We've got some delightful news to fans of Ubisoft's war games (this includes Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell and EndWar). Over at the publisher's official website, a new Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter teaser has been released for all the world to see. Find out more on the teaser in the full article.

If you love your Ghost Recon fun, then you should probably take to heart this little bit of news we found on the Ubisoft website. They've just released patch 1.04 for the PC version of the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, which adds some additional functions and fixes to the game.

Here's the list of changes that will come with every download of GRAW 2's 1.04 patch:

• GameSpy reporting and server info fixes.
• Added clean versions of landscapes without backdrop buildings for modders.
• Tutorials updated.
• Servers with unknown ping moved to bottom when sorting on ping.
• Server Screenshot function updated.
• Player list id number corrected in the console.
• Server password settings fixed.

Fans of the game would do well to download the patch ASAP. New owners will also want to grab the patch, if only for the ability to take an updated version of their tutorial system. Enjoy!

Lucky ghost-wannabes who got a taste of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 know that the game is beyond just the pretty physics or nostalgia factor. For the doubtful, a couple of guys, Grin CEO Bo Andersson and Lead Mission Designer/Lead Artist Rickard Johansson, from GRAW 2's dev team sat down to answer a few questions from the fans.

As usual, squad tactics will be the major focus of the game. Even so, the PC version aims to deliver an authentic FPS experience. CrossCom 2.0 is leagues better than the previous version. You can now issue orders much smoother, and command your support team around with a few button touches. Tactical map will offer more details to open up a plethora of new strategic choices.

If you haven't tried demo yet, now is a good time. Meanwhile, watch the video for yourself to get more info.

The PC version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 is getting some enhancements thanks to AGEIA's proprietary game physics engine PhysX. Not only does the accelerator make jobs for devs easier, it also enhances the overall gameplay experience of the action title.

PhysX makes efforts easier for the developers because with it on board, they don't have to use their own code to do the game's physics. In the case of GRAW 2 for the PC, the time cut away from coding the physics was used instead to create an additional level called "AGEIA Island" which demonstrates the full capacity of the engine by giving players a vibrant, fully destructible environment that looks, moves and feels like never before.

Bo Andersson, chief executive officer of GRIN says "with PhysX, we are able to bring gamers a realistic combat experience they will crave to play over and over again because it's never the same twice."

"When something explodes, the physics engine kicks in to create superb explosions, emitting debris which affects gameplay," adds Anderson as he explains how everything in the game is built on to the engine to make characters and onscreen objects behave the way they would in real life.

 

Ubisoft recently announced that the multiplayer demo for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 will be out this June 7. Fans of the game would do well to check this out since it offers features and maps the Xbox 360 version doesn't have.

A PC exclusive map CALAVERA which was featured in the closed multiplayer beta will be one of the highlights of the demo. In addition to this, they also included a Recon vs. Assault mode where players will have to get through a Mexican village near the US border. This mode is a classic case of tactics versus sheer strength of arms. Team Deathmatch will also be in the game so run and gun, kill everyone, shooters need not apply.

I don't know about most of you guys, but recent tactical FPS have been really good compared to the previous generations. This is one game we will definitely be looking at more in the future. Be sure to keep checking back here for more news on GRAW2.

We've got a trailer of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter Throwback Pack for the PC, Sony PlayStation 3, and the Microsoft Xbox 360. As the developers promised, the game lives to the franchise's tactical FPS tradition with a hodgepodge of past and current maps in store.

Such maps as Bonfires (Ghost Recon 2 DLC), Desert Gulch (GRAW), Fishing Village (GRAW), and many more are available to add more replay value and to invoke nostalgia among fans. The old maps look a little better than they did before with the advances in 3D modeling and that can only spell out more fun for all you soldiers out there.

The GRAW 2 Throwback Pack is now available for you. If you don't have it yet, this video should help you decide. Chances are you'll shell more cash out.

Popular Mechanics asks that question: how does the technology used by Capt. Mitchell and his Ghosts stack up to that used by the Army today?

Okay, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is a (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, PSP) game, so there are compromises made so that it can be played by someone who hasn't gone through boot camp or Ranger School or its equivalents. Still, with the Tom Clancy prefix as a hallmark for researched (and at least plausible) realism, PopMech wanted the comparison.

The closest equivalent and real-world inspiration to CrossCom 2.0 and the rest of the Ghosts' combat system is the US Army Land Warrior System, a similar integration of high tech and hot lead. Of course, the plausible-fictional tech of 2013 is most certainly a (fictional) step forward from the still-being-evaluated tech of 2007, but there are drawbacks that bite into their tactical utility. For example:

• While CrossCom's ability to keep track of friendly assets is real-time, Land Warrior's equivalent GPS tracking was found to have a lag time "of at least a minute." It's better used as a strategic tool to help in the deployment of large forces in conventional warfare, than at the squad-level urban combat as in GRAW2.
• Land Warrior literally is a load on a grunt's shoulders: that plus the soldier's basic load equals eighty pounds to heft - and it affects his movement. Ghost tech certainly didn't feel that heavy to Capt. Mitchell.
• PopMech suggests it's going to take a massive leap in real-world AI for a computer to tell the difference between a neutral and a bad guy, and superimpose a red "Shoot Me" diamond on the bad guy, as it's done in GRAW2.

To be fair - and not fair as in "the tech will get smaller and lighter, the AI will become smarter" that PopMech used - GRAW was deigned to be playable, so even if it draws its inspiration from real-world equivalents like Land Warrior, because it's still a game, accessibility and fun factor are still priorities over "unflinching realism". On the other hand, PopMech's suggestion that

it's time for a game where military planners make mistakes, high-tech gear falls short in the field, and warfare feels as visceral, as uncertain and as terrifying as it always has been

might not be too bad either. The high-tech really is ultimately meant to make the soldier's job easier (or at least more survivable). It would be interesting (if not pants-wetting harrowing) to see a GRAW where the tech ultimately fails you in the middle of a firefight.

In a recent announcement that will have fans of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW2) dancing with joy, Ubisoft has declared that the closed multiplayer beta sign up will be kicking off in a few months. Yup, this means that those who have been waiting for their chance to try the specially-developed version of the game for the PC will finally get a chance to do so.

Gamers who are lucky enough to get in the closed beta will be able to try CALAVERA. It's a special map for the PC version of the game (Xbox 360 owners will just have to hope for it's addition in a future map pack). They will also be able to try the Recon versus Assault mode which will allow the players to be either a member of the Ghosts (stealth and ambushes all the way) or a Mexican Rebel (high-caliber weapons for all). Finally, there will be Team Deathmatch which in a nutshell means: two teams, one map, most kills win. Perhaps the simplest and one of the most fun modes, period.

The closed multiplayer beta sign up for GRAW2 starts early April 2007. For those who won't be able to make it, the full game is slated to be released this June. Regardless, you can find more details on the official GRAW2 site found in our read link.

 

Although this report comes from Pro-G (UK), we can be sure the details are very much Euro-specific, but estimates are it applies to North America, too. You already know that the PS3 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is scheduled to chopper in this June. Pro-G's reports that Ubisoft has slipped that it will be escorted by the UMD and PC-DVD versions of the game.

Potential confirmation of this story comes from Gamespot; when you visit their pages for the PS3, PC, and PSP versions, they all list with a June 5, 2007 shipping date. All we can say is... it took long enough. But hey, it's not one of those "When it's done" titles now, is it?

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 is not a game, but a criminal act against the intellectual capacity of the people of Juárez. That's what Juárez Mayor Héctor Murguía Lardizábal said to the media as he condemned the aforementioned next gen FPS.

The El Paso Times reports that in an interview with the media, the mayor said that federal authorities should act immediately to prevent children and teenagers from being exposed to a clearly xenophobic idea that has nothing to do with the reality of the country or Mexico's best border region.

The Juárez mayor also emphasized that video games that feature violent images involving Ciudad Juárez and its residents are "attempting to create a conflict between sister cities." Much of the combat in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 takes place in Juárez.

"Violent video games instill values which are upside down, and these actions are despicable because they attempt to divide the good will of the residents of American and Mexican cities," he said.