Ghost Recon Wildlands is perhaps my favorite game from 2017, though I didn't play it until a few weeks ago.

It's a perfect mixture of military shooter (Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc) and open world action (Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row, etc) in an Ubisoft package done right. This means you get some of the tactical goods and options that Ubisoft has been dishing out for years via Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. This isn't to say you have to play swift, silent, deadly, but it's certainly a lot more satisfying to do so! Wildlands was pure satisfaction!

Gameplay is what you'd hope in an open world action game. Easy to traverse foreign terrain and a sense of being somewhere to explore. From running around, sneaking around, driving a car, or flying a helicopter, it's all you would expect from GTA or SR. Combat is all you'd expect from Call of Duty or Battlefield. Pick your weapons, modify them to fit your needs, pick a loadout, aim, double tap! Ubisoft really nailed it, and I rarely find a game to have gameplay this enjoyable.

On the single player end, you've got 3 AI teammates. They are a bit flakey at times, and seem to have the rare issue of not following you. So in rare moments, you will find yourself alone, wondering, WHERE THE FRAK IS MY BACKUP?!? That's what you get for trusting some toaster AI buddies. Still, they're otherwise pretty great. You can sync shots with them to take out small groups of cartel members, and 99.99% of the time, it goes smoothly. You can however play co-op with friends, and hope they can do the same. I have no useful friends though, so it's the lonely, solo road for me. Lastly, missions rarely have checkpoints, so if you mess up, be prepared to start over!

Graphically, it's pretty great. Ran the game on both an ultrawide (3440x1440) and via Steam Link to my 86" 4K TV where I eventually finished the game. Running at ultra settings in both conditions, I was as happy with this as I was Final Fantasy XV. Environments looked great, and overall, it felt like a place worth exploring. Didn't have any fps issues, no memory leaks, and not a single crash in the 70+ hours I played.

The story is pretty simple. You lead a black ops team lead by a woman from the CIA (a rather familiar theme) into a foreign country (in this case, Bolivia) to systematically rip apart a drug cartel. The story is never quite as black and white as we'd hope, and like real history, there's more black ink than there are sharpie makers. Some of it is rather predictable if you listen to what these characters have to say. All in all, it felt good to rip apart the cartel and dish out some "American" justice. There's a lot to do in this game!

This game was great! I imagine it would have been greater if I had real friends with play with. Maybe that's a good thing though, they'd probably get killed all the time or screw up sync shots. Or crash a car and get everyone killed... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Anyway... Yeah. 10/10. I haven't been this satisfied with a game in a long time.

EXTRA: If you're only into the single player part of the game, just get the base game. There's no need for the DLC. Read DLC reviews. They don't add to the base game. They're separate stories with different characters, and poorly reviewed.

UPDATE:
Removed my single complaint about the Sam Fisher mission being impossible as I was eventually able to complete it, and with ease after obtaining the optic camo from one of the extra missions.

Also played the game with a friend I bought it for. Learned that while in co-op you will not get any AI teammates. I expected 2 would be available, but it doesn't work that way. If you're playing with a friend you'll need to carry you'll want to be good!

Remains of my favorite games in recent history.