GRAW 2 is an old, yet solid, tactical shooter from Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon universe. Taking on the role of Captain Scot Mitchell, you lead a team of 3 Ghosts through a variety of missions in a bid to stop Latin American rebels detonating a nuclear device on US soil.

Having not played the first GRAW, my initial impression went along the lines of 'Oh hey, this is like Rainbow Six Vegas, just with more outdoors!' While I soon realised this wasn't fully true, it will give you some idea as to how the game plays. You have the option of viewing the action in 3rd or 1st person, using a cover system and issuing commands to allies. The controls are solid and easy to pick up and the basics of the game soon become second nature. It is easy to switch between your squad and the other various support options available to you, so you never become bogged down in trying to get the right group to do what you're telling them. The AI is also solid enough that should you forget to give out certain commands, your squad mates will react appropriately to incoming enemy fire, taking cover and returning fire, if possible.

Along with your squad of ghosts, you will also be assisted by a variety of other support options, the main one being the UAV Cypher. You can research the details of this gadget easily enough online, but in a nutshell, it allows you to carry out safe recon on upcoming objectives. This can be organised via the tactical map, or during the game itself. This is an excellent aspect of the game, because it allows you to fully plan each assault in turn. It doesn't make the game a walkover though, as the cypher isn't perfect and can be shot down, so keeping it safe is something you'll need to consider. The enemy AI is also good enough to react should they notice the cypher, and will change positions in an attempt to throw off your recon work.

Along with the cypher, you will also receive support from other ground troops, armoured vehicles and air support. The ground troops work in the same way as your ghosts and work excellently as another team to use for flanking manoeuvres etc. The armoured vehicles not only provide you with a great source of mobile cover, but can also be commanded to fire on targets, meaning that you get the luxury of keeping safe while the big guns do all the work. However, I did find the vehicles do have a couple of slightly annoying tendencies, such as every now and then being unable to fire on a target even though they have clear line of site. The air support options consist of the Little Bird and FAR support. The Little Bird is a small attack chopper and works in a similar way to the ground armour. You can order it to attack enemy units, as well as doing quick spots of recon. FAR support consists of air strikes that you can call in to target enemy armour or installations. This is easy enough to action, simply pointing at the target and pressing 'Attack' to bring in the air strike.

However, while the huge variety of options open to you appear to add a great deal of depth to the game, they eventually become pointless trivialities. At certain points, smart use of your support options is the only way to get through the game, but quite often you will just forget using these and bring down the enemies yourself. This is a shame, as your squad of ghosts essentially become 'tag alongs' and the tactical aspect of this game is lost. The single player campaign is also very short and does not offer much in the way of replay, apart from on a harder difficulty, if you're interested in getting all the gamer achievements.

Still, this does not take away from what is essentially a fun tactical shooter that will punish you if you don't give it some thought. Slightly dated now and outdone by the likes of COD, it doesn't offer you anything ground breaking, but for a bargain bin price you can pick yourself up a fun little title.

I have not played online, so cannot advise on the multiplayer aspect of this game.