Ghost Recon Shadow Wars

Date played: May 9th
Platform: 3DS
Time played: 70 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I was watching the hockey game between Vancouver and Nashville (good job Canucks on winning the series) and was playing Ghost Recon on and off during breaks and whistles.  The 3DS is getting a lot of playtime in situations like these and Ghost Recon in particular works well because it is turn based.

I played two missions, one where I was defending two gas pumps and one where I had to defend two flags in the middle of a residential area.  The first mission was pretty long but not too hard.  I had all six ghosts available which always makes things easier.  I first had to reach each of the two gas pumps within five turns to disable explosives.  It wasn't too hard but I had to split my team into two and I couldn't afford to fuck around.

After that, I had to go and turn off a valve that was protected by two snipers on ledges.  In situations like these, I always try to move my ghosts in groups so that they can easily return fire when one of them gets shot.  After turning off the valve, I thought the mission would be over but I was surprised to see reinforcements appear near the gas pumps.  They set up more explosives on the pumps and I had to rush back to defuse them again while fighting even more enemies.  I was successful but it was really close.

The 3D kind of makes the game look like a board game

The second mission was simpler but I failed it the first time.  This time, I had only four ghosts so I initially benched the sniper because he can't return fire.  I also benched the engineer because I thought this would be more of an offensive mission and he is best when defending.  I was wrong.

This was a defensive mission that had me capture two flags and defend them.  The first time through, I got overwhelmed by enemies and my gunner died.  The enemies in this mission were mostly hidden in buildings so it was difficult to assess how many I had to defeat at first.

My second attempt was successful but I knew what to expect now.  I swapped out my assault dude for the engineer and that proved a wise decision.  I had my stealth lady stay relatively close to the other ghosts so she could return fire and still stab baddies in the back.  My medic followed my gunner and they moved from building to building to take advantage of cover and my engineer set up a turret near the flags to repel enemies as they approached while he repaired it when required.  This was a really fun mission.

I also noticed that there are going to be a LOT of upgrades for my guys.  This game will be longer than I expected.  The 3D is also very comfortable in this game and I just kind of expect it now.