: 8.5 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 X360
A true sequel in every sense of the word. The first thing you’ll notice when starting up the game is the graphics are much improved over the already impressive previous installments. Smoke effects, explosions, bullet holes and everything in-between all have a realistic air to them. The games audio certainly doesn’t disappoint either. The musical score is always appropriate and always lends to the action going on around you. The firearms all sound authentic and the ominous booms and small arms fire coming from several city blocks away should be experienced on a surround sound system to really be appreciated. The only complaint I have regarding the audio is that the Mexican revolutionaries speak English this time around, and only a handful of phrases designed to taunt you. If they were going to make these Mexicans speak a language we all understand maybe it would’ve been nice to hear them giving their squad orders, call for back up, or point out your location?
Perhaps the greatest improvement here is in the games campaign mode. With the exception of maybe the first mission, they’re all very action packed and not tedious at all, like some of the first games missions. The only problem here is that the game only has three acts, and while the honest focus of the game is mulitplayer, one more act would really have made the single player portion much more satisfying. Other revamps include your squad A.I., which allows them to find cover within a basic area, or right behind a specific barrier. This gives you more time to help them out with your gun rather than your tactical map. Your thermal goggles too are actually useful this time around. You can use them for distance as well as close up shooting. Another one of the better upgrades is unit support (tanks, helicopters, and even us soldiers) which is efficient and smart enough, but still under your command. The multiplayer portion of the game is more or less the same as in the first game featuring only minor tweaks to make it less frustrating, while also retaining the single player games superb graphics. But given that the mutiplayer was GRAW 1's, best feature this is still forgivable. The new maps themselves are what give a lot of the improvement to the game, more so than the game play tweaks. Over all I would recommend this game to anyone with a Live account, but if your offline save your money, but be sure to rent it.