I must admit that this is a poor effort compared to the X Box version. Yes, the X Box is a better machine, specs-wise. Island Thunder has better graphics, clearer, sharper, smoother. It also has better sound, much better sound. I can deal with the less souped-up graphics and sounds, but it seems like they hardly made any effort to improve them from the previous game. Also, the PS2 has some infuriating differences, and I can't for the life of me understand why:

- Teen Rating - This is really bogus. Every Ghost Recon game has been rated M for Mature, including Blood. What's with the T rating? It's cuts the realism and feel of the game, sanitizing it for no reason. Folks, this is a war game, not Legend of Zelda. Now the men just fall and the bodies disappear. Lame, really, really lame. I mean, how many more units can they shift when they knock the rating down?

- Combat - Once again, for absolutely no reason I can think of except laziness, or sloppiness, the weapons have no fire selector, meaning they all fire fully automatic all the time. It can't be for controller reasons-the PS2 controller has more buttons than X Box! This negates the variety of weapons, as many of them become the same when you limit the options.

Also, and infuriating, they've removed the ability to change players on the fly in the middle of combat(!) You have to bring up the map and command screens, and the controls are just plain clunky. Again, I can't understand this at all. You could change on the fly in the original PS2 version, now instead you have to ability to `peek', which is practically useless here. I do like the change of some of the buttons, however the Robocop whirring sound you get whenever you zoom in with your scope is really annoying and unnecessary.

- Missions Options - Lame. Perhaps I haven't unlocked everything, but you cannot play the 3-man fire teams during Defend Mode, or Sharp Shooter (which is essentially Deathmatch). Everything is one-on-one.

The main attraction of this game is the whole new, exclusive campaign-Jungle Storm. It's basically a sequel to Island Thunder with the US now involved on the ground in Colombia (after the designers cynically suggested the US would be battling in the streets of Cuba in the previous game.) There are some great boards here; the missions are in the best Ghost Recon tradition, one of the highlights being the abandoned boat harbor. You also get the entire Island Thunder campaign, plus many of the multiplayer boards from the previous Ghost Recon games.

Overall, the AI is a little bit better; the enemies are a little bit sharper and have slightly better aim. Your own fire teams are kind of bumbling, and the inability to toggle between members quickly hurts you. However, I just found the overall effort to be really underwhelming. They've hardly done a thing with the graphics or the sound, which is a shame. This game heavily relies on camouflage, and the graphics are, at times, not good enough for one to see very far.

I would definitely recommend this to people who were addicted to the original Ghost Recon. For the PS2, they're good games of their kind, and the multiplayer options-death match, co-op missions including defends-are a lot of fun. I think Socom II is much better in many respects, including the AI of both the enemy and your team members.

"This game rules!", I dont know why you all hate this game! This is the best game on the ps2, no doubt about it. Yes, the graphics suck, but a game with crappy graphics and good gameplay is better than a game with good graphics and crappy gameplay. The online mode is the best(its broadband only) and it supports the headset. You can have up to 8 people deathmatch, or 6 player co-op. It has two campaigns (island thunder and jungle storm) and has another 10 or so *bonus* maps from earlier Ghost Recon titles. It is a great value, and if you can overlook the graphics, you will have A LOT of fun with this game!

Pros: Great gameplay
Online + headset support
35+ maps
around 40 real life guns

Cons: crappy graphics
your character breathing sounds get REALLY annnoying after a while.......

"Pushing the 32Bit envelope! Way to go Ubisoft!!", This game is an example of what not to do! The graphics are poor; the environments are almost as blocky & pixilated as Super Mario brothers. All of the natural foliage is totally devoid of detail. The A.I. is sub-par at best as the enemies react to shooting only part of the time. Hit detection is also poor, as one shot in the mid section can bring enemies down while other's miss their mark completely. Weapon selection is severely limited as you can only pick from two primary weapons and either have a hand gun OR grenades. To offset the poor weapon selection, Ubisoft made all of the weapons fire at a full auto rate, even the M16. The full auto weapons will really tick a lot of people off, especially the people who actually know what the real life counter parts are capable of and what they are not capable of. With all of the GREAT shooters out, game designer's really need to make the games look and feel real to compete, and this one just does not have what it takes. The missions could have been great but, the poor environment detail and overall reality just cannot be overlooked. I had this game on pre-order and wish that I had waited to purchase it until after all of the reviews came out. While people will compare it to SOCOM II, that simply is not fair to Ghost Recon. Ghost Recon is merely an idea or concept of what a great shooter should be. IF, Ubisoft plans to compete in the very tough market of shooter's, they need to take a long, hard look at the other titles and take plenty of notes. OVERALL RATING: POOR! I would advise renting first if you are a die hard fan

"Good Shooter Game", It would seem that several people dont appear to like this new game. I would have to DISAGREE!!
As a late 20's player I give it 4 stars. You have two single player campains and each level you complete "unlocks" that map for thee multiplayer. Which leads me to my next comment about this game. With all the maps "unlocked" the multiplayer is very enjoyable!! In conclusion this Ghost Recon is absolutely better than the first one and if you like shooters this is definately a good one to pick up for the PS2.

"Almost the Best Game", I bought this game and I think it is so much better then the first one. You get more weapons and better maps to play on.
Once I got it I couldn't stop playing it. And if you have xbox and your wondering if you should get this or Ghost recon: Island thunder.... get this one becuase you can play the island thunder campaign as well as the jungle storm one. Maybe it's not as good as Socom II, but I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes video games that have to do with war and action. I think all of Tom Clancys games are really good and I suggest you to play them. I myself am going to get Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow by Tom Clancy as soon as it comes out.