Ghost Recon, for decades now, had its roots firmly planted in the tactical-shooter subgenre. As time went on, the series began to experiment, moving from slow and somewhat linear missions to some of the largest open worlds to grace gaming. With that said, here are all the Ghost Recon games in order.
Every Ghost Recon Game in Order of Release
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (2001)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Desert Siege (2002)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Island Thunder (2002)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm (2004)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2 (2004)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike (2005)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (2006)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (2007)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Predator (2010)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (2010/For the Wii)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (2011)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (2012)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms (2014)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (2019)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Frontline (Canceled)
Over the past 23 years, 16 Ghost Recon games have been released, with the latest entry in the series sadly being canceled. What used to be military tactical shooters that scored in the high 70s and 80s on Metacritic have now floundered and failed to live up to even those modest expectations.
Every Ghost Recon Game Listed
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon
The first of many tactical shooters under the Ghost Recon name. You play as squad leader of a special forces unit for the United States and can command your small NPC squad while in single-player. Alternatively, in multiplayer, you have a choice of three different game modes: Mission, Recon, and Firefight.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Desert Siege
The first Ghost Recon took place during a Russian war. Its expansion, Desert Siege, takes place a year afterwards when conflicts begin between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Desert Siege stays true to what the first game did well and was well received by reviewers and players at the time.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
Another year passed in the world of Ghost Recon and Island Thunder was another well-received expansion. Fidel Castro is dead and the country is having their first free democratic election in nearly 50 years. Unfortunately, the FDG is out to ruin things and return Cuba to a dictatorship. This is where the Ghosts come into play.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
Jungle Storm is the final expansion to 2001’s Ghost Recon. Released in 2004, Jungle Storm takes place in South America where the drug cartel funds the return of the bad guys from Island Thunder. You and the Ghosts travel to Columbia where you combat a militia group named MFLC. This particular expansion was not as well received as the previous ones.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2
Ghost Recon 2 served as a direct sequel to 2001’s Ghost Recon, complete with more advanced graphics and physics in an attempt to modernize the game (for the time). Some modes, like Firefight and Recon return, while new modes like Garrison are added. This time around, the Ghosts travel and fight in the Korean peninsula with the ability to choose weapons with fewer class restrictions.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike
Summit Strike is a standalone expansion that launched exclusively on the original Xbox back in the day. The game takes place five years after the original Ghost Recon 2 and is set in the Middle East this time. The Ghosts are tasked with taking out Asad Rahil, a Pakistani arms dealer and terrorist who wants to arm the Kazakhstan military for profit.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Advanced Warfighter was a sight to behold back when I had an Xbox 360. The new engine and third-person perspective gave the game a true next-gen feel. That is also partially due to you and your ghosts utilizing equipment that’s based on the real Future Force Warrior program. This kind of tech allows you to monitor what your ghost teammates are looking at via a picture-in-picture screen —called the cross-com system.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
As a direct sequel to Advanced Warfighter, the game continues to utilize present technological warfare innovations. So don’t be surprised when you continue to use the cross-com system to direct your enhanced A.I. ghost squad, while also controlling tanks and drones. Interestingly enough, the PC and console versions of Advanced Warfighter 2 are wildly different games. The PC version has you play in first person, while the console version is in third.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Predator
Three years later, Predator was released for the PlayStation Portable and resembles the Xbox360 version of Advanced Warfighter 2, despite graphical limitations. This version of Ghost Recon lets you control three squad members with a new feature that lets you swap between members easily. The game tasks your squad with finding a murderer who assaulted United States mining teams in Sri Lanka. That said, Predator only earned middling reviews despite its innovations.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon – Wii
The first and only Wii exclusive on this list has the ghosts attempting to stifle a Russian regime that invaded Scandinavia. Because the game is a Wii exclusive, aiming uses sensors and motion controllers. The game features two protagonists and allows you to control each one in co-op. Unfortunately, due to poor motion control implementation, the game was panned by critics and fans alike.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
Shadow Wars is a weird one. This version of Ghost Recon is actually a turn-based Nintendo 3DS title. Shadow Wars a least separates itself from games in the same genre by utilizing elevation in combat, as well as a cover system. Between the stylized yet simple 3D art and the tactical combat, Shadow Wars gives me XCOM vibes. That’s if XCOM was stripped to its core gameplay loops, and ended missions if you lose a single soldier.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Just like its name, Ghost Recon Future Soldier leans into the kind of gameplay trappings that come from being set in the near future. As such, Future Soldier featured the ability to maneuver drones across the battlefield for recon purposes, or even use an adaptive camouflage system, offering near invisibility. That said, it’s unfortunate that the game’s multiplayer modes were shut down in 2022.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms was the franchise’s first and last foray into the free-to-play multiplayer space. The game allowed you to play as one of three different classes with third-person tactile gameplay being what hooks you in. Unfortunately, the game was riddled with microtransactions and that turned players away, causing the game to shut down only a couple of years later.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
Wildlands was something of a comeback for the series. The game sought to go back to its roots with a new setting that resembled the original game’s. Instead of fancy futuristic gadgets or settings, Wildlands successfully executed a large open-world design that worked. It worked so well that the game was a commercial success, having sold over 10 million copies
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was another open-world iteration of the franchise that tried to capitalize on the success of Wildlands, while also being the direct sequel. However, Ubisoft made some strange design decisions around the game’s missions and loot that didn’t fit in the Ghost Recon universe. Design decisions like adding gear scores and aspects of a looter-shooter into what has historically been much more grounded in realism.
The forced inclusion of NFTs is another aspect of Breakpoint that was not received well. Breakpoint would see an end to active development long before a new Ghost Recon would be released.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Frontline
Frontline was supposed to be another attempt at breaking into the free-to-play market. The development was canceled in July of 2022, much like Splinter Cell’s VR title. The game was going to ultimately be a live-service MMOFPS battle royale game set in the Ghost Recon universe. Early on, some gameplay was leaked and was heavily criticized for looking and feeling too close to Call of Duty: Warzone.
There is hope though, because early reports indicate a new Ghost Recon game is being worked on and will be ready by 2025 or 2026. The game is reported to be inspired by games like Battlefield and Ready or Not with substantial graphical improvements compared to previous Ghost Recon games.
For more like this, check out our top 5 best Ghost Recon Wildlands cheats!
