Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars is a Turn-Based Tactics video game released by Ubisoft in the Ghost Recon series. It was released worldwide on March 2011, in time for the Nintendo 3DS being released in North America. The Japanease version was released on May 2011. Its gameplay is similar to the Fire Emblem series.
GR:SW has six character classes. They consist of Commando, Engineer, Gunner, Medic, Sniper and Recon. The game consists of campaign, skirmish and multiplayer.
The story takes place in 2021 where a Russian ultranationalist politician named Yuri Treskayev harbors ambition to be in the Kremlin. The Ghost unit was deployed in Kazakshtan when it investigates signs of a conspiracy to destabilize Russia's neighbors. They later find out that it has something to do with USSR-era "Dead Hand Bases" and a mysterious group known as Zemya.
Tropes found in Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars:
- Anyone Can Die: Averted: A Ghost killed is an automatic defeat condition.
- Broad Strokes: The game is meant to depict the same conflict from H.A.W.X. 2, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and Ghost Recon Wii, but the finer details of what happens differ from the other games, especially Future Soldier given it came out two years after all the rest.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: Rookie, Veteran, and Elite in Shadow Wars. The higher the difficulty of the mission, the more stars you get afterwards, which you can use to level up your squad members.
- Limit Break: The soldiers (even the Mooks under your command) can use a special attack if their meter reaches 100%.
- Mascot RPG: Shadow Wars is a Role-Playing Game spin-off of this normally non-RPG series that nonetheless incorporates some elements from its parent franchise e.g. using cover and elevation as gameplay mechanics.
- Multinational Team: The Ghosts are (obviously) American. But they later collaborate with a Kazakh Arystan commando named Aydana Kozlova, who joins the Ghosts.
- Next Sunday A.D.: The game takes place in 2021.
- Notice This: Doors you can open have a big floating key next to them, and areas you should notice are highlighted with a green circle. Pickups also glow.
- Rogue Soldier: Russian troops in Zemya are supportive of a potential coup and are enemies of the Ghosts when they get to Russia.
- Skill Scores and Perks: The player gives new skills/skill upgrades to the team via a Tech Tree-based layout every time they gain a new level.
- The Coup: In-universe, the Pentagon suspects that Treskayev is trying to stage a coup to seize power. Not true entirely since General Strashin usurps Treskayev near the end of the game.
