Summary
Ubisoft’sGhost Reconfranchise contains some of the best games the developer has rolled out. Aside from their successfulAssassin’s CreedandFar Cryseries,Ghost Reconis up there with those two. The series incorporates elements from other genres such as RTS, RPG, Arcade, and recently, open-world into their otherwise tactical shooters tocreate experimental wonders.
The franchise’s games are known to be grueling methodical shooters that still accommodate gamers' desire for fast-paced action. However, the constantly changing formula of the franchise results in hit-or-miss success onMetacriticwith every installment. This list will answer which arethe bestGhost Recongames,according to critics, along with the worst.
Updated June 27, 2025 by Mark Sammut:The specifications of each Ghost Recon game have been added to the article, including their platforms and release dates.
Just becauseTom Clancy’s Ghost Reconhas been a cornerstone of the action genre doesn’t mean that the franchise hasn’t thrown up a few disasters along the way.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon(2010) was released on the Nintendo Wii and attempted toutilize the Wii’s motion controlsto provide the most immersiveGhost Recongame yet. To be fair to Next Level Games, the motion controls were solid; but the game was let down by its repetitive gameplay and unintelligent A.I.
Released the same year as the aforementioned Nintendo Wii game,Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Predatorhit stores in October exclusively on the PSP. The game’s key selling point was that it allowed players to switch between any of the squad’s three soldiers.
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Similar to the Wii game,Ghost Recon: Predatorsuffers from being too one-dimensional, with little emphasis on what makes the series so unique; its tactical and methodical gameplay. Another similarity is the lackluster A.I. which is more than enough of a reason for even the most die-hardGhost Reconfan to skip this entry.
Ghost Recon Breakpointis the latest game in theGhost Reconfranchise. Following the events ofWildlands,the story focuses on callsign Nomad. Together with what’s left of his team, he aims to take out opportunist Cole D. Walker– a former ghost who overrode Auroa’s advanced technology for his own abuses.
Aside from theopen-worldtactical shooter elements, the game also has RPG mechanics with different classes to choose from. Also, it has an Immersive Mode option that removes the hud and increases realism, bringing this game back to its tactical roots. Though it is fun, the direction the game wants to go to seems unclear. This earns it alow Metascoreand a user score of only 2.5.
Ghost Recon Wildlandsis the firstopen-worldgame in the franchise. This allows for various non-linear approaches to the story and side content, such as taking out convoys and enemy compounds. The game follows Nomad and his team of ghosts as they are deployed to Bolivia to dismantle the global-scale cocaine production and liberate the people.
The vast world, together with the tactical nature of the game, gives players heightened freedom that adds to the ghost experience. While not considered one of the best entries in the franchise,Wildlandsis generally superior to its successor,Breakpoint.
Released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2,Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Jungle Stormis an expansion of the originalGhost Recon.The game is best remembered for offering online multiplayer for the first time in the series.
Jungle Storm’s lackluster score predominantly comes from the fact that it was the final of three expansions to the game, and players were growing tired of waiting forGhost Recon 2. Despite making only minimal changes from the other expansions, the game provided an enjoyable experience that will have greatly appealed to die-hard fans of the series.
Ghost Recon Phantomswas a fast-pacedmultiplayer gamewith some tactical elements. Similar to today’sRainbow Six: Siege, the game featured tons of variability with high-tech equipment and abilities in the game. From shields to intel grenades to optic camo, this game had enough tools to create different sorts of strategies and plays.
There were three classes in the game: assault, recon, and support, each with its own tools and usability. As fun and promising asPhantomswas, Ubisoft, unfortunately, shut down the servers due to a steady decline in users.
Ghost Recon: Future Soldiertakes place in 2024, where military gear has shown significant improvements. The plot follows the squad under the callsign'‘Hunte’' through a series of international missions to dismantle the system from within.Future Soldierfeatures a third-person cover-to-cover mechanic for a tactical approach to engagements.
The game also gives the players futuristic tools such as intel grenades to tag enemies behind cover. The user score for Future Soldier, however, is just 5.1. Lower than some of the previous entries on this list.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars wasreleased on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 and compensated for the handheld console’s limited hardware by offering players a complete change of genre from the norm.
The change of genre was an ambitious but welcome choice, as the turn-based tactics game provided a solidXCOM-like experience.Shadow Warscertainly didn’t reach the heights of theXCOMfranchise’s most critically acclaimed entries, but it did provide an enjoyable campaign with decent tactical gameplay that will appeal to fans of both theGhost Reconseries and theturn-based tactics genre.
Developed in 2001,Tom Clancy’s Ghost Reconis the firstGhost Recongame ever made. This game is the most tactically unforgiving out of all the games in the franchise. A six-man squadron can be built from four available classes to choose from. Players have the ability to command theirAI companionsby tagging the path they should take.
They are also given the function to alternate between who to control, giving them the role of both an on-the-ground soldier and a commander.Ghost Reconincorporated RTS elements into a tactical shooter to create one solid formula that soon became the heart of what the franchise would be.
Ghost Recon 2is a console-exclusive game that improves on the previousGhost Recon.Having modified in some areas, it didn’t stray too far from its core mechanics. Releasing three years after the first game, this game upgraded its graphics and also humanized the characters more throughdialogue interactionsand cutscenes.
There are also some gameplay changes, such as the players' control being limited only to squadron leader Scott Mitchell, as opposed to the previous game allowing the player to alternately take control of multiple units. The players, however, may still command their squadron as they please. These improvements resulted in a higher User Score of 8.7.
