Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Review (Xbox 360)

GRAW 2 sports the best lobby system I've seen on the Xbox 360 yet. Unlike several recent, high-profile efforts, you aren't bumped back to the main menu every time you exit a game, make a wrong menu choice or just look at your TV the wrong way - and this is a welcome change.

A clan system finally makes it in, with the ranking kept seperate from TrueSkill ranked matches. Clans can be created or joined easily from the menus, and you'll be notified of any new Clan invites each time you hit the Multiplayer menu.

There's something here for everyone - whether you like adversarial or co-operative play online. I had the most fun playing GRAW 2 online in co-operative modes, which surprised me due to all the time I spent playing adversarial Gears of War. You and a squad of seven others can take on six missions unique to the co-operative game, and the game will adapt the resistance put up by the enemy to suit the amount of friends you have with you. The later missions are especially tough, and surpass anything you face in the single-player game - but getting your ass kicked time and time again is a lot more appealing when there's seven other players sharing the experience.

The only flaw with the Multiplayer experience is that the co-operative and multiplayer modes run on a different engine than the single-player game, and for some reason, the new cover system didn't make it in. Any veterans of Rainbow Six, and indeed anyone who has mastered the single-player missions before going online is sure to be confused and at least a little disappointed by this odd design choice, but after a slight relearning period you'll get over it ... trust me.

To be honest, after playing online for several days, I haven't even scratched the surface of what there is to offer here - there's twelve different game modes each with enough options to offer seemingly limitless replay value. Given the fairly short campaign, GRAW 2 is a true testament to how online functionality can turn a game from something you'd breeze through in an average rental period, into a game that easily takes must-buy status.

Who will appreciate the game?

• Fans of the existing GRAW game
• First/Third-person shooter junkies
• Anyone who appreciates tactical squad-based combat games, especially online
• Those of you who read our Military section
• Real-time Strategy fans (you might be surprised...)