Ghost Recon Wildlands Preview - E3 2016

Ghost Recon Wildlands was first revealed during last year's Ubisoft E3 press conference, where it blew our minds, according to Aisha Tyler. While it was definitely intriguing, the debut trailer and gameplay didn't provide all of the details we had hoped for. But this year, with a slew of new information and a release date announced, we got to see a lot more of the game, and also play through a cooperative mission with a full squad of four players.

Before deploying on the mission, we catch a glimpse of the open world. This is indeed a large, open landmass set in Bolivia with a variety of environments as well as different areas, seemingly controlled by a main criminal organization. Players will need to complete missions to rid the regions of organized crime until the main bad guy of each region is exposed and can be eliminated. Travelling between the various missions and destinations can be accomplished by any of the plentifully available vehicles – from helicopters to bikes and jeeps. Hijack them from the enemy, or simply force civilians to get out, it is up to you.

We begin our mission together with 3 other teammates and take a moment to get familiar with the controls. This proves to be incredibly easy, as the game uses exactly the same layout as The Division – a primary weapon, a secondary long range weapon, and a pistol. Tapping on Y switches between them, and double-tapping brings out your sidearm. The aiming and shooting is just as satisfying and precise, as well. Feeling ready, we make our way down to a tiny group of houses, where we must locate and apprehend a target for interrogation. Our squad leader, a member of the development team, repeatedly reminds us that we must capture the target alive to get the info. Sadly it comes as no surprise that as soon as the bullets start flying, my teammate shoots and kills the target. Thankfully the developers are familiar with the varied skill levels of E3 attendees and we can still proceed with the mission despite not having the required information. We know that some key intel is located in a nearby outpost, and grab a conveniently placed helicopter to fly over there.

Once close to the outpost, we bail out, enjoying some freefalling before pulling the parachute and sticking the landing. The squad leader suggests we regroup on some natural landmark, and we use nearby smoking ruins as our guide. From here, we split into two teams of two. Myself and another player will head into the village for a more direct assault, while the squad leader and our trigger-happy target-killing colleague will find a higher position for optimal range and sniping. While they do so, me and my squadmate approach the village and deploy our drones. Flying around is easy, and any targets we focus on for a moment become marked. It's during this time we notice a variety of infiltration opportunities – a power generator can be disrupted, there are explosive barrels everywhere, gaps in the perimeter walls, and so on.

We choose to head for a gap in the perimeter to make our entrance. Before we do so, we eliminate some nearby enemies from range, manually choosing our targets and taking them out via a countdown, as seen in the gameplay trailers. This seems to work, and it's nice for Ubisoft to offer this sort of manual stealth that's viable but also challenging – there are no automatic synchronized kills as in Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Making our way into the base, we suddenly get spotted since we were not trying to be too careful, and a firefight breaks out. On a nearby hill, our other two teammates begin offering fire support, while we engage in close quarter combat on the ground. It's fun, somewhat frantic but still feels precise and almost tactical.

The enemy have called for reinforcements, and a helicopter soon hovers overhead, raining down machinegun fire. The squad leader notes that it's possible to individually eliminate the pilot or the gunner of the chopper with some precise shots; however me and my teammate can't get a good angle from the ground and continue to focus on the firefight at hand, making our way to the location of the intel. Eventually it is located and we download the information, and it's time to make our escape. The other half of our squad has made it down from their lookout position and they brought with them a truck, so we all jump in and make it out of the area safely. Just to be safe, we lean out of the windows and take shots as any potential pursuers.

It's becoming clear that Ubisoft has began to move on and evolve from its days of open-world design based on Assassin's Creed and Far Cry. We're now into the era of open worlds such as The Division, Watch Dogs, and now Wildlands. These worlds offer plenty of interesting gameplay, tight controls and involving mechanics, and less collect-a-thons. We had an absolutely great time seeing and, more importantly, a great time playing Ghost Recon Wildlands at E3 2016. Look for this third person shooter to arrive in stores on PC, Xbox One and PS4 in March 2017.