In Ghost Recon: Wildlands, you take over the leader of a team of ghosts as they travel to an unstable Bolivia during the summer of 2019. The South American country has become a narco state, producing more cocaine than any other nation in the world. The U.S. aren't terribly interested in any of it until one of its embassies in La Paz, a region within Bolivia, is bombed, and one of their embedded agents, Ricky Sanderval, is found dead. In comes the world's deadliest unit no one but us gamers have ever heard of: the ghosts - Paragraph Taken From IGN

The only times you really get a glimpse of the story is through videos uploaded to you from your operation boss, Karen Bowman. These videos are visually appealing, but are lacking in compelling storytelling. In spots you will be reminded of why you're in Bolivia and why the cartel must be stopped, but the main story failed to deliver in keeping me hooked in caring for it or anyone in the game but one, which I will address shortly.

Most of the story is better told through the innumerable amounts of collectibles found throughout the map. Whether it's Santa Muerte shrines, historic locations in the mountainsides or random documents scattered around cartel edifices, reading through these definitely gave me more valuable and interesting information than any of the videos of cartel members did.

Outside of these cartel members, there is one person you will learn more about as you carry on with the game: Sanderval, the agent killed in action. His side of the story should be compelling, and without spoiling anything, the information you get from collectibles that detail the beginning and end of the late CIA operative are actually brilliant and add a twist to the procedurals.

Now, that last word is probably the most damning criticism I have of this game; procedural. The amount of content in this game isn't bad at all, there's quite a lot to do. The issue is many of this content is rehashed across the map. The collectibles are understandable, but the repeated side quests are incomprehensible.

These side quests consist of quick 5-10 minute operations that either help you upgrade you and your squadmates or the rebel support you can call in. The issue with the former is that there are literally only two types of cache-involved sidequests: helicopter deliveries or plane deliveries. Both are fun the first few times, raiding a makeshift helipad or airstrip and flying said aircraft to the rebels, but quickly become repetitive. Worst are the latter of the quests. The upgrade branches can be maxed out, but even after you do so, the quests continue to pop up with no real use. They're repetitive to the point where I could only do one region a day or else I would have nearly died from boredom.

Luckily, my interest was held together by the game's vast environments of snow-capped mountains, vegetation-stuffed forests and rolling hills. It's a beautiful game.

The gameplay is great, with the vast array of weapons all feeling weighted and full of oomph. I enjoyed trying out all the dozens of guns. The customization we all liked in Future Soldier makes a great return, with hundreds of possible customization patterns available just to one gun. So if you're a gun nut, this game might trip your trigger.

I give this game a decent yet repairable 7.5 / 10

In Ghost Recon: Wildlands, you take over the leader of a team of ghosts as they travel to an unstable Bolivia during the summer of 2019. The South American country has become a narco state, producing more cocaine than any other nation in the world. The U.S. aren't terribly interested in any of it until one of its embassies in La Paz, a region within Bolivia, is bombed, and one of their embedded agents, Ricky Sanderval, is found dead. In comes the world's deadliest unit no one but us gamers have ever heard of: the ghosts - Paragraph Taken From IGN The only times you really get a glimpse of the story is through videos uploaded to you from your operation boss, Karen Bowman. These videos are visually appealing, but are lacking in compelling storytelling. In spots you will be reminded of why you're in Bolivia and why the cartel must be stopped, but the main story failed to deliver in keeping me hooked in caring for it or anyone in the game but one, which I will address shortly. Most of the story is better told through the innumerable amounts of collectibles found throughout the map. Whether it's Santa Muerte shrines, historic locations in the mountainsides or random documents scattered around cartel edifices, reading through these definitely gave me more valuable and interesting information than any of the videos of cartel members did. Outside of these cartel members, there is one person you will learn more about as you carry on with the game: Sanderval, the agent killed in action. His side of the story should be compelling, and without spoiling anything, the information you get from collectibles that detail the beginning and end of the late CIA operative are actually brilliant and add a twist to the procedurals. Now, that last word is probably the most damning criticism I have of this game; procedural. The amount of content in this game isn't bad at all, there's quite a lot to do. The issue is many of this content is rehashed across the map. The collectibles are understandable, but the repeated side quests are incomprehensible. These side quests consist of quick 5-10 minute operations that either help you upgrade you and your squadmates or the rebel support you can call in. The issue with the former is that there are literally only two types of cache-involved sidequests: helicopter deliveries or plane deliveries. Both are fun the first few times, raiding a makeshift helipad or airstrip and flying said aircraft to the rebels, but quickly become repetitive. Worst are the latter of the quests. The upgrade branches can be maxed out, but even after you do so, the quests continue to pop up with no real use. They're repetitive to the point where I could only do one region a day or else I would have nearly died from boredom. Luckily, my interest was held together by the game's vast environments of snow-capped mountains, vegetation-stuffed forests and rolling hills. It's a beautiful game. The gameplay is great, with the vast array of weapons all feeling weighted and full of oomph. I enjoyed trying out all the dozens of guns. The customization we all liked in Future Soldier makes a great return, with hundreds of possible customization patterns available just to one gun. So if you're a gun nut, this game might trip your trigger. I give this game a decent yet repairable 7.5 / 10