Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars is a turn-based tactical strategy game from 2011, developed for the Nintendo 3DS by studio Ubisoft Bucharest as one of the console's launch titles. Compared to the series' action entries, this is a fundamental genre shift – the player commands a four-member Ghost Recon squad on hexagonal maps divided into tiles, and in a turn-based system decides on movement, cover, long-range sniping, and the use of each soldier's special abilities, from a sniper through a combat engineer to a commander with support abilities.

The story, set on a fictional island between Russia and Georgia, serves mainly as a frame for dozens of well-crafted tactical missions that gradually add new unit types, terrain, and objectives – from silently eliminating patrols through defending positions against overwhelming odds to escape missions with a time limit. The stylus controls, moving units by tapping, and the clear command menu for each unit, as well as the console's stereoscopic 3D effect, were designed specifically for this title, so unlike later ports to other platforms, the game makes full use of the 3DS hardware's specifics, and it was among the technically and mechanically best-crafted launch titles of the console, which contemporary reviews confirmed, praising the depth of tactics despite the portable format. The gradual unlocking of new units and the upgrading of their abilities between missions also gives the game a light strategic layer beyond the battlefields themselves.

Why play: Shadow Wars will appeal to players who enjoy turn-based strategy games in the style of Fire Emblem or Advance Wars but want to experience them in the setting of a modern military Ghost Recon – with thoughtful turn planning and units that must learn to work together, all controlled comfortably with the stylus on the go.