A certain type of gamer is attracted to the Tom Clancy brand. The very name instills a sense of gritty realism blended with a wealth of technical knowledge as far as military gear goes. We've always liked the blend of realism and fun that games under this label have offered, and while there have been plenty of missteps along the way, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 can definitely be counted among the brand's better offerings. It may not reach the same status as the beloved original Ghost Recon, but we believe it's the closest Ubisoft has come to capturing the feel of that first, ground-breaking title since it was released back in 2001.

If you've played the original GRAW this sequel will feel very familiar. The elite "Ghost Recon" team is back in Mexico only now the stakes are higher as the United States itself is threatened by nuclear attack. The storyline is identical to the console versions of GRAW 2. Ubisoft has taken what looks like all the assets from the console version, such as dialogue, mission briefings, and even mission objectives, and recycled them here on the PC.

Cars and buses can explode after taking a lot of incoming fire, making them poor choices for cover.

What's different is everything in between. The layout of the missions is almost completely different from the console versions, as is the gameplay. While the console versions use a cover system and a third-person camera, the PC version is first-person only and has no cover system to speak of. The PC version is also much less forgiving. We breezed through the Xbox 360 version of GRAW 2 on every difficulty level but got our butts kicked on more than a few segments in the PC version.

The higher level of difficulty means that commanding your team efficiently is more important than ever. There are three different ways for you to give orders to your squad mates on the fly. The easiest method is using a pop-up command menu that appears when you press the middle mouse button. This lets you direct your men either individually or as a group to go to any location within eyesight and cover or attack anything within visual range. You can also view the battlefield through a camera mounted on the helmet of each of your buddies. From this point of view you can once again bring up the command menu and order them around. This is handy for precision placement of troops and lets you see areas beyond your own immediate field of view. The final method of controlling your men is via an overhead tactical map. This is easily the most advanced option you have. It lets you set multiple waypoints for your boys as well as direct their cones of fire. You'll use this mode to set up more complex tactical maneuvers.

Having all these options is fantastic and you'll really able to be as hands-on or hands-off as you want to be with your troops. You can just have them follow you around, or be constantly handing out orders and optimizing cover and fields of fire. Sadly, AI problems put a big damper on our experience. As with every "Ghost Recon" title since the original there are path-finding issues with your squad members. Sometimes your boys can find their way half-way across the map with no problem while other times they'll get stuck on a fence or wall until you issue a specific set of waypoints to get them unstuck.

These guys are equally inconsistent in combat. Sometimes they'll see threats right away and react accordingly, while other times they'll not see an enemy who is out in the open and shooting at them. Instead they'll just yell, "I'm taking fire!" and not do anything about it. Eventually they'll start yelling, "I'm hit!" and then die, all without taking cover or returning fire. It's maddening to see your troops kneeling beside cover and screaming about incoming fire and not doing anything about it. Elite spec-ops guys should know better.