Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier

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In Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier, players lead a team of Ghosts, an elite unit of the U.S. military, in a variety of missions around the world. The game features futuristic weapons and technology, and allows for both solo and cooperative play. The campaign mode takes players through a story of international power struggles and technological warfare.

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Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier screenshot

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 4,352 reviews

story318 positive mentions

optimization64 negative mentions

Solid tactical cover shooter with good gunplay and stealth mechanics.
In-depth weapon customization that enhances gameplay experience.
Well-voiced and likeable squadmates that add to the campaign's charm.

Frequent crashes and performance issues, making the game frustrating to play.
Multiplayer and co-op modes are non-functional due to server shutdowns.
Linear mission design with forced stealth sections that can feel tedious.

story
1,312 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
68%
7%
The story of "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" is generally viewed as linear and somewhat clichéd, often revolving around familiar themes of American forces combating Russian adversaries. While some players appreciate the engaging cutscenes and the action-packed narrative, many criticize it for being forgettable and lacking depth, with character development and plot twists that fail to leave a lasting impression. Overall, the game is seen as more focused on gameplay mechanics and mission variety than on delivering a compelling story.
- “The narrative of 'Ghost Recon: Future Soldier' is engaging and well-written, with a story that revolves around an elite team facing a global threat.”
- “The plot is presented through cutscenes and dialogues that help build the context and motivation behind the missions, adding depth to the gameplay experience.”
- “This is one of the best games I have ever played with very fun gameplay and an entertaining story.”
- “The gameplay is dumbed down in favour of a more story-centric playthrough, which is a shame since the story isn't much better than the ones in the games preceding this game - just more cinematic.”
- “The story is almost non-existent and cliched (it's evil Russians again, 4 guys save the world from a third world war, American soldiers can just make a shooting in one of the Russian cities, fly away on a Blackhawk and there will be no repercussions), characters are boring and forgettable.”
- “This has the most generic military story straight from the COD craze, no memorable characters, no interesting cutscenes or even a proper narrative.”
gameplay
732 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
59%
4%
The gameplay of "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" is characterized by a mix of tactical and action elements, featuring mechanics like the sync-shot and extensive weapon customization that enhance the experience. While many players appreciate the engaging combat and cooperative gameplay, some criticize the linear mission design and lack of depth compared to earlier titles in the series, leading to a perception of it being a more simplified cover shooter. Overall, the game offers a fun and visually appealing experience, though it may not satisfy those seeking the hardcore tactical gameplay of its predecessors.
- “The gameplay mechanics are centered around planning and coordination, offering a depth that challenges players to think carefully about their actions.”
- “With its tactical gameplay, futuristic technology, diverse level design, and cooperative and multiplayer modes, the game provides a rich and satisfying experience for fans of the genre.”
- “The gameplay and tactical depth were on point, making every mission feel both challenging and rewarding at the same time.”
- “The gameplay is dumbed down in favor of a more story-centric playthrough, which is a shame since the story isn't much better than the ones in the games preceding this game - just more cinematic.”
- “Instead of strategic gameplay, we got mindless, repetitive missions in a sea of empty space.”
- “The gameplay is full of unrealistic gimmicks and annoying gameplay restrictions (most apparent in the enforced stealth sections).”
graphics
502 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
46%
11%
The graphics of "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" receive mixed reviews, with some players praising its art direction and visual effects as still impressive for a game released in 2012, while others criticize the dated textures and inconsistent quality, particularly in cutscenes. Many users note that while the game can look good on high settings, it suffers from optimization issues and graphical glitches, making it challenging to run smoothly on modern hardware. Overall, the visuals are seen as decent for their time, but not up to par with contemporary standards.
- “Awesome futuristic/modern art direction and visuals.”
- “It's beautiful, still holds up amazing in 2024 on high graphics.”
- “The graphics are excellent and the gameplay is really interesting.”
- “It's unplayable at default graphics settings which are meant for a typical PC in 2012... anti-aliasing is a yes/no question, the default resolution is 1200x900, cursor is accelerated, etc. the usual shenanigans that PC gamers hate.”
- “The graphics here remind me of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Double Agent but those came out in the 2000s! I don't know how on earth Ubisoft managed to release a game with almost PS2-era graphics in 2013.”
- “The graphics and textures are inconsistent and the cutscenes are pretty laughable.”
optimization
188 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
50%
34%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with many users reporting significant performance issues, including frame rate drops, crashes, and instability, particularly on PC. While some players managed to improve performance through various tweaks or by playing offline, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized, especially for modern systems, leading to a frustrating experience for many. Despite a few positive remarks about graphics and gameplay, the overwhelming feedback highlights a lack of proper optimization, making it difficult to recommend for players with lower-end hardware.
- “The one good thing I'll point out is the phenomenal optimization, seeing as this is a Ubisoft game that came out during the peak of console gaming.”
- “Bottom line, it entertains, runs very well on my aging machine (C2D [email protected] GHz; 8 GB RAM; Radeon HD6870) allowing a nice balance between good graphics settings (medium-high) at acceptable performance (~40 fps).”
- “As far as performance is concerned, on any even semi-modern computer you will get decent frame rates at 1080p.”
- “Very poor PC port, lots of performance issues and crashing.”
- “I can't stress enough how poorly optimized this game is on PC.”
- “The optimization is downright terrible; in the first mission, you have a very smooth and solid framerate just to have it drop to 20-25 later in the game.”
stability
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
95%
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of freezing, crashes, and various bugs that significantly hinder gameplay, particularly in multiplayer and co-op modes. While some players experience occasional smooth performance, the overall consensus is that the game feels unpolished and unfinished, leading to frustration among users. Many reviewers express disappointment in the game's technical issues, which persist despite attempts to troubleshoot or optimize performance.
- “Runs great most of the time; sometimes the FPS drops a little, but it is not that often.”
- “Oh, it runs great on my 2-year-old laptop; the 970m Nvidia card holds up great.”
- “Unplayable, I've tried many of the workarounds the community and Reddit had to offer and could not play this game; you get 1-60fps but it freezes every 1-30 seconds for 10-60 seconds.”
- “I have tried everything to start it and it won't start; it freezes my screen when it launches. Disappointing that I cannot refund either after the period has passed and have yet to even get the game to open.”
- “Another buggy mess from Ubisoft... it has potential, but like most Ubisoft games these days, it feels unpolished, unfinished, and a bit of a chore to play.”
music
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
39%
8%
The music in "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" receives mixed reviews; while some praise the engaging soundtrack that enhances the military atmosphere and action, others find it forgettable or only occasionally impactful. Notably, the inclusion of a Pantera song and the overall sound design, including voice acting and weapon sounds, contribute positively to the game's experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered decent, with moments of brilliance that elevate gameplay.
- “The music is composed to intensify the action and create a sense of urgency during missions.”
- “Probably the best soundtrack and mission names in a military shooter.”
- “Storywise there is not much to expect these days from modern war shooters, but the action is consistent and is supported by one of the best soundtracks.”
- “The music was very forgettable.”
- “While the music was meh - thanks for something I guess.”
- “The soundtrack of this game is simply decent for the most part, but on occasion, and by occasion I mean about one time in the entire game, it can make something the most amazing thing you've ever experienced.”
atmosphere
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
28%
9%
The atmosphere in "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" is highly praised for its engaging soundtrack and dynamic squad communication, which enhance the military experience during both stealth and combat. Players appreciate the immersive environmental sound effects and art direction, contributing to a visually stunning and atmospheric gameplay experience, despite some criticisms regarding sound loops and technical issues. Overall, the game successfully creates a compelling atmosphere that keeps players engaged, although some feel it lacks a deeper narrative.
- “Your squad's comm chatter is dynamic, dense, and adds a lot of flavor and atmosphere to both stealth and combat as they actively call out target locations and actions or encourage each other in the heat of battle.”
- “As atmospheric as it is beautiful, the environments never drag and the art direction is so immaculate it keeps you staring every time the combat loop ends.”
- “All this and fitting environmental sound effects lead to an atmospheric experience.”
- “It is a bad console port with bugs and boring lag that occurs even playing in single player, and the most important thing is that the game has no addictive atmosphere and story.”
- “The atmosphere feels lacking and fails to engage the player, making it hard to immerse in the game world.”
- “While the sound design and combat atmosphere are solid, the overall atmosphere does not create a compelling experience.”
replayability
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it massively replayable due to enjoyable gameplay and in-game challenges, others note that the linear levels and generic single-player campaign limit replay value. The absence of achievements further restricts motivation for replay, making it largely dependent on personal enjoyment rather than structured incentives.
- “Fun game, massively replayable.”
- “It really added to the replay value for me.”
- “If you don't care about multiplayer at all, sure, if the game is on sale... other than the challenges to unlock different weapons and attachments for the campaign, replay value is limited if you ask me because the levels are rather linear with little freedom to actually tackle things differently.”
- “The single-player campaign is relatively generic and there isn't much story or characterization to speak of, but it nonetheless makes good use of the game's established mechanics, and provides enough content and challenges to give players a decent experience, and still have a degree of replayability.”
- “Also has some replayability since there are some challenges which are not that easy to achieve.”
humor
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of absurdity and camaraderie among characters, with players finding amusement in AI mishaps and quirky dialogue. While some moments, like a bizarre cutscene, stand out as particularly funny, the overall comedic tone is often overshadowed by the game's flaws, leading to laughter at its expense. Fans of tactical shooters with a dark sense of humor may appreciate the lighthearted quips and character interactions, making for a memorable experience despite its shortcomings.
- “The camaraderie among the 'ghosts' and the sprinkles of humor make the game experience unforgettable.”
- “Future Soldier is a super fun 80's action movie futuristic third-person tactical shooter with a very tight story, and just enough humor thrown in to keep your eyes from glazing over from the on-screen explosions.”
- “Save the president, travel to exotic locales, shoot nasty peeps, and occasionally interact with other NPCs (some of the quips between the team and sailors are quite funny, as well as the reference to the Air Force in another).”
emotional
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized for its boring storyline and unconvincing dialogue, which detracts from potential emotional engagement. While some players find the game visually stunning and enjoyable, many feel that the lack of compelling characters leads to minimal emotional investment. Overall, the game is seen as a missed opportunity to evoke deeper emotional responses.
- “An incredibly fun, visually stunning and emotionally engrossing game.”
- “Great game, made me feel like a special ops person.”
- “It’s therefore a shame Future Soldier falls short in other areas; faces look waxy and the dialogue unconvincing, so the few scenes designed to provoke an emotional response don’t really click.”
- “However, it has a really boring storyline, so yeah, I kind of bought it because of its franchise and to see for myself if Ubisoft's game is actually trash.”
grinding
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
15%
80%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, often requiring a significant time investment (over 150 hours) to unlock everything, compounded by unskippable mid-mission briefings and restrictive gameplay mechanics. While the game offers varied approaches to missions, the repetitive nature and forced mini-missions can detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Combined with the unskippable mid-mission briefings, this gets pretty tedious.”
- “Spent 150+ hours unlocking everything and grinding for everything?”
- “Overall this makes the gameplay entertaining and allows for different approaches to missions, but the restrictions do become tedious at times.”
monetization
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn criticism for being perceived as a cash grab, particularly from Ubisoft, with players feeling misled by advertising promises of co-op features and customization options. While some mechanics are praised, the overall sentiment suggests that the game falls short of expectations, lacking depth and quality in its offerings.
- “This was the time when Ubisoft made actual quality games and not just cash grabs.”
- “Cash grab by Ubisoft.”
- “On-rails shooting galleries that take place on foot, an entirely forgettable cast and story, and one of the least customizable (despite advertising) loadout systems in a Clancy game makes this shooter a no-go.”
character development
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
Character development in the game is largely criticized for being shallow and unconvincing, with many players finding the dialogue and voice acting lacking emotional impact. The characters are described as clichéd and forgettable, with little backstory or growth, leading to a disconnection from the narrative. Despite some initial promise in cinematics and design, the overall execution leaves players indifferent to the characters' fates.
- “So when I started this game, I thought, man, that's a really nice start. They have character development, nice cinematics, views, scripts, and a really coordinated partner AI.”
- “Many of the environments are just brown and boring blends of sand and dirt, but character design looks pretty good and the core combat animation is hefty and satisfying.”
- “Character development isn’t all that great since the dialogue and voice acting aren’t all that convincing, there are moments which were meant to evoke emotions from the player but it just doesn’t cut it.”
- “The story is, eh, character development is nonexistent and the characters themselves are very cliché.”
- “Unoptimized as hell, you will lag, and you will see the yeti (aka engine crash error). The story is short and not developed; I only figured out my character's name and who he was in the cutscenes halfway through the game. There is little to no character development, so you won't care much about the guy who is supposed to have your back.”
- “The story is short and not developed, and there is little to no character development, so you won't care much about the guy who is supposed to have your back.”