Thomas Leo Clancy Jr., best known as Tom Clancy, was a prominent American novelist famous for stories set during and after the Cold War. Clancy has numerous best-selling novels that have gone on to inspired multiple video game series like Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, The Division, and Splinter Cell. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands turned five years old on March 7, 2022, having been a profitable endeavor for Ubisoft.
The Ghost Recon series of video games are military tactical shooters developed and published by Ubisoft, the first dating back to a work by Red Storm Entertainment from the latter half of 2001. Players, inhabiting agents called ghosts, have to carry out real-world operations. The original Ghost Recon sold over five million units by the year 2004, leading to a prominent sub-franchise that would expand via titles like Wildlands.
A Series For FPS Fanatics
Ghost Recon Wildlands was developed with the combined efforts of Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Milan. The game began production in 2012 and was revealed at Ubisoft's E3 2015 press conference. A 30-minute short film, "Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within the Cartel," was released on its Twitch channel, followed by Amazon Prime. The third-person tactical game's beta reportedly saw over 6.8 million players, and it would go on to release via PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
Ghost Recon Wildlands was the first title in the Ghost Recon series to have an open-world environment. It puts players in control of members of the Delta Company, First Battalion, and the 5th Special Forces Group as they take on missions in a modern-day setting similar to Bolivia complete with mountains, salt flats, deserts, and forests; subject to numerous shifting weather conditions. Players can use different means to reach their mission location and carry them out using a variety of weapons. According to Ubisoft Paris creative director Eric Couzian, "The game has an unscripted AI with own motivations and agendas" to struggle against.
The game offers a multiplayer mode where players can make a group of three to explore the environment while completing campaign missions. It can also be played solo, with the other teammates as AI whom the player can command.
Ghost Recon Wildlands' Story and DLC Expansions
Wildlands' plot revolves around Bolivia as the world's largest cocaine producer under the influence of Santa Blanca Cartel, a prominent Mexican drug cartel. Operation Kingslayer is a joint mission undertaken by the CIA, DEA, and JSOC to destabilize the cartel after the death of a DEA agent and a bombing at a United States embassy. The Ghost Recon team; comprised of the team leader, support gunner 'Nomad,' assault specialist 'Midas,' hacker 'Holt,' and sniper 'Weaver;' assist Kataris 26 (a Bolivian rebel group) and let them take credit for the downfall of El Sueno, the founder and leader of Santa Blanca Cartel.
Soon after the game's launch, Ubisoft came out with two DLCs expansions that add onto the story. These were named the Nacro Road and the Fallen Ghosts.
In the Nacro Road DLC, the player is an unnamed undercover CIA agent sent to identify "El Invisible," the head of a smuggling network, with the help of CIA handler Karen Bowman and local informant Sonrisa. The ghost joins their gang but eventually gets captivated, only to escape with the assistance of Sonrisa. The local informant is found to be El Invisible, who planned on escaping from Santa Blanca and the destruction of the CIA.
In the Fallen Ghosts DLC, the story revolves around the return of the fireteam to Bolivia after the collapse of the drug cartel. To restore order in the city and rebuild the police unit Unidad, the government seeks the help of special forces across Latin America called 'Los Extranjeros.' These corrupt forces captivated a CIA agent named Socrates, so the ghosts plan to kill the commanding officer of Los Extranjeros named Colonel Merlo, tearing apart the forces and unveiling numerous political scandals.
The Success of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands soared high in the first quarter and made a massive profit. Ubisoft claimed it to be the company's best-selling title for the first half of 2017, and according to weekly sales statistics it beat The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and PlayStation 4-exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn the week of launch. Wildlands may not be remembered as fondly as the other two, but it set a good groundwork for future Ghost Recon games and showed how well shooters can work in an open-world environment.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
