Ghost Recon 2 goes into action

Ghost Recon 2 is in development at Red Storm for PC and next-generation consoles and, like its predecessor, focuses on near-future military engagements, players this time in charge of a squad of elite combatants on operations in East Asia.

Previously informed in true hype fashion that the sequel dials up "the intensity and adrenaline to create an experience of total war", we're also promised an emotionally charged storyline, significant engine revamps and joyous multiplayer.

We recently caught up with Red Storm producer Robbie Edwards to find out exactly what's what.

What's the storyline for Ghost Recon 2?

Edwards: The game is set in 2014. North Korea has invaded China, and then the United Nations and China are pushing them back; but the missions happen on the China/North Korea border so you're going back and forth. We have this China pagoda mission which looks really good. It's all set in that Asian area. We've got a lot of cinematic sequences that set the missions up.

We understand that the game will lead on Xbox...?

Edwards: It's being developed primarily for the Xbox, but it's also coming to PC and PS2 [and GameCube]. But it's important to note that it's being developed from a console point of view. Now we're trying to make it the ultimate experience for the Xbox player. And then of course on the PC we'll give that version the same amount of attention as we do on PS2.

Ghost Recon on Xbox was little more than a port, but we want to make it clear to people that Ghost Recon 2 is completely new, we've re-thought everything and tried to make it as good as possible.

Is Ghost Recon 2 more about action then, considering the console lead?

Edwards: Ghost Recon had a lot of tension built into it. Action is a bigger thing in Ghost Recon 2. We trying to make it exciting, make big things happen. We still want to keep some of the tension gameplay we had but we don't want to rely on it anymore - we want to give players a larger variety of things to appreciate.

So what differences can we expect in the PC version, say? Will it be tailored particularly for PC gamers?

Edwards: The missions are the same but the interface will be a little different, the multiplayer will be different. I mean, we've had a lot of experience with PC games and there's no reason to make those people unhappy; so we're going to put the same amount of effort into the PC version that we are the Xbox version.

What can you tell us about the weapons of Ghost Recon 2? Anything a little unusual?

Edwards: We've got lots of futuristic weapons. Not sci-fi, but more next-generation firepower. We've also got weapon swapping now, so you can pick up guns dropped by enemies killed. That's something that the fans have been asking for.

The futuristic weapons we have are like stuff that's at the experimental stage today, and maybe more realistic in the near future. We want realistic, which we have, but we also want to be Tom Clancy-esque, which is that kind of techno-spy-thriller thing so we're trying to add a bit of that along with the modern-day weapons.

There's different viewpoints in the game, right?

Edwards: We have the traditional first-person view from Ghost Recon, which I personally love, but now we also have an over-the-shoulder view. Basically the camera will adjust to your different situation - so if you crouch, for example, you get a slightly different view.

We have characters that are almost double the size in polygons of those in the first game, much higher resolution textures, and we really want to show these characters off and over-the-shoulder view allows us to do that.

There's no first-person gun view. Did you toy around with putting this in the game?

Edwards: That's really how the over-the-shoulder view came about. Originally we were going to put in the first-person weapon, but everybody does that, we wanted something a little different. And there's also the whole asset management thing, like with a first-person weapon view you have to remodel the weapon and create a totally new set of animations, and we have some limitations with the Xbox. With over-the-shoulder, we're able to get everything - you can see the character, you can see the weapon.

Is that something you'll change for the PC version?

Edwards: Well, potentially. Right now there's no real plan to do it, but then it's much easier to do it in the PC version.

Can you tell us about the squad under our command?

Edwards: You have the lead or hero character - his name's undecided at the moment - and he's supported by three squad members that are different classes. You can have, for example, a marksman, a machine gunner.

Do you stick with the same squad throughout the entire game this time?

Edwards: Yes, and you actually play the same character all the way through - there's no more swapping between squad members. That's in the Xbox version and it'll probably be true of the PC version as well. It's just that there are so many things you have to take into account with character swapping, like you have to load more stuff into memory, and it really doesn't add that much. And then there's the fact that you just use the other characters like extra lives anyway.

Any major changes to the user interface?

Edwards: The command menu... You remember the PC version where you brought up a map? Well, we're trying to do that a little easier so what we've got is a point and click style affair. We've got a command system that's context-sensitive, so if you mouse-over or move your cursor over a vehicle or an injured guy or whatever, the command you perform changes depending on that.

And if you press a key or button and hold it down, you get a whole new set of commands - suppressive fire, throw grenades and so on. It's a pretty neat and easy to use system that gives you a lot of commands.

What can you tell us about technology improvements?

Edwards: We've put a lot of work into our graphics. We've got specular mapping normal mapping, super-high detailed stuff. In the PC and Xbox versions of Ghost Recon when you got up close to things they looked kind of muddy, and things are much sharper now. We've got new lighting techniques, dynamic shadows.

We've also added new grass which moves around, when a helicopter flies over it makes the grass blow to the side. It looks really nice - we're proud of our grass. It's important to have good grass.

We're using the Havok physics engine as well, so for example when the blow a helicopter out of the air all the debris will fall to the ground and bounce around and look really cool. Towers can get blown up and brought crashing to the ground. We think it looks really nice.

Are we going to be able to drive/fly vehicles?

Edwards: Vehicles will play a big role in the game - tanks, helicopters etc., all this stuff you have to fight against. There aren't vehicles you can get in and drive around in, but there are situations where you can get vehicles to help you out - calling a helicopter in to help take out some enemies or have planes come in and blow stuff up. But as far as flying one of these? Nah, you're an infantry guy, you don't need to fly.

How about the RPG-style skill development from the original - is that in the sequel?

Edwards: Yep, that's still here. The characters have skills; they have different weapons. They get better with these weapons as they advance.

Ghost Recon was pretty much all AI. This time we're doing a lot more scripted stuff. This is allowing us to be far more emotion into this game than in the original. Whereas I might call Ghost Recon more of a sandbox type of game where players were left to figure everything out, the sequel is more fine-tuned for the player experience. There are bottlenecks in place to ensure that the players see the things we want them to see.

Is the Xbox headset used in the single-player game?

Edwards: Yep, and it's cool too. You can verbally give commands to your squad, and they speak to you through the headset, so you'll have the game sound coming through the TV speakers or whatever, and squad communication coming through the earpiece. It's awesome.

How about Xbox Live support?

Edwards: Xbox Live - that was like our bread and butter when it came to Ghost Recon. Of course, we're going to do everything we can. I've told people I want us to be the standard for Xbox Live. If developers are thinking about Xbox Live support, we want them to say "Hey, let's do like they did in Ghost Recon 2". That's what we're aiming for.

We're using all the latest Xbox Live 3.0 stuff, voice communication is in there, competitions and tournament type stuff - we want to make it easy for people to find games and play with people they know. We're aiming to be one of the industry leaders when it comes to Xbox Live.

Ghost Recon 2 is currently expected in Q3 2004 on Xbox and Q4 2004 and on PC, PS2 and GameCube.

Stuart Bishop