Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

Game images by RAWG

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

Ubisoft

PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4Premium

Health Score

MIXED

Watch Gameplay

About This Game

Super Review

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands is an M-rated open-world tactical shooter where players dismantle a drug cartel, offering seamless cooperative play for up to four. While its strategic combat and extensive customization can be engaging, parents must consider the pervasive mature content, including intense violence, drug use, sexual themes, and strong language. The presence of loot boxes and daily challenges also warrants attention due to potential for excessive play and spending. This game is strictly for older teens (17+) with clear family boundaries.

Super Review

Parent verdict

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands receives a Mixed health score due to its explicit mature content and monetization practices, making it unsuitable for children and younger teens. It may be a qualified fit for older teens (17+) who enjoy tactical shooters and cooperative play, provided parents establish strict rules regarding content exposure and in-game spending. The core gameplay loop of strategic missions in an open world is engaging, particularly with friends, but this benefit is heavily weighed against significant risks.

What players actually do

Players infiltrate enemy strongholds, gather intelligence, and engage in tactical firefights, often using stealth and coordinated attacks to dismantle a drug cartel. This exercises strategic planning and problem-solving.
Players team up with up to three other players or AI companions to execute missions, requiring communication and collaborative decision-making in a large, open world.
Players customize their character's appearance, weapons, and vehicles, allowing for personal expression within the military theme. This encourages creativity in loadouts and tactics.

Where it shines

The game's strong cooperative design allows up to four players to tackle missions together, fostering teamwork and coordinated strategy.
Its large, open-world environment offers significant freedom, allowing players to approach objectives with diverse strategies and explore extensive areas.

Parent watch-outs

The game is rated M for Mature due to intense violence, blood and gore, explicit drug use, partial nudity, sexual themes, and strong language, making it inappropriate for younger players.
Online multiplayer includes open voice and text chat with strangers, which carries a risk of exposure to toxic behavior and inappropriate communication.
In-game purchases include randomized 'Prestige Crates' (loot boxes) and direct purchases using premium currency, which can pressure players to spend real money or play excessively to earn rewards.

Family rules worth setting

Set strict age limits: This game is for players 17 and older only, due to the graphic nature of its content.
Monitor online interactions: Require play with trusted friends only, or disable voice/text chat to avoid exposure to inappropriate language or strangers.
Discuss in-game purchases: Set clear boundaries on spending, or disable purchasing entirely, to prevent impulse buys of currency or randomized loot boxes.
Limit session length: Establish time limits, especially with daily and weekly challenges present, to prevent feeling obligated to play to earn rewards.

Talk about this

How do the mature themes and violence in the game reflect real-world issues, and how do you distinguish between game content and reality?
How do you feel about the game's in-game purchases and randomized rewards? Do they ever make you feel pressured to spend money or play more than you intend?

Play style

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands offers a flexible session rhythm, with main missions taking around 27.5 hours to complete, and full completion stretching to 85 hours or more. Missions can be tackled in shorter bursts, though the open-world nature encourages longer exploration. The difficulty can be adjusted, with options from "Arcade" to "Extreme" and a demanding "Ghost Mode." While playable solo with AI companions, the game is heavily designed for and best experienced in cooperative multiplayer with up to four players, emphasizing teamwork and tactical coordination. Players, especially on higher difficulties, may need to coordinate closely with teammates for strategic planning and execution.

Score Breakdown

Positive Aspects

Educational Value

0/5

Creativity

2/5

Pro-Social

4/5

Risk Factors

Addictive Monetization

2/5

Time Pressure / FOMO

2/5

Social Risk

4/5

Content Intensity

4/5

Why this rating

Educational Value

0/5

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands offers no explicit educational value, focusing primarily on entertainment through tactical combat. While tactical planning is involved, this does not translate into academic or significant learning opportunities.

Addictive Monetization

2/5

The game features in-game purchases, including randomized 'Prestige Crates' (loot boxes) and premium currency for direct item buys. This model, along with daily and weekly challenges, can create time pressure and encourage players to spend money or play excessively to avoid missing out on rewards.

Social Risk

4/5

Online multiplayer with open voice and text chat exposes players to communication with strangers, carrying a significant risk of encountering toxic behavior or inappropriate content. While co-op play with friends can be a positive social experience, the open nature of online interactions elevates this risk.

Content Intensity

4/5

Rated M for Mature, the game contains pervasive intense violence, blood and gore, explicit drug use, partial nudity, sexual themes, and strong language. This mature content is central to the narrative of dismantling a drug cartel, making it highly unsuitable for younger audiences.

Pro-Social

4/5

The game strongly emphasizes cooperative multiplayer, requiring players to team up, communicate, and strategize together to complete missions. This cooperative design fosters teamwork and coordination, which are positive pro-social elements.

Negatives

•Contains intense violence, blood and gore, explicit drug use, sexual themes, and strong language, making it unsuitable for children.
•Online multiplayer includes open voice and text chat with strangers, posing a risk of exposure to toxic behavior.
•Features in-game purchases and randomized 'crates' (loot boxes), which can create pressure to spend money or play excessively.
•Daily and weekly challenges create time pressure to log in regularly to avoid missing out on rewards.

Positives

•Strong cooperative design allows up to four players to team up and complete missions together.
•A large, open-world environment provides freedom to explore and approach objectives with different strategies.
•Offers detailed character, weapon, and vehicle customization, allowing for personal expression.