2017’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is a gloriously chaotic shooter that’s more than the sum of its parts
PC Gamer’s “Reinstall” feature revisits Ghost Recon Wildlands, Ubisoft’s 2017 open-world military shooter set in Bolivia. The author reflects on their extended playtime, revealing that despite investing several dozen hours, they’ve yet to complete the first mission. Rather than following a linear narrative path, they’ve embraced the game’s chaotic sandbox nature, daisy-chaining disconnected missions and pursuing tangential objectives like kidnapping cartel henchmen and raiding haciendas.
The article highlights Wildlands’ tendency toward comedic chaos as a core feature of its appeal. The author describes how easily gameplay spirals into unpredictable situations—attempting to commandeer a convoy resulted in their helicopter being shot down, then hijacking a minibus as an alternative vehicle, only to have it become undriveable after a roadside accident. These cascading failures are presented not as frustrations but as the game delivering emergent, memorable moments.
The piece positions Wildlands as “more than the sum of its parts,” suggesting that while individual systems may be traditional—mission structure, combat mechanics, vehicle handling—their combination creates gameplay where unplanned situations become engaging experiences. The feature underscores how the game rewards player experimentation and creative problem-solving over strict mission adherence, demonstrating an interesting approach to open-world design philosophy.