Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Xbox 360, 2006)

Hard title to swallow given that Call of Duty 2 was such a hit, but I'm confident in saying that GRAW is the best 360 game to date.

The graphics inspire awe at every corner, and when such is the case the framerate typically suffers. This is not so in this game. Flying over entire cities with amazing quality on far off objects and you still get a steady 30 FPS at the least. Game play is amazing as well, coupling the intensity of a 3rd (or 1st) person shooter with a well crafted tactical aspect where commanding helecopters, tanks, and your fellow squad mates is as big a focus as your personal character.

The only things I can harp on are two minor animation defects that bug me. One, only characters that appear on your cross com (pre rendered stuff) have animation for speaking. All other in game characters have sound come out, but their lips don't move. Two, when reloading you watch as your character reaches up for the clip in his gun, reaches for a fresh one from his pocket, and sticks it in... but the clip in the gun never moves. They animated your characters movements but he never actually has a clip in his hand.

9.5/10

4.75/5 (rounding to five)