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Great game if you liked the first.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 35
Date: April 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ghost Recon: Island Thunder is an expansion pack to the Xbox game, Ghost Recon. Like the original, you are part of a squad of four US "Ghosts". The graphics, which were excellent, have much stayed the same. This game plays like the orginal, in which you can try to use stealth, or a guns-blazing approach, although stealth is preferred. It does not require the original game to play.

Like the first one, Ghost Recon: Island Thunder will support online play, via Xbox Live. There will be a lot more multiplayer maps. If you liked the first one, I suggest buying this. Also, if you liked SOCOM on PS2, you will also like this.

More of a great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 24
Date: May 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This expansion includes 12 different multiplayer modes, 8 new maps, and, of course, will include downloadable content from Xbox Live. If you haven't purchased the first Ghost Recon, get that and this one right now.

Best Squad Based Game Out for Any System

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ok first off id like to say that this game is totally awesome. The beginning intro is beutiful. More graat missions, more killer weather effects and a pile of exellent new multiplayer maps. And yes it is compatible for X-Box live. It also is the first game to have voice activated commands so all you is get the X-box live head set and you can issue commands to your Ghosts offline or online!!! System link supports 1-16 players. The grahpics haven't really changed from the first one but its very cool to see gear dangling off the ghosts as they run. The story line is always the best when taken from a Tom Clancy Book. Don't buy this game if your not prepared to spend hours just strategising where to hit the enemy from or just where to go! The enemy AI is the best i have every seen in a game. Usually if u shoot an enemy and it misses they won't do anything but just stand there. In GRIT {Ghost Recon Island Thunder) They will hear it a run for cover behind buildings and trees. Very hard game if you like to complete the missions with no causalties. The only cons i have seen in the game are these when you shoot a guy he dies before the bullet reaches him and plants seem to get 2D when close to them. But overall its the best Squad based army game. So even if you don't have the first Ghost Recon go buy it. Well worth the money for the time and effort your gonna be puting in for this game.

NOT a true squad-based title

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ghost Recon Island Thunder is not the squad-based, tactical shooter you would expect it to be. It's not a bad game as long as you're not buying it for the squad tactics. It's not a run and gun game. It's realistic in many ways, such as the absence of medkits that will heal you instantly. A well placed head or torso shot can kill you. What disappointed me is the lack of control you have over your squad in the campaign mode, and the complete absence of it in multi-player versus mode. In the single player campaign mode, you are in charge of 6 soldiers. One would think that just like in any standard squad-shooter, GRIT would allow you to directly control one of the six while being able to give specific commands to the rest of the squad. But in reality the six soldiers are divided into 2 teams of 3, called Alpha and Bravo. You can directly control any of the six, but you CANNOT control the two other soldiers in your team. Say, you're in Alpha. You cannot order anyone in alpha to stay, follow, or go somewhere specific. They will always follow you wherever you go. If you stand, they stand. If you go prone, so will they. You do have the ability to command Bravo. You can tell them to go anywhere in the map in however way you want them to. You can even assign the level of their aggression. But sadly, you CANNOT give individual commands. You can only order the 3. So in reality, this is a two-man squad shooter, giving you direct control of one man (Alpha) while giving you command over the other (Bravo). While the limited squad control isn't too terrible in the single-player campaign mode, it's a total disgrace in the multi-player mode. In generic squad-based, 4-man-squad games such as Brute Force or Conflict Desert Storm you can have any member of your team either follow, stand their ground, or go somewhere specific. You can assign a sniper to stand back while you have one guard the gate you're about to go through just in case someone tries to run after you. You can then have the other member follow you as you move forward. In that set up, you have a sniper covering your back, a hidden teammate to blind side on rushing enemies, and a buddy right on your tail for extra firepower and added protection. In GRIT, the only option you have is no option. Your 2 teammates will mimic everything that you do. You cannot spread them out, so if someone finds you and uses a grenade, you're all dead. As a solo affair with no teammates GRIT is as realistic as you can get. But to advertise it as a squad-based game is simply a lie. On the minor points, the interface of GRIT is an absolute nightmare. It's as confusing as they come. I will not even begin to try to explain it, as thinking about it alone is confusing enough. And speaking of more confusion, the radar system in GRIT for tracking down enemies is a distraction at best. At its worst, the radar in GRIT will just get you lost and frustrated. It's supposed to tell you the general direction of where your enemy could be. But it points you to the HEMISPHERE your enemy could be hiding in. In some situations, you could almost do a complete 180 and the radar's pointer still won't change. Also, call me an idiot, but in the campaign mode there was a part that made me spent 20 minutes running around looking for the enemy, only to find out that the radar has been detecting a stationary enemy jeep with two dead machine gunners on them! That was bad.
Overall, the in-game presentation of GRIT is impressive enough for anyone to at least keep on giving it a try, often times questioning themselves if there's something wrong with them because they can't quite get into the game. But the absence of control over your squads and other minor logic flaws interfere with what could've been the game of the eyar.

Could have been a great game except for always crashing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: August 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What a shame that's all I can say. This could have been a really good game, but even worse than the original ghost recon, this game will literally crash several times each mission, and the only way to get through a mission is to constantly save each step along the way... making the game an incredible headache. I had hoped I had just bought a dud copy, but the rental I made to compare games was just as bad.

Why is this game like this. Because the people who wrote the code for the game were sloppy and the game was released before a decent, clean bug free code was written for it. Obviously someone wanted to make some quick money and ended up churning out a lousy game.

A shame because this as well as the first version would be very fun to play if you could get anywhere without having to continually restart the xbox.

The graphics are not super magnificent, nor is this game worth the cost. For a game with half as many missions as the first one, you would think they would charge less than almost full cost, like maybe half price for half the game?????

The first game, though crashed alot, though not as much, at least had some character and a good story line. This game is exactly the same thing based in Cuba, trying to stabilize the country after Castro had died. It is hard for this game to keep your interest (especially when you have to keep restarting it).

In summary: what a pity they had to settle for trying to collect fast cash selling this game while still pre-mature and turning out such a dog of a game when they could have made it a really good one with more effort and time.

Rent this- don't waste your money!!!

Best Squad Based Jungle Warfare Game Out There

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

ok first off i would like to say that this is one of my most favorite games for X-box next to Halo. The storyline is the best but what do you expect with it being from Tom Clancy. The graphics though have very much stayed the same but they are still very good. The best quality of this game is its Online capability. you can download new multiplayer maps or play with some of the best Ghosts out there. If you own the first one i strongly suggest you buy this one or even if you don't own the first its a must buy. But Be prepared to spend hours on just strategising where to advance your men. This game is very difficult. Also there is a new feature if you have the X-Box Live pack you can say orders to your men on where to go and where to shoot!!! So what are you waiting for go buy this game.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

More of the same just a different place. Great game to play as good as Halo. A few nice changes from the first buy it...it is cheaper...and have a blast.

Amazing Improvements

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you enjoyed playing Ghost Recon you will find Island Thunder to be an even better game. The new weapons maps are just a small part of the expansion. The graphics have improved dramatically, the game is visually more crisp with more colors (unlike the usual green tint that overshadowed the original Ghost Recon), and the sounds have also improved (both voices and environment).
The environment completely comes alive, the clouds move and darkens the terrain when they cover the sun, the rain and lightning is extremely realistic (both visually and sound), and the terrain offers so many hidding places (great for snipers).
The AI has also improved, making the game that much more challenging (as if the realism of 1 shot kill wasn't challenging enough already).
The new maps are HUGE and extremely detailed. The new weapons are very impressive and accurate.
The multiplayer split screen mode offers a new game type, Defend (those of you who have played Ghost Recon on Xbox Live ought to be familiar with it).
With all these new improvements, this game makes the original Ghost Recon seem like a Nintendo 64 game. I don't see why anyone would go back to playing the original Ghost Recon (for the exception of a particular map that is not on Island Thunder) after playing Island Thunder.

A new Game ?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Having just received the game and having played all the Tom Clancy Rainbow Six, Ghost recon Games before on the PC it was what I expected, this is just my type of game but I was a bit disappointed, having no XBox live function, living in the middle east thats a luxury, I only had the one player mode which I expect leaves out about 50% of the features, I was still disappointed as there were only 18 tasks to complete unlike Ghost Recon original where there were 50. Still I enjoyed playing the game, having to discover all the maps and a few new weapons, the graphics are good and having a surround system juts adds to the effect. I am now busily trying to break out all the specialists, hopefully there will be lots of new weapons and characters there, have only found one new character out of 4 so far. Looking forward to Rainbow 6 (3) for a totally new experience in the Tom Clancy series, hopefully I will have finihsed Island Thunder by the time it is released.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Red Storm did a great job with this game. The weather effects are outstanding and the gameplay is better than the first. It has 8 campaigns and 10 mulitplayer levels. The only con about this game is that the graphics are good until you get up close to an object (like a house). Despite a small shortfalling in graphics, this game has great jungle warfare, and the live play is even better. I would recomend this game to everyone, especially if you have xbox live.

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