In the world of gaming, there is always the question of how long you can stand repeatedly playing a certain game? Some games, such as the World of 
Warcraft series, keep releasing updates and expansions to keep you interested. Others have so many secret levels, quests, and point systems that it could take you years to even find them all, nevermind complete them(unless you’re cheating with a walkthrough or something. I never did get all of the hearts in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
Then you have games like Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, that have none of the above, but make addicts out of us all.
The basic premise of the game is typical of a first-person war shooter: run around, kill the enemy, and complete objectives using an advanced array of weaponry, from automatic machine guns to sniper rifles, to rocket launchers and even meager pistols. The graphics, whether you are playing on XBOX360 or a Playstation 3, are phenomenal. (I believe there is an XBOX basic and Playstation 2 version, neither considered playable after playing these versions.)
The twist from many other first person shooter games is also interesting: at some points of the game, you are either placing orders to three other soldiers on a level, or placing orders on things such as drones, tanks, and airstrikes. Just like real people, medics rarely stand still long enough to heal you while you’re bleeding to death, and pilots can’t always hear where you’ve ordered an airstrike(and blow you up on the process.) Activities such as these give this game a different look at what can be completed within a normal controller-based video game.
While the one and two player campaign is a bit short, it is challenging. At the time of this review, I still haven’t completed it. This isn’t a testament to the difficulty of the game(although it is difficult.) This is a testament to how addicting the online multiplayer is.
Depending on which system you are using, there are different advantages when in multiplayer. With the PS3, multiplayer is free. That was enough for me. The only disadvantage is that with Xbox Live, every single objective in multiplayer is active on a profile, so you know exactly what you’ve completed, and how many points you’ve earned for each completion. The PS3 only tracks your rank through team and solo battles. You get what you pay for, I guess.
Whether you’re earning points or not, the online campaign is extremely addicting, no matter how many times you finish it. It only has 6 levels, many of which need more than one player to complete(since some mission objectives require actions to be done simultaneously at different points of the map.) I’ve played through it at least 5 times so far. What’s so great about it is that it is almost a different game each time you play it with different people. You either have to do more, or less. Enemies react to different ways of playing each time.
Suffice to say, this game is challenging. It does, however, have a looong play life, and for only $20.00, since it is considered a “Greatest Hits” game for both systems. Hopefully I get around to playing something else. I give this game grade level 5: insanely addicting.