Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is getting invaded by Hollywood’s decades-old slayer of Aliens, Predator, starting tomorrow, December 14, and running through the beginning of January. And you thought the politics of the game were complicated already.
The alien hunter will be part of a special challenge where players, either alone or as groups of up to four, will have to survive the onslaught and eventually take down the Predator. According to a post over at Ubisoft’s blog players who succeed will not only get to gloat about having defeated the god-damn Predator but will also get the movie alien’s iconic mask and corresponding heat vision. It’s green and looks more like a hockey mask than an artifact from another planet but at least it comes with dreads.
For anyone who doesn’t remember or is too young and missed the magic that was John McTiernan’s Predator, the movie is about some ex-military dudes who get played by the deep state and end up fighting for their lives in the made-up jungle of Val Verde as an alien tries to skin them alive during his intergalactic vacation. In many ways then it’s a natural fit for a crossover event with Ubisoft’s Bolivia-based tactical shooter.
“The mission is built to recreate some of the tension felt by Dutch and his crew in the original Predator movie, said Nouredine Abboud, a senior producer at Ubisoft, on the company’s blog page. “You first discover hints about the Predator’s presence before actually getting to meet and fight him. Getting that feeling of being swallowed by the surrounding jungle was something we really wanted to convey. And of course, the music takes a big part in creating the tension.”
According to Abboud, Predator will run around, jump through trees, and taunt you from afar. In addition to his heat vision he’ll also have a cloaking device, shoulder cannon and smart disc, the latter of which is most memorable for the time it sliced through Gary Busey in a meat packing plant.
In addition to the free challenge mission, the update adds a presumably not-free“Predator Pack” to the in-game store that includes attacks, weapons, and other customization items inspired by the original movie. More importantly, the Predator event also introduces a new class of soldier based on Dutch, the elite mercenary and guerrilla combat specialist from the movie played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and best known for uttering such classic lines as “If it bleeds we can kill it,” “The bridge is out!” and “Get to the chopper!” This soldier-type will have access to a battle rage mode that will apparently give players the edge they need to kill one another in brutal ways truly reminiscent of the 80s.