Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Update

Well, I gave it another shot on Wednesday night, and had a better go of it.

First - the first mission in the plaza was frenetic and a bit of a sensory overload at the start.  The second half got a bit better with some light stealth - I would give that about a C - it just didn't play well for me.

Second - the second mission is the goods!  It actually felt like old school Ghost Recon, well, except you have active camoflague, rather than relying on pure stealth and cover.  This was really a fun mission, up until the end when it got kind of COD'ish.  The basic premise is that you're going through a refugee camp, taking out a warlord's henchmen and trying to get a location on the warlord.  This part was terrific.  Then, you go to intercept a weapons shipment, and this part was okay - until you shoot down a plane taking off.  You then have to get to the plane, but there's a sandstorm en route, so you're trudging to the crash site in a blinding sandstorm - kind of interesting mechanic, but there wasn't much fighting.  It would have been cool to pull some stealth kills on thugs blinded by the storm.  Anyway, this mission had me giddy trying to find perfect lines to drop four goons with a synch shot - it felt like playing on the PC, working with my team and trying not to be detected.  This mission gets an A-.  Technically, very good, but points off for the COD style firefight at the crash site.

So, my initial disdain for the game may have been a factor of the mandatory install, being made to jump through hoops when I just want to play is frustrating.  It could have been fatigue, or maybe I just wasn't in a mindset to play on Tuesday night.  I still have reservations about the game, but if things play out more like the second mission, where there is some strategy and not just a balls out firefight at every corner, the game may just redeem itself.