Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands

I’m so surprised that Ubisoft has yet to really follow up on the incredible success of Ghost Recon Wildlands. An open-world take on the often linear genre of tactical third-person shooters, Wildlands felt like an outrageous entry into a storied franchise that typically prided itself on realism. It was the answer to a question nobody really asked: “What do you get if you smash Ghost Recon and Far Cry into one game?” It worked though, and sold millions of copies, because it turns out that just dropping four players into an open world where they can perform tactical hijinx is a winning formula.

Now, Ubisoft did follow this game up with Breakpoint, a sequel that focused far more on a story led by Jon Bernthal (The Bear, The Punisher) and survival mechanics than the explosive fun and looseness of Wildlands. The key to a great open-world game is almost never narrowing the possibilities though, making Breakpoint a bit of a misfire. A sequel that taps into the first game’s more hands-off approach would go a long way, but while Ubisoft figures out what it wants to do next with the series, you can pick up the base version of Ghost Recon Wildlands for just $10, or the ultimate edition which includes years of DLCs for $24 on Xbox.