Forget sending in the clowns! Do you really think those balloon animals stand a chance against the might of the radicals? Instead, send in the Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighters, because these soldiers know how to fight and fight well. Plus, they have the nicest gadgets this side of a Consumer Electronic Show convention, only several years into the future. You know you want to get fighting, so get that trigger finger ready and jump on in to see what all the fuss is about.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW from here on because that is simply too much to type over and over) proved a popular game on the Xbox 360, thanks to the futuristic military combat mixed with the intense action that could only come from trying to stand your ground behind a low wall while enemy troops advanced on your position as bullets whizzed inches from your ear. GRAW 2 – if the preview is any indicator – looks to be taking what everyone loved about the original and polishing it up so that controls are tighter and moves easier to pull off, meaning that if you die in combat you have nobody to blame but yourself.

The upgrades are apparent right from the beginning as your UAV drone is more user friendly and gets its job done properly. I'll admit that when GRAW came out, I rarely used the hovering drone, because it never worked like I wanted it to behave. In GRAW 2, however, it is amazingly simple to use the D-pad to select the UAV, hold down the right bumper (taking you to a top down/first person view from the UAV), and then while holding the bumper move your UAV around like you would your character, scrolling its viewscreen over the terrain to find where any enemies are hiding. The UAV this time around seems very intuitive, thanks in part to the first person controls. I never used it in the original game, but here I was ducking behind cover, sending my UAV out to scout for any enemies, and then heading out once all the intelligence was collected – in other words like you are supposed to play the game.

Also benefiting from the easier controls is the new Mule, a robotic controlled vehicle that stores a cache of weapons. When the Mule appears, you can easily change weapons by walking to the back of it and pushing the Y-button. The best thing about the Mule is that by selecting it and holding down the right bumper again, you can go into a FPS view and manually steer it into position wherever you want it. In practice, the Mule could make for some good, temporary cover for a fight by simply driving it in front of you and taking refuge behind it, but don't assume it is indestructible and will forever be there. The Mule is also great so that no needless backtracking is called for and you'll always have what weapons you need. For instance, I used a sniper rifle I got from the vehicle to take some soldiers down from a great distance, and then when it came time to go down there all I had to do was open it up, grab my old weapon, and head on in.

Teammates can also be used like the robotic vehicles, as you can go into a FPS mode to see what they are looking at and move them into position where you need them. However, when it comes to your AI controlled human partners, I often found it easier giving them commands from the normal game perspective, telling them to run and hide behind this location, take fire on this group of enemies, etc. by tapping up on the D-pad. You can also change the AI tactics to a manner better fitting of the situation. For example, if stealth and quiet is a key, put them in that sort of state of mind instead of an assault mode where they would go in guns blazing at all times. It can be difficult to order them around at first, leading to a few rather sad causalities, but in no time you'll be commanding them like the greatest leader in the world.

Though only a short preview, the game included a bunch of different game feels, giving you various levels of action that left you tense, nervous, and yet ready for more. When you first start out it is more recon and single man Rambo style tactics of one against an army of soldiers, which has its lone wolf thrills. Soon after the Rambo stuff it was a sniper battle, as I stood upon a hill, looking down at cowering soldiers who had no clue where I was, and popping them with glee as they ran for cover or popping the lone soldier or two who raised their head above the shelter of a crate to see if I was still around. And then finally, it all ends with a blistering barrage of Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer styled action as mortar fire came arching in from up above, the screaming whine sending chills up my spine, all before crashing down right in front of me. Sensing I should move, it was a quick gallop down to where I'd been sniping people, and as I ran for the nearest cover, suddenly it was gone as a mortar landed and took out the truck I was heading for. Soon me and my men are hiding behind crates, shooting at approaching enemies while two helicopters drop from the sky, turret guns blazing as they drop off reinforcements. If you want to talk about tense action filled situations, look no further than that last handful of preview minutes.

Beyond the controls and spectacle of all the action, the game also featured a great mix of sound work from the whining of the mortars and rolling of the Mule to the orchestral laden score that really drove home the level of excitement available during any given moment of combat. The game has also remained a beauty with character models being modeled really well, beautiful particles of dust kicking into the sky, lovely explosions of flame and smoke, and once again, as always from Ubisoft, some of the best lighting in the business.

If you were a fan of GRAW then it looks like you'll have a lot to love when GRAW 2 ships in March. If you never gave the original a shot or even did and found faults with it, GRAW 2 looks like it is spicing up enough things – both new and old – to convince you to give it a first or second shot when it finally rolls around again.