Ghost Recon Wildlands: Last Rites PS5 Review – Better Off In The Shadows

When we reviewed Ghost Recon Wildlands nearly a decade ago, we believed it had promise. It was solid on the combat front, while its stealth mechanics were a tad too unbalanced to make them what I would have wanted them to be, while a fairly dumb enemy AI and some atrocious vehicular traversal held it back in my eyes, at least.

But the mechanical foundations of its gameplay loop were definitely interesting back then, and have since made it quite a popular title in the illustrious franchise’s lineup. Indeed, it’s popular enough to warrant a free update that brings a graphical bump to the familiar game while adding an entirely new mission, complete with an antagonist who makes even El Sueño seem harmless by comparison?

But is it enough of a celebratory nod to 25 years of Ghost Recon? Does the new update make Wildlands feel more current-gen than the original version? Can the return of the Predator event be enough to put The Ghosts back in the limelight? Probably not, and that’s a shame.

Let’s get the new 4K/60 fps update out of the way early. Yes, it makes the graphics quite smooth while the visuals received a nice upgrade. Lighting and reflections look a lot better, although low-light situations do become problematic, a flaw I’m going to touch upon again a little later. However, the pop-in from the original release, along with character models and textures that look very outdated by modern standards, make it obvious that this one’s a last-gen title on a current-gen system.

However, the one upside here is that my base PS5 managed 60fps even in intense firefights and other resource-heavy situations, allowing for a very smooth experience and markedly better gunplay thanks to how much easier aiming is when there are more frames in play. I only wish that the load times had been better optimised, as getting in and out of the action took long enough for me to notice, which is saying something today.

Of course, the new Last Rites mission is the star of the show and its premise is interesting enough. Taking around one to two hours to finish, Last Rites is accessible directly from the main menu with no prerequisites. It sees the Ghosts return to Bolivia, where a new handler presents them with a fresh target: La Llorona. She’s a feisty one, and presented as an antagonist so unhinged, putting her out of her misery almost feels like a mercy. Of course, she’s inspired so much zealous fervor within her ranks that getting to her requires some meticulous work. Well, the Ghosts have never walked away from a challenge now, have they?

"The Ghosts return to Bolivia, where a new handler presents them with a fresh target."

The story has the twists and turns you’d come to expect from a Ghost Recon title, although one of them came early enough for it to feel like quite a curveball, and in a good way. Things are presented to you on the go just like in the base game, and you’re going to be spending your time traversing the new sub-region this mission’s locked into, with new information being presented to you with each objective you complete. It’s interesting, and definitely among the highlights of the update for me. It’s well-placed, well-written, and definitely more than capable of holding my interest.

The voice acting is effective, while the presentation feels a little too similar to the rest of the game to stand out. That the main Campaign’s fight against Santa Blanca only receives a passing mention is probably a good thing, since it frees this side chapter from having to force references to events from the rest of Bolivia into the fray. It helps keep Last Rites focused on its antagonists, and that’s a very good thing given that they come across as a viable threat.

However, the objectives themselves are nothing more than an excuse to send you from one place to the next, with armed compounds you must infiltrate to either collect intel yourself or perhaps send your drone to eavesdrop on a high-ranking member of La Llorona’s organization. Good luck finding something important in the dark, though. The low light performance was a serious downer, making it very annoying to navigate indoor environments.

You get to take the same vehicles that the base game offered, while some of them come with cool paint jobs to add a bit of celebratory flair to things. Of course, driving those vehicles is as frustrating as it’s ever been with their tendency to wildly oversteer and spin out of control at even the slightest bit of hard turning. What’s even more annoying is that dying or failing an objective respawns you at a considerable distance away, forcing you to endure another round of frustrating driving to return to where you were.

It’s slightly disappointing that a story that’s quite intriguing isn’t backed up by gameplay that matches it. Lackluster objectives are joined by an enemy AI that remains largely unchanged from the rest of the game, along with stealth options like Sync Shot that can let you command your teammates to just clear entire patrols without a single one of them being any the wiser. That thing seriously needs a nerf on its cooldowns given how it trivializes a lot of the game. Is it fun? Hell, yeah! Is it anything we haven’t already seen in Wildlands? Sadly no.

"The default setting is probably more than enough for casual players, but the more hardcore Ghosts amongst you are going to appreciate what’s on offer and how it makes things more demanding if that’s how you push your sliders."

I found myself tearing through missions on both Arcade and Normal, while greater difficulty options turned the tables on me more often than not. Of course, the new customization options are most welcome, letting you tweak everything from enemy behaviour and damage values to weapon restrictions, friendly fire, weather, and HUD elements until you’ve shaped the experience into something that feels just right for you. The default setting is probably more than enough for casual players, but the more hardcore Ghosts amongst you are going to appreciate what’s on offer and how it makes things more demanding if that’s how you push your sliders.

Enemy aggression and awareness are pretty great, although I’d say that it’s a very familiar AI given how many times we’ve seen it before. Wildlands might have been good for its time, but it’s too lacking by modern standards to make this free update do any wonders. Yes, the returning Predator event should give you a few more hours of fun, but it’s essentially as good now as it was then, and there isn’t much more to say about it.

As far as the free update goes, you’re getting a visual bump, a new standalone mission, customization options, and not really much else. Last Rites is definitely good enough to make Wildlands veterans come back to Bolivia for a time, but can it make them stay? That depends on how addictive they found the original base game. But for new players, if you weren’t already sold on Wildlands, it isn’t likely that Last Rites is going to work any miracles.

As a part of a game that’s still listed as a PS4 title, it’s probably worth taking advantage of the trial weekend to just dive into Wildlands and get through it if you don’t own a copy of the game. The current PlayStation Store discount is also quite tempting if Ghost Recon is something you’ve enjoyed over the years, or are curious about trying out. But as a purchase, it isn’t something I can recommend wholeheartedly in a world where titles like Ready or Not make for far better experiences.

Last Rites is enough of a firework show to mark a milestone that many other franchises in modern gaming would be envious of. But other than that, it isn’t much more than an interesting side chapter in Bolivia, far removed from Santa Blanca while retaining the main campaign’s limitations, and that’s probably its biggest weakness. It’s still fun if you’re playing it for free, though.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.