When you buy a Tom Clancy-inspired shooter you're buying into a formula. You'll be part of an elite special forces military unit and the story line will centre on the 'near future' where a strong Soviet Union threatens the Coke-drinking free world. Clancy must have been ruing the end of the Cold War - 'cos he's reinvented it. In Ghost Recon, you are one of the 'Ghosts', a crack squad of killers who operate behind enemy lines in Eastern Europe and Africa. Cue lots of stealthy killing and rapid fire.

This is another technical FPS which doesn't reward you for tearing off on your own. Victory relies on utilising your six troopers, who are divided into fire teams, and using them either as diversions or as part of a more choreographed tactical effort. Consequently, completing the training missions is vital - you need all the help you can get. The fifteen main missions vary from rescue, search and destroy, and defensive ops to full-on firefights - these will have most appeal to those who crave an accurate battlefield experience.

Ghost Recon never fails to be involving and exciting, but it's possible that man players will yearn for a little more freedom. Orders are orders - great for realism, but a little restrictive for gameplay. On the plus side, the multiplayer modes and teamplay aspects really lift the sparse feel of the game. So be sure to get your friends involved. It doesn't make any leaps and bounds from its PC origins, but does that matter to fans of the genre? Sir, no Sir!

Despite its flaws, this is everything you'd want from a Clancy title: hectic, realistic action.

We'd never get into the real SAS.

We'd rather shoot monkeys until SOCOM shows up!