Ghost Recon Future Soldier Story Q&A – Who are the Ghosts?
Compiled by Richard Dansky and Jay Posey



Tell me about your intentions with creating this new group of Ghosts?

We really wanted to capture the sense of the Ghosts as a cohesive unit, and to give players a glimpse of what it might be like to be part of a highly-skilled team that’s been through the best and the worst of war and life together. Since you can play the campaign online with 3 friends, each of the 4 characters is equally important. And we wanted to make sure that we developed characters that weren’t just stereotypes, clones, or reduced to the role of whatever weapon they happened to be carrying. Bringing in new characters gave us the chance to start fresh with players.

We’re also very fortunate to have a group of advisors that volunteer their time to help us get a better understanding of what it’s like to live the life of a special operator. One of our top goals was to honor the men and women who do the business for real, and to create characters that represent the high quality of character that we continually see in our advisors, characters that a real-deal operator could see and think, “Yeah, I could see that guy being in my unit.”

How is this group of soldiers different from soldiers you might find in other games?

A lot of games seem to either treat their soldiers as over-the-top caricatures, or as emotionless super- soldiers who do whatever their told without ever wondering why. The Ghosts are neither. They are elite soldiers with elite tools and technology. They work as a team and these guys don’t just shoot randomly, they make every shot count. For example, the “Tag ‘em and Bag ‘em” feature demonstrates the elite abilities and intel-gathering to focus on “targets” and execute single synchronized shots. Additionally, throughout the campaign, you’ll see how the Ghosts drive the action of the story and how they’re often the ones deciding how they’re going to get the job done. What they do in one mission sets the stage for the next – and causes their enemies to react. They have an impact on the world. And more than that, you’ll get to see them out of combat, and get a glimpse of their humanity.

The other big differentiator is that we consider the unit to be as much of a character as any one of the Ghosts. Often other games have one hero, with a lot of supporting cannon fodder. In GRFS, any of the Ghosts could be the star, and it’s how these guys work together that makes them so unique.

Do they know each other well, or are they a newly formed group?

Three of the Ghosts have been working together for a long time. Only Kozak is new to the unit, but he’s anything but a rookie. No one gets to be a Ghost by mistake, and the rest of the squad accepts Kozak as one of their own, even if he doesn’t have all the shared stories yet. There’s going to be plenty of time for them to make new ones together.



What is it like for Kozak, the newest member of the team?

Kozak is highly-capable and battle-tested, but he still has to find his place in the team. He knows he doesn’t have to prove himself; he earned the insignia, and that proves everything it needs to. But he doesn’t have the same easy camaraderie that comes with having been through hell and back together like the others do.

Describe the dynamic of how they work together.

They’re all 100% Ghosts; smart, highly-skilled, professional. But they’re not clones. They’ve all got different ways of doing things, and none of them are afraid to express their opinion. They might disagree on how to get something done, but all of their arguing happens before the mission. Once the job starts, they act as one, no questions asked. Captain Ferguson is Ghost Lead and his authority is utterly respected, but he knows the quality of his men and isn’t afraid to let one of them take point if the situation calls for it.

How is the story told in the game?

We use multiple avenues to tell the story, through a mix of mission briefings, cinematics, and scripted action sequences. But the best way to stay engaged with the storyline is to be part of the squad and listen to what the Ghosts have to say. None of them are afraid to speak what’s on their mind, and you can pick up a lot of insight from how the guys feel about what they’re doing and why.

Do you expect this group to be around for a while?

We certainly hope so, but given the extremely demanding lifestyle and the high-risk missions that the Ghosts undertake, it’s hard to know what might happen. And of course, we’ll have to see how the fans respond to the team.

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Source:	Ghost Recon
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