Quick Jump Daily Digest

Thank you for your interest in the Quick Jump Daily Digest. Get notified of all new content on QJ in our free Daily Digest. To subscribe, enter your email address below and click the subscribe button.

Cancel and Return to page

How real is Ghost Recon tech?

Posted Apr 22, 2007 at 12:50PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, PC Gaming Tags: gaming accessories, GPS, GRAW, Popular Mechanics

The real vs. the surreal: how Land Warrior stacks up to Ghost Recon - Image 1

Popular Mechanics asks that question: how does the technology used by Capt. Mitchell and his Ghosts stack up to that used by the Army today?

Okay, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is a (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, PSP) game, so there are compromises made so that it can be played by someone who hasn't gone through boot camp or Ranger School or its equivalents. Still, with the Tom Clancy prefix as a hallmark for researched (and at least plausible) realism, PopMech wanted the comparison.

The closest equivalent and real-world inspiration to CrossCom 2.0 and the rest of the Ghosts' combat system is the US Army Land Warrior System, a similar integration of high tech and hot lead. Of course, the plausible-fictional tech of 2013 is most certainly a (fictional) step forward from the still-being-evaluated tech of 2007, but there are drawbacks that bite into their tactical utility. For example:

While CrossCom's ability to keep track of friendly assets is real-time, Land Warrior's equivalent GPS tracking was found to have a lag time "of at least a minute." It's better used as a strategic tool to help in the deployment of large forces in conventional warfare, than at the squad-level urban combat as in GRAW2.
Land Warrior literally is a load on a grunt's shoulders: that plus the soldier's basic load equals eighty pounds to heft - and it affects his movement. Ghost tech certainly didn't feel that heavy to Capt. Mitchell.
PopMech suggests it's going to take a massive leap in real-world AI for a computer to tell the difference between a neutral and a bad guy, and superimpose a red "Shoot Me" diamond on the bad guy, as it's done in GRAW2.

To be fair - and not fair as in "the tech will get smaller and lighter, the AI will become smarter" that PopMech used - GRAW was deigned to be playable, so even if it draws its inspiration from real-world equivalents like Land Warrior, because it's still a game, accessibility and fun factor are still priorities over "unflinching realism". On the other hand, PopMech's suggestion that

it's time for a game where military planners make mistakes, high-tech gear falls short in the field, and warfare feels as visceral, as uncertain and as terrifying as it always has been

might not be too bad either. The high-tech really is ultimately meant to make the soldier's job easier (or at least more survivable). It would be interesting (if not pants-wetting harrowing) to see a GRAW where the tech ultimately fails you in the middle of a firefight.

This story sucks? This story rocks!

Vote Now!

(0)

(0)

* Halo 3 will be humiliated first then trampled by Lair (cinema quality motion), Ratchet & Clank (Walt Disney meets Pixar), Warhawk (next-gen Unreal Tournament 3), Heavenly Word (next-gen God of War 3) and Killzone 2 (next-gen Half-Life 3). All these will be released in Jul to Sep. 2007.

* Halo 3 is NOT made from scratch. Halo 3 is an updated version of Halo 2 which was out in 2004 by using Renderware engine (confirmed fact; Bungie chose this method to save huge amount of development time and budget); therefore, Halo 3 is NOT a true next-gen title. Halo 3 can’t even use X360 console’s most power. Renderware is far inferior to other advanced engines such as, Source, Unreal, CryEngine, etc.

* This is why Crapalo (Halo) 3 looks like Halo 2.5 in terms of graphics and gameplay (NO breakable buildings or vegetation, NO deformable objects, NO soft shadows, NO facial-animation, NO depth-of-field, NO motion blur, etc). This new Halo 3 alpha footage looks crappy. There're alpha footages of Gears of War and Resistance available online, unless you are blind, you must realize the fact that alpha builds are 90% same as the final versions.

* Halo 3's world is as shinny (bright, flashy with HDR lighting effects) as the one in Perfect Dark Zero. PDZ was the best looking game when it was released in 2005. PDZ and Kameo were made by Rare which is a subsidiary of Microsoft Game Studios (MGS, not the Metal Gear Solid). MGS also owns FASA (which makes Shadowrun) and Bugie (Halo 3). All these companies share all kinds of technologies (DirectX based) which are used to make X360 games. This is the biggest reason why Shadowcrap, Perfect Dark Crap, Kameo and Halo 3 have extremely similar graphical quality (artistic design).

* Bungie's officially announced in Nov. 2006 that Gears of War has too much superior graphics to Halo 3's final (retail) version (GameSpot’s editor asked “What game has better graphics, GoW or Halo 3?). If you know the definition of ‘paraphrasing’, above statement means “Halo 3 will look very much inferior to GoW in the graphics department.

* Killzone 2 is built from scratch (true next-gen); therefore, KZ2 can use most potential power of PS3 hardware. Guerrilla which is a subsidiary of Sony has 120 employees (programmers and graphics designers). The total budget for KZ2 is $21 million (for your reference, Epic spent $10 m to make Gears of War with 90 devs).

* All Sony’s internal developers and Sony’s very close world class companies share all kinds of technologies which are used for making PS3 games (OpenGL based). These top developers are those companies which make games like: MotorStorm, Metal Gear Solid 4, Warhawk, Ratchet & Clank, Virtua Fighter 5, Resistance, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, White Knight Story, Tekken 6, Heavenly Sword, Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII & versus XIII (FF7-Advent Children was awarded as the best CG movie of all time), Lair, Uncharted-Drake's Fortune, Eight Days, Getaway, God of War 3, Jak and Daxter, Heavy Rain, Afrika, Home, LittleBigPlanet , Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realm and of course Killzone 2.

* Polyphony’s Gran Turismo 4 on PS2 is world's most popular racing game in the entire gaming history based on the number of copies sold. GT HD (4.5) demo was released in 2006; all game reviewers were surprised that GT HD was just good (80/100) when they expected that this new GT must get review scores of 98/100 just like all of its predecessors. After this shock, Polyphony officially confirmed GH HD was an upgraded version of PS2's GT 4; that's why it looks just good. Polyphony later announced that they totally scraped the whole GT HD project and working on GT 5 entirely from scratch. Bungie must take a leaf out of Polyphony’s book; Bungie should scrap Halo 3 then make it from scratch then release it in 2010.

# AMEN!! — Guest 2007-04-22 15:24

Yeah, nuff said! What this has to do with the article, I dont know.

# have they actually played GRAW? — Guest 2007-04-22 15:34

there are times in both GRAW and GRAW 2 where the tech fails. how can they say that they should try making a game were your tech fails, when the game they are talking about has that feature?

idiots/hypocrites who haven't played the game that they are criticizing. (unless they just played the training mission, but still)

Refresh comments list

Add comment

JComments

HOT GAMING NEWS | LATEST GAMING SEARCHES | FORUMS

QUICK JUMP DAILY DIGEST

Welcome to QJ.Net!

If you want your comments to go live without waiting for moderation, you need to be logged in. Being logged in has its benefits:

Logged in members do not wait for their comments to be approved.
Logged in members can create Profiles to be seen by other users.

So why wait? Create an account or login now! It's easy, quick, and free.

To get started, use the LOGIN boxes, or the REGISTER link below!

Want to learn more about the team who brings you the QJ news?

Read about them now!

HOT FLASH GAMES

QJ.NET Categories
• Apple • E3 • Featured Articles • Gadgets • Games for Windows • iPad • iPhone • MMORPG • Mobile • News • Nintendo 3DS • Nintendo DS • Opinions & Analysis	• Photography • PlayStation 3 • PoV • PS Vita • PSP • Rumors • Science • Site News • Tabula Rasa • Wii • Wii U • World of Warcraft • Xbox 360

Sitemap

Newest Downloads

05/22/2012 - 05/28/2012

RGLoader 0v290 Beta	05/27/2012
WiiMod 3.2	05/27/2012
WiiMC v1.2.7	05/25/2012
True Blue Firmeware v2.7	05/24/2012
3DS Video Converter v2.3	05/24/2012
Mobile Assault 1.8.2	05/24/2012
PSP Tools Alpha 0.1	05/22/2012
Newton War	05/22/2012
DaedalusX64 r766	05/22/2012
PSPMarble	05/22/2012
The Undead 4 - Nazi Zombies	05/21/2012
3DSExplorer v1.2.1	05/21/2012
J-Runner v0.2 Beta 275	05/19/2012
Priiloader 0.8 Beta 3	05/19/2012
Quake Rev PAK release 4	05/19/2012

Most Comments this Month
Sound Off: On Game Expirat..	(57)
EA Blames iOS Rock Band Ex..	(28)
Say Goodbye to the Xbox 36..	(27)
Flash0 Contents Of Vita's..	(27)
Sony Had a Rough Year; Vit..	(26)
PlayStation 3: Now Featuri..	(22)
Sound Off: Toughest Game C..	(20)
Apparently You Can Pre-Ord..	(19)
Love It or Hate It, It's A..	(16)
Pre-Order Generic Shooter..	(15)
You've Been Up in Arms Abo..	(15)
Get Off Xbox Live, You Ped..	(14)
This is Next Gen?	(14)
Metal Gear Solid For Vita..	(14)
PoV: Paid MMOs are Dead	(14)
PoV: This Collectors Editi..	(14)
Stop Your Whining, Start C..	(13)
PoV: You Are Wrong about C..	(13)
Does Microsoft Ever Have a..	(12)
Operation Raccoon City Pro..	(12)
Diablo III Getting Mauled..	(12)
Pokemon Liquid Crystal! K..	(12)
OK, So Maybe Microsoft Can..	(12)
Blizzard is Really Sorry a..	(11)
Update: EA Drops Free BF3..	(11)

Top Jumps this Month
Naruto Shippuden: Ul..	(156)
neur0n Knocks Out An..	(96)
Bust Out Your PSP Fo..	(85)
Pokemon Liquid Cryst..	(84)
PSP homebrew - LameC..	(63)
PSP Comics Reader v2..	(50)
Wii homebrew - WAD M..	(49)
PSP Homebrew: 6.xx P..	(42)
PSP Homebrew - PSPDi..	(40)
Hellcat Working On R..	(39)
PSP homebrew - DSonP..	(38)
neur0n Gives You Mor..	(36)
PSP GBA v1.2: Gamebo..	(33)
Sound Off: On Game E..	(31)
Latest Left 4 Dead 2..	(30)
GTA IV patch 1.0.6.0..	(29)
Another CFW Goodie F..	(28)
Download full Sid Me..	(28)
Sound Off: Should Ap..	(27)
Soywiz Releases PSP..	(26)
Homebrew - PSP/PS3 P..	(23)
Metal Gear Solid For..	(20)
PSP homebrew - Mario..	(20)
DS homebrew game - S..	(20)
Brian Lara Internati..	(20)

HOT GAMING NEWS TOPICS

Quick Jump Daily Digest

How real is Ghost Recon tech?

Related Stories:

Comments

Add comment

Newest Downloads