With the 3DS’s 3D slider pushed all the way up, the world of Ghost Recon extends deep into the screen of the handheld in such a way that it’s almost like a living board game is sitting just below a window, waiting for you to dip your fingers in and move the little soldiers around. It’s one of the most appropriate uses of 3D that we’ve seen on the system so far, and it’s also one of the best. The levels are designed in such a way that incidental details like telegraph poles and trees poke into the foreground while deep crevasses and waterfalls extend far below ground, to the point where turning the game down to 2D feels like a significant reduction in immersion.
This being a Gollop game, the visuals also play into the strategy, the 3D is used to accentuate different heights of the battlefield, which affect everything from line-of-sight to projectile range.
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Shadow Wars could be criticised for not making any genuinely innovative steps forward in the strategy genre. But what it does do – integrating just about every conceivable feature of turn-based strategy into a single cohesive whole – is enough to make it one of the best handheld titles of its kind in years, and a surprising jewel in the 3DS launch line-up.
VERDICT 8 /10
A turn-based triumph