To be honest though, I would not have bought GR: Wildlands if it didn't have the coop mode. Yes, the game is by no means a serious tactical shooter but the coop mode makes it fun.
Oh sure, coop mode makes even the crapiest game a better experience. But for me even coop doesn't save this one. It's essentials are just wrong. Plus the technical issues makes it zero fun for me.
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You can definitely die from a fall, around 2 stories IIRC. Tactical is up to you and how you play it. Slow down. I've seen some graphical glitches, mainly with tires being below the ground a few inches, maybe a few other instances, but nothing that was a big deal. Nightvision doesn't work well during the day, but at dusk and dawn you do start to notice and know to take them off. Climbing is reasonable, I haven't seen anything odd there at all.
As for AI, in general it's fine. I've YET to find a game that didn't work in basic gun safety. AI team mates have always walked right in front of a shooter. I don't know why it's so hard to code in that if a gun is raised by a team mate, walk behind. I'd also like to be able to order each team member to positions on the map. They generally do ok positioning to hit the target, but then they lock down. If I tell them to prepare to take someone out and they lose the shot because the guy moved 1' to the left behind a beam, I want them to know to adjust themselves.
Driving/flying, I've gotten used to it. If you're doing it by keyboard, it's a losing battle. I don't know why you'd do that to yourself anyway. Punching keys to emulate a stick, throttle or steering wheel just isn't good.
To each their own, I'm not trying to convince anyone they're having fun when they clearly are not. I'm just correcting what I don't agree with in case some are on the fence. Everyone I've played the game with has thoroughly enjoyed it, co-op as well as SP. I'll also say that you'll have a lot more fun if you get outside of the original easy areas. The map is HUGE. I've been in about 12 zones so far, 7 pretty thoroughly, spending most of my time in the hard areas and I've had a great time with it. You have to work it patiently if you want to be successful. I think there are another 10 or so zones I've yet to even set foot in, much less explore thoroughly. I'll have to go back and pick up the storyline, I've only finished the original area as far as that goes. I've been playing it by ear much like Skyrim, not even needing the main story so far. I've already got 37 hours the game, I haven't had game time like that in a new release in YEARS. I'm not even close to halfway on this thing yet.
Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 121,468PanzerMeyer
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Good post RK! This game for me is essentially Borderlands but with real world weapons instead of fictional sci-fi ones and that's not a bad thing.
The enemy AI can be deadly if you just go all Rambo and charge in and let yourself get overwhelmed. This is on "normal" difficulty too.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
I'am using an xbox one pad for driving/flying and m+k for everything else. I still think it's wonky as hell. I can't get use to that. And I'am playing slow and very stealthy on advanced mode but still it has zero Clancy/military vibe for me. It's to comic. I've visited 3 areas so far. I really tried to get into that. I think 10hrs is more than enough to know this game. I'am sure I've done everything it has to offer. I pass, it's not fun at all for me.
I'am using an xbox one pad for driving/flying and m+k for everything else. I still think it's wonky as hell. I can't get use to that. And I'am playing slow and very stealthy on advanced mode but still it has zero Clancy/military vibe for me. It's to comic. I've visited 3 areas so far. I really tried to get into that. I think 10hrs is more than enough to know this game. I'am sure I've done everything it has to offer. I pass, it's not fun at all for me.
I hated it at first. It's one of those games, like Hitman, where you have to adapt yourself to the game and play it the way it needs to be played rather than the way you necessarily want to. At that point, you have to decide whether it's worth it. Despite not liking the relative lack of small-team fire-and-maneuver command options as compared to "classic" GR, this does have certain hidden charms. I've been playing it fairly constantly and it annoys me some of the time because many of the open-world missions are not tailor-made for tactics as they would be in a linear tac-shooter and are often indistinguishable from each other, the vehicles are goofy, etc. and all you end up with is yet another third-person firefight.
HOWEVER...
The thing with these types of game is that the story missions, being less procedural and more scripted, often allow for more tactical gameplay and choices than the side-missions. I was just getting fed up (again) with the rinse-and-repeat gameplay the other day when I took on a story mission against a coke factory on an island. I kept failing because the defences were so strong and included both a patrolling helo and a radio tower that summons reinforcements as soon as your presence is discovered. Then it dawned on me that it's a stealth mission; you can carefully pick off all the outlying guards (at least twelve of them, so you need patience) with drone and synch shots from cover, then you can approach the radio tower and blow it up with C4 so that now you only have the sicarios inside the target building to contend with. And, as with all missions, judicious use of the Hold command for buddy AI can provide good opportunities for a basic suppress-and-flank, or recon-and-flank maneuvers. All in all, I was happy that any modern, console-orientated game can actually involve that basic level of legitimate tactical gameplay. I also admire all games that allow the player to bypass enemies and not to have to stalk and kill every defender on the map if he doesn't want to; GRW is very good in this respect. And, finally, for a game with "recon" in the title, they do deliver on that; the drone, binoculars, marking of enemies and synch shot system emphasize careful recon and allow a small, well-equipped spec-ops team to even the odds against a numerically superior opposition, just like IRL.
So, yes, it's aggravating in parts and dumbed down in others but the core gameplay in story missions is often surprisingly tactical. In my opinion it is not as elegantly designed and executed as The Division and it's not a crazy masterpiece like Phantom Pain (MGS 5) but, taken on its own merits and with a little patience, it can be unexpectedly good at what it does, which is open-world gameplay with a tactical dimension. Just my 2c.
core gameplay in story missions is often surprisingly tactical
Concur with that - but with all the objectives. I was worried that the infiltrate base, cap HVT, then fight your way out, repeat ad nusuem out would get old pretty soon. But
1) there is a wide variety of unique terrain, locales and targets that demand a fresh approach and smart tactical thinking each time. How do I get in? Where are the best sniper spots? Guards? Any roving patrols? Drone jammers? Plus weather and day and night cycle. I even found a hidden underground coke delivery base accessible only from the lake in a cave that demanded we swim in, Thunderball 007 style to clear it.
2) You don't have to kill everyone to get the job done. (Bahger - that UNIDAD firebase that caused us so much aggro in coop in Open Beta I was able to solo just by using the AI to take out the snipers in the towers. Then snuck in, interrogated the target, turned the power off to distract everyone and finally stole a helicopter to escape. Result 2-3 dead Unidad and mission accomplished.)
3) Immersion. Gorgeous graphics and terrain and while my first goal anyway is to shoot as many radios as possible - there are enough 'wow' moments to suspend disbelief. Flying a chopper a night and seeing, towns lit up, distant car lights on roads and winking red lights on power lines gives a strong impression that you are operating in a real country...
4) Gunplay is surprisingly satisfying. Targets go down after one shot to head. (bullet sponge humans who could survive headshots to the face kept me away from The Division) Nice variety of weapons apart from the lack of AT launchers or MANPADS. (A cartel with no RPGs???).
5) Storyline. While the cheesy in-game squad banter has the potential to grate after a while and on the surface it is standard Tom Clancy-lite, if you start collecting the Kingslayer intel files there are hints that there may be darker, more Sicario-like plot twists up ahead and that all is not as it seems. Spoiler
One intel file from the dead CIA contact makes connections between the rebels you are helping and Peruvian narcos
It's a subtle touch but its intriguing enough to make you want to find out more.
There's nothing cushy about life in the Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps!
Indeed, the game will allow you to play in whatever way you feel like playing.
That means unlike a "hardcore" tactical game where ONLY correct tactics will work (and anything else results in insta-fail or death), you can play this one and succeed no matter your play style. It WILL work playing tactically, the fact that you can win playing it without any semblance of tactics as well is a strength, not a weakness.
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Originally Posted by Lord Flashheart
2) You don't have to kill everyone to get the job done.
That is what I like about it. It's the mission, not killing everyone that gets the job done. Not that you can't do that, but if you can play out the mission with minimal causalities, it's pretty fun too. I do wish we had a basic "wait" button like in Skyrim and Far Cry 2. Running missions at night is very different, plus you have some of the men in their bunks sleeping and out of the way.
2) You don't have to kill everyone to get the job done.
That is what I like about it. It's the mission, not killing everyone that gets the job done. Not that you can't do that, but if you can play out the mission with minimal causalities, it's pretty fun too. I do wish we had a basic "wait" button like in Skyrim and Far Cry 2. Running missions at night is very different, plus you have some of the men in their bunks sleeping and out of the way.
Yeah,but the game lack the most important tool in a special ops, watch........i know the drone has it but, seriously, it would be nice to know how many hours we have of nighttime to prep an operation in full stealth