TSA’s Top 100 of 2011 – #56 Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

One of the many hazards of comprising a future game list is the real chance of falling victim to the inevitable release date slippage. The accolode of “First game in our Top 100 of 2011 potentially not actually releasing in 2011” goes to Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Don’t expect this title to own this particular honour all by itself, as there’s every chance other titles on this list will get unceremoniously punted into 2012 along with it.

Now pegged for an FY2012 release (which is April 2011 to March 2012 in case you were wondering. Accountants are weird.) Future Soldier – originally named Predator, which is still the name of a PSP version – is getting more time to spit-polish those future-boots and get the team’s co-ordination super-tight. Which has to be viewed as a positive. After all, as a series, the squad is hardly known for their (admittedly artificial) intelligence. “Lieutenant, have you checked that door? Lieutenant! Why are you running into the killzone screaming ‘Get some, Geronimo!?'”

The Ghost Recon series has been something of a boon enterprise for Ubisoft. Despite the aforementioned dodgy AI, the three main titles in the series have hovered around the respectable 80-90 mark on Metacritic. It’s also prudent to mention that the first Ghost Recon won IGN’s 2001 Game of the Year award. So there.

In a globe-trotting adventure of high-stakes and higher-end technology, Future Soldier sees the Ghosts deployed to Norway, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. Ultra-nationalists (our favourite type of clown) have taken control of Russia and are now invading neighbouring countries. If that sounds outlandish, how does the international community respond to this display of aggression? They send in four chaps with names like Kozak (the commando), Pepper (he likes to watch), 30K who, handily, is a reconnaissance expert, and an engineer named Bones. The game will also feature “optical camouflage” and the ability to control drones.

We’ve always got time for technology-drenched, testosterone-fuelled soldiers running around talking about tangos and then shooting them. With the game’s second official release date move, we’re hoping Ubisoft are approaching the title from a “This is great, but if we only had more time, this would be awesome!” perspective and not the opposite. Which is more like the dreaded “Oh no, this is bad. Quick, throw more particle effects on the screen and hope people won’t notice,” shtick.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is due on PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP (and probably also the 3DO at this rate) maybe in 2011.