Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Wildlands Review Summary

A huge beautiful open world with great weapon variety and co-op, but plagued by startup loading issues, broken modern CPU support, and repetitive boring gameplay.

Large variety of weapons: The game features an extensive arsenal of weapons, vehicles, and military gear, all of which are customizable and viable in different situations. Players enjoy the diversity of choices, from assault rifles to drones, and the ability to tailor their loadout to their play style.

Huge and beautiful open world: The open world of Bolivia is a major highlight, described as massive, beautiful, and immersive, with a great variety of landscapes and activities. Players appreciate the freedom to explore and tackle missions in any order, which adds to the game's replayability.

Fun and engaging gameplay: The core gameplay loop is consistently described as fun, engaging, and addictive, offering a variety of activities that keep players coming back. The combination of shooting, stealth, and mission variety by approach contributes to its strong appeal.

Extensive character customization: Players highlight the deep customization options for both characters and weapons, allowing for a high degree of personalization. This includes a wide range of appearances, gear, and weapon attachments that let players create a unique soldier and loadout.

Freedom in mission approach: Players love the freedom to approach missions in various ways, from stealthy sniping to loud and aggressive tactics. This flexibility, combined with a large open world, makes the gameplay feel non-linear and offers high replayability.

Infinite loading screen on startup: Multiple users report the game freezing on the loading screen or splash screen indefinitely, with some experiencing waits of 10–30 minutes. This issue is often linked to modern CPUs with hyperthreading or E-cores, and it prevents the game from launching normally.

Modern CPU compatibility broken: The game fails to launch or hangs on modern Intel CPUs (12th–15th gen) with hybrid cores or hyperthreading. Users are forced to change BIOS settings to disable E-cores or hyperthreading, and even updates have not resolved the compatibility issue.

Game frequently fails to launch: Many players report the game simply will not open, either before any update or after a recent patch. These launch failures often come with generic errors or require multiple attempts to start successfully.

Gameplay becomes repetitive and boring: Players find the mission design repetitive, with similar tasks across regions and side missions that feel template-based. Over time, this leads to boredom and a sense of grind after the first several hours of gameplay.

Ubisoft launcher and account issues: The mandatory Ubisoft Connect launcher causes numerous problems, including server disconnections, inability to play offline, and conflicts with EasyAntiCheat that block the game from starting. Users are forced to use the launcher even for solo play, adding performance overhead and frustration.

Co-op multiplayer is heavily supported.: The game strongly emphasizes cooperative play, supporting up to four players in online co-op or with friends, and can be played solo or with AI teammates. Both single-player and multiplayer modes are available, with co-op being a core feature across multiple reviews.

Open-world tactical shooter environment.: The game is an open-world tactical shooter set in a large environment divided into distinct regions and biomes. It combines open-world exploration with stealth and combat, offering a sandbox-like experience.

Stealth is central to gameplay.: The gameplay emphasizes stealth over direct action, featuring stealth missions and silent takedowns as core elements. It is described as a tactical shooter that encourages planning and careful approach.

Deep weapon and character customization.: Players can extensively customize weapons with multiple attachments and options, as well as customize their character's appearance and loadout. The gunsmith system provides a wide variety of weapon customization possibilities.

Multiple approaches to missions.: Missions can be approached in multiple ways, allowing players to choose between stealth and aggressive gunfights. The game offers freedom in how to tackle objectives, supporting both stealthy and loud playstyles.

Extremely long startup times: Launch times are reported as extremely long, ranging from 10 to 30 minutes for some users. This occurs both on initial startup and after updates, making the game feel unresponsive.

BIOS tweaks required for modern CPUs: Many users are forced to disable Hyper-Threading or E-cores in BIOS to get the game to run on modern CPUs. This is a common but workaround-heavy issue for Intel processors.

Performance optimization inconsistent: While some players find the game runs well on decent hardware, many others report poor optimization, especially on modern systems. Performance varies widely depending on the setup.

Updates fail to fix compatibility: Updates have not resolved compatibility issues for many users, and some updates even introduce new launch problems. This suggests a lack of effective fixes from the developer.

Anti-cheat conflicts with E-cores: Infinite loading screens and logo freezes are linked to Easy Anti-Cheat incompatibility with modern Intel E-cores. The game hangs without error, requiring workarounds.

Buy during sales: Multiple reviewers recommend purchasing the game at a discounted price rather than full price. They suggest waiting for sales to get a better value.

Best in co-op: Reviewers highlight that the game excels in cooperative multiplayer, especially with friends. They suggest playing with a squad for the optimal experience.

Worth buying overall: Several reviewers strongly recommend the game, describing it as worth the money and a must-play. They encourage players to purchase it without hesitation.

Not worth full price: A group of reviewers feels the game is not worth its full price, suggesting it only at deep discounts, if at all. They advise against wasting money.

Not recommended for Intel CPUs: Users with newer Intel processors (12th gen and above) report issues, advising against purchase or warning potential buyers. This is a significant technical concern.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 80.0h.

Story completion: 23.0h.

Ghost Recon Wildlands delivers a strong initial burst of fun, especially in cooperative play, but repetitive missions and persistent technical problems cause enjoyment to decline after roughly 10 hours.

Friction: co-op connection failures (NAT, EAC, server issues); repetitive mission design; janky climbing and fall damage; microtransactions and broken progression; tedious grind for attachments and skills; crashes and desync in co-op.

Unlock drivers: playing with friends; tactical coordination and emergent chaos; progression and weapon customization; high difficulty mode for challenge; stealth and variety of tactics.

Co-op Tactical Squad Player: Cooperative, planning sync shots, using vehicles and stealth together, often with a full squad of friends. Motivation: Teamwork and coordinated tactical play with friends, creating emergent moments. Stance: buy.

Solo Stealth/Realism Enthusiast: Stealth-focused, planning missions carefully, using tactics and adapting to variables, often playing as a sniper or using sync shots with AI. Motivation: Realistic military simulation, freedom of approach, and immersion in a detailed open world. Stance: sale.

Technical Frustration Casual: Cannot play or severely limited due to technical issues (EAC, server problems, launcher crashes); some can only play solo offline. Motivation: Wanting to play the game they purchased, especially co-op, but being blocked by technical barriers. Stance: no buy.

The game's performance is heavily dependent on CPU architecture: older or low-end systems often run adequately, but modern Intel CPUs with hybrid cores (P-cores and E-cores) cause widespread crashes, infinite loading, and other playability issues across all tested hardware cohorts.

Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM: mixed. Many users report smooth performance on low-end and mid-range systems, but others with modern Intel CPUs face infinite loading screens and stuttering.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: mixed. Some users achieve stable frame rates at high settings after adjustments, but a significant number cannot launch the game due to CPU incompatibility.

Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM: mixed. Performance varies: some users report smooth gameplay on older hardware, while others require workarounds like disabling E-cores to start the game.

Steam Deck: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands is critically undermined by mandatory Ubisoft Connect launcher issues and Easy Anti-Cheat incompatibility, especially on modern CPUs and Steam Deck. Users face infinite loading screens, launch failures, and crashes, requiring disabling anti-cheat or BIOS tweaks. While the core game is praised, these barriers make it broken for many.

Linux and Proton: Ghost Recon Wildlands runs on Linux via Proton but requires significant tinkering for both launch and multiplayer functionality. Singleplayer is generally playable after applying DXVK and specific Proton versions. However, Easy Anti-Cheat integration actively blocks co-op and multiplayer on Linux unless manually disabled with community patches, making online features largely inaccessible. The experience is mixed: functional for solo play with effort, but broken for cooperative play.

Monetization: Ghost Recon Wildlands was retroactively changed to lock the majority of in-game weapons, attachments, and cosmetics behind a real-money paywall, while removing the ability to earn premium currency through challenges. This aggressive shift turns what was once a complete experience into a pay-to-win cash grab, leaving players no choice but to spend real money for previously free content.

External guides: The majority of complaints are about game-breaking technical issues (crashes, long load times, BIOS modifications) that demand extensive external troubleshooting. A secondary but notable theme is the lack of in-game tutorials for mechanics, pushing players to wikis for guidance.

Compared favorably to Breakpoint: Many reviewers compare this game to its sequel, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, often stating Wildlands is better in various aspects like story, world, and fun factor, though some note Breakpoint has better controls or smoother stealth. The predecessor relationship and specific differences are frequently highlighted.

Often sold at discount: Several reviews point out that the game is often sold at a low price, especially on Steam or during sales, and recommend waiting for a sale. The low cost is seen as a positive aspect.

Ubisoft Connect app mandatory: Reviewers consistently criticize the mandatory installation of the Ubisoft Connect app and launcher. They describe it as terrible, causing time loss, and requiring a Ubisoft account, which detracts from the gaming experience.

Comparisons to other games: The game's open-world style is compared to games like GTA 5, Mercenaries, and Far Cry, with gameplay similar to The Division and The Last of Us in terms of mechanics and soundtrack. These comparisons help set expectations.

Old but still relevant: The game is noted as old (released in 2017) but still holds up well and remains relevant. Some reviews mention a recent update after nearly 10 years, though it may run on older hardware, and functionality on modern PCs is inconsistent.