Here is an impressive team performance that I was fortunate enough to capture with FRAPS.

This firefight gives a pretty good impression of the gameplay dynamics, combat gameplay, weapon performance and special ability deployment.

Note use of:

- Oracle (teammate) to identify enemy positions, briefly outlined in red

- Cloak (player) to advance into cover undetected

- Aegis (teammate) to enable fireteam to advance while shielded

- Virtual "tethers" when teammates are in proximity to each other, to enhance situational awareness and assist in identifying enemy positions

I think this sequence demonstrates, among other things, the high quality of the game and the genuinely tactical nature of the combat.

Video quality is downgraded by FRAPS to avoid affecting framerate while capturing DV/sound. My native resolution is 1200 x 1920.

...and yes, I know I got lucky not being killed by the frag in the doorway but that's what armor inserts are for!

Thanks for the preview Bahger. Looks good! I’ve never really tried F2P games before but I think I’ll definitely be getting into this one.

I've been suspicious of FTP games as well, PvP games too, I just can't stand all the posturing. This is something special though, fantastic weapon modelling, superb cover/movement mechanics, real teamwork, and it is genuinely tactical. You do not have to pay to win and the game's supporting infrastructure is really well designed.

When the Open Beta starts -- probably next week -- the core Closed Beta players will have had a week to level up weapons and armor so it's going to be tough on the novices. Let me know if you sign up, Linebacker and I'll fireteam with you.

I just logged on to http://ghost-recon.ubi.com/ghost-recon-online/en-US/home/ and gave GRO a try. WOW! I completely agree with your comments. Excellent tactical shooter!

I only wish the graphics didn’t make my eyes bleed. The graphics actually look good but there’s a lot of blurry post processing going on that I can’t turn off (similar to the blurry ARMA2 post processing effects).

I don’t know if the blurry effect is in place to level the playing field but I’m playing at 1920*1080 at the high graphics setting and my eyes are still watering while typing this message.

If your fireteam needs an extra man ... hook me up ... Uplay name: Linebacker1 ... Alias: Linebacker.

I am constantly put off by the idea of the cloaking device, walking shield and oracle scan. Not to mention the shield charging dude. Not my idea of a "Realistic tactical shooter" if the gameplay is build around these concepts.

How do you guys cope with that?

It's a fair question. Each device is finely balanced for teamplay and tactics. I guess you'd have to play the game to be convinced of this but if you do, I think you will be. I, too, am a tactical purist but believe these class-specific abilities contribute directly to tactical gameplay, they are not science-fiction devices.

As you can see in the video, Oracle is a situational-awareness assist that was used both by a teammate to light up our enemies' positions momentarily and by the enemy to reveal me in the doorway where I was almost fragged as a result. The Aegis shield enables team maneuver by protecting against incoming rounds for a limited period of time but, as with all these abilities, it can be countered, by grenades or other devices. The cloaking device is of very limited duration, too, and like all the others, needs to recharge after use.

Each of these devices is of limited power, is counter-able but, most importantly, is tactical because each one, when properly used, assists in fire and maneuver team-play. Because of, not in spite of, these abilities, GRO is the most tactical online shooter I have ever played.

Consider yourself conscripted, Linebacker. Am about to friend you in game now.

EDIT: Hm, "User Cannot be Found" when searching for either Linebacker or Linebacker1. Are you sure you are playing on the North American server?

I just got it yesterday... haven't been able to find a game yet... constantly searching... is this the norm?

Nice vid BTW.

How long did you have to wait? Don't forget, OB hasn't started so player population is low and it takes longer to find games, especially at certain times of night. The system attempts to find 16, then 14, then 12 etc. available players for a new game, then if it gets lower than a certain number it will switch to finding an open slot in an ongoing game. The entire process can take up to about two and a half minutes but you can be doing a lot of other stuff while you wait, like buying equipment, organising your loadout, monitoring your chat/inbox, etc.

Are you "Magnum" on the North American server?

Magnum50... but 15 mins or so, then left. will try again later... maybe.

Nah, that can't be right. There are always plenty of active games and I'm not aware of any complaints about unacceptable wait-times. This must be a technical issue.

EDIT: Found you, Magnum. Friended in game.

Plus, when a guy is cloaked, it’s not like he’s COMPLETELY invisible. When he’s on the move you can pretty easily spot him, even from a distance.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’m on a NA server since I’m in NA. Can’t be too sure what server I’m on though ... I just start the game and press PLAY I get the feeling that you have to be on-line to be detected/friended ... I'm probably wrong tho.

I tried to friend myself with the player name Linebacker and got a “you cannot friend yourself” message so that’s my handle. Maybe I could try pulling up your callsign if I knew what it was.

Cheers.

I'm Strummer. Let me know if it works.

No luck with Strummer. I'm getting the feeling we're jumping the gun here. If you right click on your GhostReconOnline.exe file and click Properties at the bottom and then click Details ... what file version are you showing?

I don't see any version # there but it's all coordinated by the launcher/Uplay; there are no incompatible versions, it's all dedi servers and the launcher automatically updates everyone.

Maybe you guys are trying to mix GRFS with GRO over MP by any chance

Anyway, re my original post, I did play the beta a year or so ago... I used to work for Ubisoft and met the lead designer and creative director of Ubisoft Singapore - the ones behind GRO - during a workshop training thing. Great guys.

GRO didn't seem a bad game at all and it was indeed quite tactical. But so is World of Warcraft! It seemed to me that the tactical part of the game depends too much on those abilities, which is not what the typical GR fan would expect.

Still, a good game is a good game, and GR has passes a little bit into the technological future, where it might make sense.

My version is 1.0.0.1. I`m just not sure if it`s pre-beta, beta or release version ...

I think elanaiba is right, Linebacker, I have a hunch you're playing GRFS MP, not GRO.

I’ll try not to take that as an insult ... although I do like GRFS!

Here’s me trying to add you as a friend in GRO ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiTZMlROnRk


I think that’s really strange since you can’t seem to “see” me either. Makes me wonder if you’re still playing on pre-beta servers or if I'm playing the wrong version, which is why I wanted you to pull up the property sheet on your GhostReconOnline.exe file. Here's mine ...



If you don’t know how to do this, don’t sweat it. I’m sure whatever problem we’re having will get itself sorted over the next week.

Cheers!

Apologies. It's all very mysterious. My .exe reveals no version number. I'm confident we'll get it sorted.

Linebacker, I have run our problem up the flagpole on the official forums here:

http://ghost-recon.ubi.com/ghost-recon-online/en-US/forums/index.aspx

Hope they can help.

Thanks Bahger. I get the feeling that I’m being cordoned off from whatever North American server I’d like to be on since I’m in Toronto, Canada.
I’m playing with a bunch of Canadians though which pisses me off since a lot of them speak french ... Quebec

Anyway, it’s probably just for Beta testing purposes.

I’m still really liking and trying to figure out the shooting dynamics in GRO!!! Closest thing to original Rainbow Six style shooting that I’ve come across in a long time! Really deep.

The visible threads to nearby teammates is one of the best ideas I’ve seen in a shooter in a long time as well. Makes a hell of a difference.

Well that explains it, Linebacker, there must be a separate server for Canada. You'd think "North America" would include Canada.

Glad you're still enjoying it. I'm writing a preview based on the OB (and experience in three CBs) for SimHQ.

The combination of a great cover mechanic, effective incentives to teamplay and great weapon modelling/firefights make this a very impressive game, IMO. But not all tac-gamers like PvP.

How much trouble is it to sign up for GRO? I would like to try it.

No trouble at all ... especially if you already have a Uplay account set up. Just go here to install ...

http://ghost-recon.ubi.com/ghost-recon-online/en-US/home/

Here’s a Ghost Recon Online overview if you’d like to see what you’re getting into beforehand ...

http://ghost-recon.ubi.com/ghost-recon-online/en-GB/game-info/guide/what-is-gro/index.aspx

Thanks for the info Linebacker. I don't have a Uplay account yet, but I'll set one up and try GRO this weekend. I have GRFS for the Xbox360, but I didn't bother with a Uplay account for that either.

Hey sSnakeyes, did you get set up in GRO over the weekend? This morning (Monday) there is a big new client update so you might have had to sit through two huge downloads in two days! If you're all squared away and on the North America server, post your in-game name and I'll friend you. I've levelled up enough with Recon and Specialist now to have unlocked squad assist abilities so if we fireteam together I might be able to help keep you alive as you learn the game.

EDIT: Well I just friended someone called Snakeyes in GRO, let me know if it's you, ok?

Hey Bahger. I got busy with some other things over the weekend so I didn't get GRO set up yet. The Snakeyes you friended is somebody else. I post here when I'm set up. Thanks, SE