It's extremely useful when you're backed up by aerial units like the Little Bird assault helicopter, because you can send the helicopter to scout out the battlefield in front and then, while it's hovering over the enemy, switch to first-person mode to pinpoint enemies hiding behind cover or take out any armoured units before you send in the troops. This gives players greater control over the position of friendly units, enabling them to direct troops into cover and target specific enemy units even if the commanding officer is on the opposite side of the battlefield. Similarly, you can now view skirmishes through the eyes of allied units simply by holding the right bumper. For example, send a drone behind enemy lines and, when you order it to close in and scan for enemy troops, you're treated to a real-time bird's-eye view of the battlefield rather than trying to follow the action on the tactical map. Well, the enhanced Cross Com, because it does pretty much the same as before, only better. Secondly, it introduces players to the all-new Cross Com 2.0. Seasoned GRAW veterans will want to skip the tutorial, although it's worth playing through because you're awarded Achievement points if you complete each task without mistake. The Ghosts, led by Mitchell, have just 72 hours to prevent the nuke from launching. Angry at losing their leader to the US, the terrorists are planning a revenge attack and are threatening a nuclear strike at America's heartland. Having saved the US president and crippled a terrorist ring in deepest Mexico at the end of GRAW, Captain Mitchell is called back from R&R after intel detects a surge in rebel activity on the Mexican border. If, however, you want more of the same fine-tuned gameplay and refined strategic combat, GRAW 2 delivers, and then some. That's by no means a bad thing - the original deserves all the critical praise it received - but if you're expecting something a little different, something more substantial than an annual makeover, you might be sorely disappointed. Rather than serving up a totally revamped gaming experience, GRAW 2 offers more of the same tactical action and many of the battle settings and set-pieces are almost carbon copies of those from the first game. With that in mind, let's start by getting one thing straight - despite being called Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, we'd say GRAW 1.5 is nearer to the mark. The sequel has a lot to live up to then, not just because the first game was both a critical and commercial success, but also because it's been turned around in 12 months - something only sports games and by-the-numbers reiterations usually achieve.
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Like its Hollywood cousins, GRAW is the proud recipient of a BAFTA award, scooping gongs for Technical Achievement and Game at last year's ceremony. There aren't many games that can count The Queen, Ang Lee and Jamie Foxx among its peers but Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is one of them.