Ghost Recon: Desert Siege Review

Game reviewing is not as easy as it seems. I'm sitting in front of a blank .DOC file and thinking -- how the hell do I fill up this here page? I mean, there is always a bare minimum of words you have to put in a review I guess. You cannot simply write a couple of sentences and leave it at that. I wrack my brain to come up with new and witty ways of bringing you quality reviews in a highly entertaining fashion, and sometimes its difficult. The developers deserve more for putting in that extra effort, and most importantly, our readers deserve more, as they want to know if this game is good enough for them or not.

The old, but useful night vision.

I see you.

Well, if you're sitting in front of your monitor and thinking - OK, what the fuck is this Ghost Recon game all about, I strongly advise you to read our review of the original game. I really have no intention of repeating myself, as that is what I would need to do in order to explain Desert Siege to ya. Simply put, Ubi and Red Storm teamed up to bring us this expansion pack to the popular military shooter and kind of milk a bit more cash from the fans of the series.

Desert Siege comes with the latest Ghost Recon patch, which basically fixes a cubic assload of issues, so you don't have to hit the net and download any updates. By paying $19.99 you get a whole new set of single-player missions and two new multiplayer modes. So, is this enough to warrant a purchase? I say yeah... If you enjoyed the original, I'm pretty sure you'll like this one as well.

We're talking a polished up and virtually bug free version of the original game, all new set of missions, and most importantly improved enemy AI. All this should prove enough for ya to shell out the necessary cash and buy Desert Siege.

(You can stop reading this review here if you like.)

Now in regards to the plot: Red Storm didn't exactly put in a whole lot of effort, as the expansion seems to have that Blackhawk Down feeling about it. In stead of Eastern Europe, Ghosts travel to Eastern Africa on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia to help the starving Third-World folk and bring peace an order to countries that are too stupid to feed themselves, little lone wage a decent war.

Your mission is to track down the dangerous and expansive African warlord bent on taking over the world. OK, the guy would probably have a better chance of taking over Ivory Coast but instead of heading to the west, our unfortunate warlord decides that he would really like to conquer the Red Sea coast. Big mistake there, Mr. African Warlord! I don't think your AK-74's are any match for the ultra-high-tech, night vision ass-kicking members of the Ghost Recon squad! And I mean you'd think that these modern African warlords are a little more high-tech than that. He could've simply played the original Ghost Recon game, figure out what they'd do to him if they see him, and basically surrender on the grounds of marketing hype: "If you meet them in combat...you're already dead."

I can imagine it now. The warlord stands over a bonfire, surrounded by his troops as he rallies them to fight and engage the Ghost Recon team....

"Aeeee Aeeee... we will shoot the American Oppressors, my brothers!!"

(AK-74's risen up in the air, celebration shots fired. A crowd of skinny fighters cheering madly!)

"Aeeeee Aeeeee... we will kill Ghost Recon pigs!"

The crowd erupts in cheers, but one soldier raises his hand.

"Uhm, General?"

"Yes, Mowanda?"

"It says here on the retail box of the game "Ghost Recon" -- if you meet them in combat...you're already dead!"

The crowd stops cheering... their eyes turn to their fireless leader.

"What should we do leader? If we meet them in combat we're already dead. How can that be! We will first meet them, yes? Gaming PR companies are honorable and they wouldn't lie! We receive their pleasant press releases every day!"

The general stands tall and proud as he faces his cowering warriors.... "BWAHAHA! My brave fighting brethren, we all know that PR's don't lie; it is a fact! So, if they're not lying, then Ghost Recon are ghosts! And they go through walls! We cannot see them. And if we cannot see them, we cannot be dead!"

The crowd thinks about that for a moment...then cheers again.