Much like the CIA spreading misinformation ahead of a cheeky little regime change, Ubisoft have begun talking about their next proper Ghost Recon game. According to live producer Irina-Gabriela Popa, it’ll be “a fun, fresh experience that stays true to everything that defines Ghost Recon – tactical action, large scale operations, credible military storytelling and, of course, the Ghost Unit.”

They’re planning closed tests by way of a new insider programme. All this comes in the course of Ghost Recon’s 25th birthday celebrations. Happy birthday, Ghost Recon! How will you be celebrating? Strapping into your hologoggles and invading some plausibly deniable fictitious nation with graphics-card-pleasing scenery and a lot of Bad Hombres to synch-shoot? Capsizing a helicopter whilst trying to escape from a failed assassination attempt? Gosh, these ghosts are such jokers.

Ubisoft have just hosted a 25th anniversary livestream in which they’ve announced a bunch of treats for existing specimens of spectral patrolling. 2017 open world iteration Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting an update that brings back an old Predator-themed mission, while introducing some new Last Rites missions. The latter see you hunting down a cult leader who lives in a region abundant in trees and swamps. That’s her in the picture up top, looking like she’s gotten lost on her way to a Dragon Age cosplay competition.

The update also includes a load of new settings, letting you fiddle with things like the weather, enemy perception and how easy vehicles are to break, together with a tech overhaul boasting “improved distance rendering, enhanced lighting and shadows, and a sharper image targeting 4K resolution.”

I reviewed Wildlands back in the day and found it to be, well, a Tom Clancy game set in Bolivia. It’s better in multiplayer, but then again, most open world shooters are. Here’s a chunk from Brendy’s RPS review. “What Ubi really want here is to have their quinceañera cake and to eat it. To fill their game with wise-looking women in traditional dress shovelling hay come rain or shine, but also to have their over-the-top ridiculous action game as well. They are welcome to try this, of course. Contrast is a great atmospheric technique and such a project definitely could be achieved with a little thoughtfulness and characterisation. But there’s none of that here.”

As part of the 25th anniversary, Ubisoft are also giving away copies of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, a 2012 cover-shooter best known for its adaptive camo, which renders the Ghosts see-through when stationary or moving slowly. The catch is that you’ll need to sign up to Ubisoft Connect, and redeem a copy by August 13th. I remember Future Soldier being a routine sneak-o-banger, but I do find it interesting to revisit such “near-future” fantasies like this and think about how their notions about military tech (for example, drones) and geopolitics have aged. If you’re more eager to dust off the multiplayer – sorry, Ubi pulled the servers in 2021.

As a series, Ghost Recon’s recent fortunes have been rocky. 2019’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint was a bucket of bolts. “Any life breathed into Ghost Recon Breakpoint will have to be pumped into it by you and your friends,” Matt Cox wrote in our review, “and you’d do better to save your breath for other games.” In 2022, Ubisoft also cancelled a new free-to-play PvP instalment called Ghost Recon Frontline. That was a few years before they teamed up with Tencent to rebuild their business around a core of putative billion-dollar licenses, while laying a lot of people off.