Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (2012)

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is set about 10 or 15 years in the future, a time when advanced technology augments the squad-based tactics that have become the backbone of modern military operations. As members of a small team of highly trained Ghost operatives, players engage in strike-force styled missions designed for surgical accuracy and efficiency. Even the most foresighted plans are sure to unravel in the chaos of a live firefight, however, so players must also communicate with their teammates, in order to adapt to constantly changing mission conditions.

A cooperative multiplayer mode allows up to four human players to work together throughout the game's main campaign, but even computer-controlled teammates are endowed with the tactical training and circumstantial awareness to support a solo player. When they say "ghost," they mean it. Of all the speculative weaponry featured in the game, no device in the Future Soldier's armament is more important than the optical camouflage cloak. It can render a soldier nearly invisible, giving him the ability to disappear into shadows and a chance to advance (carefully) across open ground to more advantageous positioning, even in broad daylight, without being spotted by the enemy.

The game also outfits Ghosts with lightweight exoskeletons to enhance their speed and strength in the field. In all, a small arsenal of hyper-tech weapons and defensive devices is available, including some that were inspired by actual design concepts proposed to the U.S. military. The versatile "bullpup" caseless modular rifle, which can be refit on-the-fly for a wide range of deadly purposes, is standard issue. Combat with unmanned drones -- rolling robots, armed to the teeth -- also plays a role, both in the main campaign and in competitive multiplayer modes.

Following the lead of earlier Ghost Recon adventures, Future Soldier's battles are not won through boisterous frontal assaults or courageous one-man stands, but more realistically, with good planning and coordinated readjustments in the field. Compared to earlier games, stealth is more prominent than ever, often leading to close combat and ninja-like takedown moves. The story is set in a time of international upheaval, as Russia's legitimately elected president is deposed by a nationalist coup and conflicts erupt near the country's eastern borders. Beyond these Northern European engagements, the campaign eventually leads players to missions in the Middle East, central Asia, and above the arctic circle. As and new intelligence is uncovered during the course of a mission, players responsible for making the split-second, life-or-death decisions in the field sometimes must strategically reconsider the larger diplomatic picture, instead of plodding on toward pre-set tactical objectives. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide