Ghost Recon: Wildlands - 10 Things We Learned From The Beta

6. The Story Will Be Divisive

Ghost Recon Wildlands Torture
Ubisoft

Let's be honest for a moment, story has never been one of the Clancy brand's brightest elements. Most have conformed (largely) to the conventions of the military genre, forgoing the political intrigue of Clancy's books and instead emulating the biggest beasts of Hollywood's action aficionados. More Michael Bay, shall we say, than Kathryn Bigelow.

Be that as it may, Wildlands looks set to return to some of Clancy's brightest source material. On the surface at least, the setting should draw instant comparison with one of the author's most fondly remembered works, A Clear and Present Danger; a book that features CIA analyst Jack Ryan uncovering an illegal US war in Colombia sanctioned by shady figures within the agency. A critique of the potential for presidencies to wage illegal wars without Congressional oversight, the book (and later the film), seemingly took aim at the Reagan administration's role in the Iran-Contra affair. Having just departed the beta, I somewhat doubt that Wildlands will inherit this message.

First off, it's bold for a game to even contemplate broaching America's War on Drugs, more-so for one to actually tackle it head on. But it deserves more than what Wildlands can offer. Our merry band of CIA wetworkers actively advocate the use of torture, labelling it an "art" under the right conditions (ew), and tonally, the title seems totally dissonant. It compounds a nigh-unflinching dedication to realism with an '80s action aesthetic that contravenes both gameplay and plot, providing irreverence where nuance should take primacy.

Being a Clancy title, there is some consolation in the fact that these narratives are never as clear cut in their intentions as their contemporaries. Plots can be flipped on their head in an instant and, given the franchise's predilection for double-crosses and character-driven drama, the prospect of a nuanced military tale coming to fruition is, however dented, still a possibility.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.