Take down a drug cartel in this month’s ‘Ghost Recon Wildlands’ open beta

By Gabe Gurwin Published February 16, 2017

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands‘ release date is quickly approaching, ending a five-year gap since Ghost Recon Future Soldier launched on last-generation consoles. But Wildlands‘ setting and open world make it a very different beast, so you might want to try the game out prior to making a purchase. Thanks to the game’s open beta period this month, you’ll be able to do just that.

Starting on February 23 and running until February 27, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC players will be able to participate in the Ghost Recon Wildlands open beta, with preloading available on February 21.

Recommended Videos

The open beta contains all of the content seen in the recently closed beta, including the Itacua province and a selection of missions dealing with the game’s main opposing faction, the Santa Blanca cartel. In addition, the open beta will also grant access to a new province, Montuyoc.

“Set in the Bolivian Altiplano region, this province contains heavily defended strongholds where the Santa Blanca trains some of its toughest soldiers,” said Ubisoft in the official announcement.

Unlike the tree-riddled Itacua, Montuyoc features very little vegetation and a selection of lakes. This will make it more of a challenge to carry out stealth missions during the daytime — with the cover of night and some rain, anything is possible, however.

Ubisoft is also including a little “thank you” present in the full Ghost Recon Wildlands beta. As long as you tried out either the open or closed beta and have played the full version of the game on the same Ubisoft account, you’ll find three extra “Unidad Conspiracy” missions to complete.

Just like in the full game, the Ghost Recon Wildlands beta supports cooperative play, and this might be the best way to play the game from start to finish. During our time with it thus far, we found that the game was at its finest when friends were playing together, as the added communication can make navigating through hostile areas much easier.

Ghost Recon Wildlands is out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on March 7.

Former Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Topics

Gaming

Sony’s new PS5 Prism Collection gives a beautiful retro makeover to your console and controller

The new collection lets you peek inside your PS5 and DualSense controller with a glossy transparent design.

sony-prism-collection-ps5

Remember when transparent gadgets were the coolest things you could own? Sony is bringing that late '90s aesthetic back with its new PS5 Prism Collection. The gorgeous lineup gives your DualSense controller and PS5 console a glossy, see-through makeover in three eye-catching colors.

https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/2115459064981512662?s=19

Gaming

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s Stranded mission had me hooked for hours, yet left me wanting more

I spent hours sneaking through North Korea, scavenging supplies, and clearing outposts, and I’d happily do it all again.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Stranded mission gameplay

For years, Call of Duty’s campaign mode has used big, scripted set pieces to tell the overarching story amid all the adrenaline-pumping action. The 2023 Modern Warfare 3 tried to shake up the established formula by introducing a handful of short open combat missions, and I genuinely liked the idea, but the game's overall negative reception seeped into how those missions were received.

I feared the next iteration might abandon the idea because of the backlash, but I am glad it didn't. MW4’s “Stranded” mission uses the same approach, but instead of fragmenting it across the campaign, it puts it all in a single large-scale open-world mission.

Computing

The $1300 Acer Predator Atlas 8 handheld is finally US-bound, and its pre-orders are already sold out

Acer’s first gaming handheld to launch in the US arrives November 1 with Intel Arc G3 Extreme hardware.

Intel Arc G3 Extreme Hands On with Acer Predator Atlas 8

Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.

Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.