Tom Clancy brings you the most realistic first person shooter to date, in the form of Ghost Recon. Ported from the PC by Red Storm and Ubi Soft, this combat simulation set in 2008 is unique amongst this genre, due to the fact that I like it. In all honesty I wasn't hopeful about this purchase, as the last Clancy title I bought, Rainbow Six, cost me £40 in new controllers (apparently, you can't get a refund on joypads if they're in 16 pieces) and £60 in anger management courses. All the Clancy franchise games share a similar feel to them and Ghost Recon is no exception, but this one has a little extra 'oomph', elevating it above the standard set by previous titles to become my favourite PS2 FPS.

Other gaming platforms have seen a multitude of classic FPS games and I would have to say that Ghost Recon doesn't come close to any of the truly great. If you're looking for a Halo beater, or something to rival Unreal, look elsewhere. This title has not the graphics, atmosphere or quality of those games. What it does have is realism by the bucket load and few of the annoyances of Rainbow Six or The Sum Of All Fears.

The story is told via a well-acted briefing section and follows the tried and tested Clancy terrorism-type plot. This one is a tad different in that this time you're sent in to neutralise some pesky ultra nationalists (sound like terrorists to me) determined to bring back the old Soviet way by recapturing the old eastern block countries. Once you have gone through the initial 15 missions, you are treated to another 8 from Desert Siege. This was a great idea, as I would have felt a little cheated had the extra missions not been included. As it is, 28 single player missions, each taking approximately an hour to complete, is good value for money. Not to mention the multiplayer, which while not as diverse as some games does have Firefight, Mission and Survival game modes, the first two being co-operative and the third a deathmatch.

Ghost Recon doesn't fit into the frag-em-up fun of, say, Quake, or the stealth-em-up possibilities of Deus Ex. Only one or two of the missions require all out stealth and running into an enemy camp like bull on heat will only get you and your team a face full of lead for your troubles. It would possibly be best to describe it as a 'think your way to victory' type shooter. The difference between failing a mission and completing one often hinges on the correct use of your two squads. Splitting your platoon is a necessity on some missions, as two objectives can be spaced far apart and time is often a factor. Another regular activity is taking an encampment from two sides, which, thanks to the controls, is quite easy. Yup, getting your teamates to do what you want is a piece of cake, a rarity in squad-based shooters. Things like using an elevated position to scan an enemy camp come in to play, as does remembering that friendly crossfire hurts. By far the most useful approach is to have a good look around, take out as many as possible from afar, and then get in there and mop up the rest. This is where I had a few problems with the gameplay, even if you enjoy this kind of shooter, sometimes the missions are a little samey. You only really have three types of engagement: Firefight, Escort and Hostage. Surely it wouldn't have been difficult to pop in a few assassinations or escapes, would it? The occasional demolition objective gives you a little variety, but not really enough to keep the fun factor high.

The ubiquitous pre-mission setup is no longer present, instead you simply have to choose from up to 30 soldiers, each with their own equipment and strengths, giving the game more of a pick up and play feel than others in the Clancy stable. You can still fool around a little with their gear, but it's nowhere near as complicated as Rainbow Six. Building up player stats adds a welcome RPG element to the game, making you more reluctant to waste lives on the battlefield. It's a great treat to see one of your men become a battle-hardened veteran and a greater disappointment to see him drop to the ground in a pool of blood. One-shot kills are quite regular, but often by the end of the mission you have a band of weary, blood soaked cripples crawling back to the evac point, giving you a fantastic feeling of triumph against the odds, but not much choice for the next mission.

The controls are intuitive enough, considering the amount of options available to you and it's rare that you'll die as a result of lack of dexterity. In fact, the main cause of death is poor reconnaissance - best bring the binoculars next time. The AI of both your teamates and the enemies is pleasing to see, no dilly-dallying around here. One shot is all it takes for the terrorist scum, er sorry, ultra nationalist scum to dive for cover and try to work out where you are and before you know it you've got a fierce gun battle raging and you have to put your thinking cap on. One of the highlights for me is using the old Hollywood classics of 'You create a diversion and I'll sneak around' or the usually suicidal 'You wait here and I'll flush him out'.

There is the odd instance of wonky collision such as a guy in a house firing through the wall and killing you. Thankfully it doesn't happen often but boy is it irritating when it does. The only other problem I have with Ghost Recon is that you never really feel up against it. Even fighting in the heart of Moscow the enemy aren't in sufficient numbers to trouble you once you have a good command of the control system. It's a bit of a shame, but nothing more, as the multiplayer missions have a higher bad guy to good guy ratio.

A lot has been made of the fact that very often when you die, you are unaware of where the fatal bullet came from, this is a moot point for me because of two factors; firstly, this game is trying to be real in as many aspects as possible and secondly the enemy don't know where you are either. If you're sniping from miles away, they don't just come charging at you like lemmings over a cliff, they look desperately around as you pick them off until one sees you and starts shooting. If you're not careful, you can lose a man completely out of the blue, but then I like that. You have to use your eyes, you can't rely on the map because although it's useful for finding that elusive last man, or giving you an idea of where the enemy is waiting, you can't play the whole game around it.

The graphics pale in comparison to the PC version although there are still a few nice touches; windows break, trees sway, baddies die in a multitude of ballet style rolls and falls and dust flies around, creating a good deal of confusion sometimes. Its all pretty crisp and the draw distance is great, especially on the Desert Siege missions. Voices are suitably macho and all the weapons sound different, for the more military minded there is a showroom for all the guns and gear, giving stats, sounds and other info, along with loads of extras like trailers, bios, interviews and so on.

Overall, I can't say that Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is of the quality demanded by PC owners, but as I said before it's the best one for the PS2 at the moment, if you're looking for realism. If you like energy shields and huge alien guns, go and buy Half-Life, or Timesplitters 2. If you're after something a little different, why not give this a rental at least, it's great fun, especially with a mate.

Reviewed by Thomas Leclerc for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).