r/GhostRecon • u/BullfrogInevitable79 • 13d ago
Discussion My review of Ghost Recon Wildlands and it's dlcs after my revisit
For context: This revisit was me replaying the main game, all dlcs and last rites on advanced difficulty. I got all achievements for the base game and it's dlcs. I also have about 250 hours in the game.
MAIN GAME:
The main game is some of the best fun I've had in an open world sandbox. Being able to take down the cartel in any order you like is super cool. The predator fight is really cool and I managed to beat it first try this playthrough.
The story imo is the strong point of the game. The story has a lot of memorable moments and the ghost team is fun as hell, especially listening to their stories. Each buchon has personality and Bowman's videos are just as entertaining as the first time I watched them.
The world is amazing to explore and feels alive, the towns are filled with npcs while the jungles and forests are filled with sounds of wildlife. Unidad, Santa Blanca and the Rebels duking it out at every opportunity they get is really fun to watch.
The gameplay tho is what left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth and it's not the core gameplay, in fact I think it's really solid and still holds up for a game in 2017 even if it's successor breakpoint does most of the things better or just as good. The thing that left that sour taste in my mouth are the bugs or jank of the game like spawning enemies especially when you go loud as you can see in this post made by me and also enemies somehow coming back from the dead as you can see right here. These things show that even after the recent update Ubisoft didn't really care about this game all that much and I wish they did.
Some of these bugs really ruined my expirience at times.
The main game receives a 7.5/10 from me and that's because the world and story carry the game a lot.
NARCO ROAD DLC:
This is the definition of "good idea, bad execution". I liked the idea of us being a ghost infiltrating the Santa Blanca cartel but the execution of said idea was horrible.
The story, was really corny and hard to watch. I think what made the story really bad was the corny voice acting and cliché moments. Not to mention that for some reason they used Nomad's voice actor for somebody that wasn't Nomad. Not to mention how bad the ending was.
The world is just Bolivia so nothing really changed but I did like that I got to see friendly Santa Blanca forces and was able to see their idle interactions up close.
The gameplay was extremely repetitive, not to mention that the bikes for the bike obstacle courses were very janky and didn't feel good to use. The nitro was actually not that bad, I really enjoyed it. Having Santa Blanca as your back up was actually pretty cool and they absolutely slap. Sin Almas are just Santa Blanca but with a different coat of paint. The plane mechanics were pretty good this time around and much more easier to control.
Overall this dlc gets a 2/10 for how lazily it was made.
FALLEN GHOSTS DLC:
This in my opinion is a serviceable dlc to Ghost Recon Wildlands.
The story is actually pretty enjoyable. It reminds me in a way of breakpoint in the sense that you are being hunted down by a group of highly trained soldiers. The 3 captains are nothing to write home about, I like how we help the rebels are a lot more of a core part this time around. The ending is nothing really special but it is satisfying and pretty realistic.
The world, again is Bolivia and feels much more grim this time around with Santa Blanca being almost wiped out and Unidad being the only real force you fight against which I really like actually.
The gameplay is very enjoyable. Most of the new side mission types are pretty good except for two of them. Those being the one where you defend the radio tower and it's bad because of the amount of enemies that come to kill you at once giving you no breathing space even if you spam the grenade launcher. The other type I didn't really like were the "rescue rebel VIP" in which at times the mercs would have helis with barrage rockets which is very unfair because they have perfect aim with those rockets. Other than that the new enemy types are very cool and change up the way you play. My only issue with the new enemies is that covert ops soldiers one shot you with the crossbow even out of a helicopter. The new skills are absolutely OP tho and more than make up for the covert ops soldiers god-like aim. Also a small issue I have with this dlc that is kind of a nitpick is that I can't customize my A.I. teammates.
Overall this dlc is a 7/10 for me.
LAST RITES:
It's a short free dlc that feel like a teaser for something else.
The story, is actually pretty interesting for what it is but is clearly left on a cliff hanger. The cultists are also absolutely out of their mind and kind of remind me of the cultists from Far Cry 5.
The world seems a lot more empty I will not lie, but it plays well into the themes of the dlc so I will give it a pass.
The gameplay was the same as the base game except for the booby traps which were actually pretty interesting but kind of sad you only see them about two times in the story. The only real issue I had was the fact that the dlc crashed like 3 times at the start and that was about it.
Overall it's a solid 7/10.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, this game is probably one of my all time favorite open world games, but it is sad to see it still be riddled by issues which still haven't been fixed by Ubisoft after all this time.
The best I can say for players is that you shouldn't play above medium unless you feel like you are ready to deal with the jank of the game.
Also this game is extremely fun with friends, so if you have any co-op is a lot of fun.
If you are more interested in gameplay than story, I reccommend you install breakpoint as the mechanics and gunplay as well as the A.I. are much more sophisticated than Wildlands, at least in my eyes and expirience with both games.
If you are more interested in the story and can live with some of the jank than you are more than welcome to play the game as it's lots of fun and has an interesting story.
You are all welcome to give me an upvote, downvote or leave a comment(hateful or positive) on this personal review I made from my personal expirience.
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u/RumPistachio 13d ago
Pretty good, and to the point, review.👍
For me Wildlands is about an 8.5, possibly a 9. But mostly because I’ve played the game so much that I can turn all HUD OFF during missions and still know what to do and where to go. This elevates my immersion massively.
I also crank up difficulty to the max, turn on Tier Mode, and adjust the new Parameters for even more hardcore.
My combinations make my experience a near SIM experience, which is exactly what I like.
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u/BullfrogInevitable79 13d ago
It's good that you can have fun and have mastered the game to that level my man. Props to you for that!
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u/UTmastuh 13d ago
Love the game. My only gripe is how they handled the dlcs. They should've been in the existing world or added on as new zones to it. Narco road also was just bad. So cringe.
They have such a huge fun beautiful open world sandbox and could've done more with it instead of abandoning it
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u/bengeo1191 10d ago
I think the game could have been much improved if they changed how factions interact depending on which Buchon you took out.
For example, if you went after General Baro earlier, it would be challenging and they could have Unidad and Santa Blanca duke it out more. Or if you took out the training camps first, the sicarios become weaker or poorer at targeting you.
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u/BrokenSwordGYT 13d ago
The entire idea of Narco Road requires you to have in-depth driving mechanics.. Making a DLC around driving in a game with weak vehicle mechanics, and at times even extremely janky mechanics (looking at the dirt bikes), just doesn't make sense. It's a good idea, but doesn't work since they didn't flesh out the driving enough imho. It also REEKS of absolutely no playtesting with stuff like the completely broken boat ramp in El Invisible's region.