The Best Ghost Recon Games

Ubisoft's Ghost Recon franchise contains some of the best games the developer has rolled out. Aside from their successful Assassin's Creed and Far Cry series, Ghost Recon is up there with those two. The series incorporates elements from other genres such as RTS, RPG, Arcade, and recently, open-world into their otherwise tactical shooters to create experimental wonders.

The franchise's games are known to be grueling methodical shooters that still accommodate gamers' desire for fast-paced action. However, the constantly changing formula of the franchise results in hit-or-miss success on Metacritic with every installment. This list will answer which are the best Ghost Recon games, according to critics, along with the worst.

Updated October 24, 2023 by Mark Sammut: The specifications of each Ghost Recon game have been added to the article, including their platforms and release dates.

15 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2010) – 46

Just because Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon has been a cornerstone of the action genre doesn't mean that the franchise hasn't thrown up a few disasters along the way.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2010) was released on the Nintendo Wii and attempted to utilize the Wii's motion controls to provide the most immersive Ghost Recon game yet. To be fair to Next Level Games, the motion controls were solid; but the game was let down by its repetitive gameplay and unintelligent A.I.

14 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Predator – 54

Released the same year as the aforementioned Nintendo Wii game, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Predator hit stores in October exclusively on the PSP. The game's key selling point was that it allowed players to switch between any of the squad's three soldiers.

RELATED: Best Third-Person Adventure Games Of All Time, Ranked

Similar to the Wii game, Ghost Recon: Predator suffers from being too one-dimensional, with little emphasis on what makes the series so unique; its tactical and methodical gameplay. Another similarity is the lackluster A.I. Which is more than enough of a reason for even the most die-hard Ghost Recon fan to skip this entry.

13 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint – 62

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is the latest game in the Ghost Recon franchise. Following the events of Wildlands, the story focuses on callsign Nomad. Together with what's left of his team, he aims to take out opportunist Cole D. Walker-- a former ghost who overrode Auroa's advanced technology for his own abuses.

Aside from the open-world tactical shooter elements, the game also has RPG mechanics with different classes to choose from. Also, it has an Immersive Mode option that removes the hud and increases realism, bringing this game back to its tactical roots. Though it is fun, the direction the game wants to go to seems unclear. This earns it a low Metascore and a user score of only 2.5.

12 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands – 76

Ghost Recon Wildlands is the first open-world game in the franchise. This allows for various non-linear approaches to the story and side content, such as taking out convoys and enemy compounds. The game follows Nomad and his team of ghosts as they are deployed to Bolivia to dismantle the global-scale cocaine production and liberate the people.

Related

Ghost Recon: Wildlands: 14 Vehicles That Make The Game Easier

Vehicles are an important part of any open-world game, but they do more than just move players from point A to point B in Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Posts

The vast world, together with the tactical nature of the game, gives players heightened freedom that adds to the ghost experience. While not considered one of the best entries in the franchise, Wildlands is generally superior to its successor, Breakpoint.

11 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm – 70

Released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm is an expansion of the original Ghost Recon. The game is best remembered for offering online multiplayer for the first time in the series.

Jungle Storm's lackluster score predominantly comes from the fact that it was the final of three expansions to the game, and players were growing tired of waiting for Ghost Recon 2. Despite making only minimal changes from the other expansions, the game provided an enjoyable experience that will have greatly appealed to die-hard fans of the series.

10 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms – 70

Ghost Recon Phantoms was a fast-paced multiplayer game with some tactical elements. Similar to today's Rainbow Six: Siege, the game featured tons of variability with high-tech equipment and abilities in the game. From shields to intel grenades to optic camo, this game had enough tools to create different sorts of strategies and plays.

There were three classes in the game: assault, recon, and support, each with its own tools and usability. As fun and promising as Phantoms was, Ubisoft, unfortunately, shut down the servers due to a steady decline in users.

9 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – 71

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier takes place in 2024, where military gear has shown significant improvements. The plot follows the squad under the callsign''Hunte'' through a series of international missions to dismantle the system from within. Future Soldier features a third-person cover-to-cover mechanic for a tactical approach to engagements.

The game also gives the players futuristic tools such as intel grenades to tag enemies behind cover. The user score for Future Soldier, however, is just 5.1. Lower than some of the previous entries on this list.

8 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars – 77

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars was released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 and compensated for the handheld console's limited hardware by offering players a complete change of genre from the norm.

The change of genre was an ambitious but welcome choice, as the turn-based tactics game provided a solid XCOM-like experience. Shadow Wars certainly didn't reach the heights of the XCOM franchise's most critically acclaimed entries, but it did provide an enjoyable campaign with decent tactical gameplay that will appeal to fans of both the Ghost Recon series and the turn-based tactics genre.

7 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon – 80

Developed in 2001, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is the first Ghost Recon game ever made. This game is the most tactically unforgiving out of all the games in the franchise. A six-man squadron can be built from four available classes to choose from. Players have the ability to command their AI companions by tagging the path they should take.

Related

Ghost Recon: Wildlands – 11 Best Mods

Ubisoft's Ghost Recon: Wildlands has developed into a very good game, but that doesn't mean it cannot be improved with a mod or two.

Posts

They are also given the function to alternate between who to control, giving them the role of both an on-the-ground soldier and a commander. Ghost Recon incorporated RTS elements into a tactical shooter to create one solid formula that soon became the heart of what the franchise would be.

6 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 – 80

Ghost Recon 2 is a console-exclusive game that improves on the previous Ghost Recon. Having modified in some areas, it didn't stray too far from its core mechanics. Releasing three years after the first game, this game upgraded its graphics and also humanized the characters more through dialogue interactions and cutscenes.

There are also some gameplay changes, such as the players' control being limited only to squadron leader Scott Mitchell, as opposed to the previous game allowing the player to alternately take control of multiple units. The players, however, may still command their squadron as they please. These improvements resulted in a higher User Score of 8.7.