Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier

THE BUZZ: Ubisoft has announced the official start date for the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier beta, and also revealed the Ghost Recon Network.

The beta will run from April 19 until May 2 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and will allow twelve players to choose from three classes; Rifleman, Engineer and Scout. Two maps will be available during the beta, Pipeline and Mill.

Two game modes will be playable:

• Conflict:Players battle to complete objectives located throughout the map and earn points, the team with the most points at the end of the round wins. Game session: one round of 15 minutes.
• Saboteur (available starting April 26th):A bomb spawns in a central location, both teams compete to retrieve the bomb and be the first to detonate it at the opposing team’s base. Game session: one round of ten minutes.

The beta can be accessed in the following ways:

• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction owners. Splinter Cell Conviction Xbox 360 owners can access the beta directly through the game
• Pre-order Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on Xbox 360 and receive a Xbox 360 beta key.
• Also, look out for additional key giveaways online

Ubisoft also announced the Ghost Recon Network, which is a free companion service for Future Soldier on PC, smartphones and tablets. The app will launch alongside the game on May 22. Players will have a chance to test the app during the beta weeks.

Ghost Recon Network Key Features:

Customize and share in-game weapons on the go:

• Use GunSmith mobile to customize weapons down to their inner parts in 3D and sync them to consoles
• Publish weapons to the GunSmith Gallery and browse guns posted by the Ghost Recon Network community

Track player history and friends’ in-game status

• Access personal player performance on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier & upcoming Ghost Recon games and compare stats on leaderboards
• Receive challenges, friend activity reports and community updates via the website or push notifications on smartphones and tablets

Receive exclusive rewards

• Download the free Ghost Recon Network app at launch to unlock additional attachment credits in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
• Earn weapons and weapon skins in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier by playing other Ghost Recon games or interacting with other Ghost Recon experiences

Become a better player

• Study detailed game information and heatmaps to prepare for the next battle
• Build and manage your squad, add recruits and search for competing squads

EGM’s TAKE: It seems that every first-person shooter needs some kind of companion app to be successful nowadays, you’ve got CoD’s Elite, Battlefield’s Battlelog and now the Ghost Recon Network. The good thing about the Recon app is the ability to unlock some exclusive in-game items and credits by using it, this should convince players to at least try it out. We’re really excited to get our hands on the beta and take this futuristic shooter for a spin. We’re guessing that stealth camo will be the most used gadget on the game.