Ubisoft is heavily supporting the Nintendo 3DS at launch, but the title that most has my attention is Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars . Though traditionally a first-person shooter, Shadow Wars is taking the franchise into the realm of tactical strategy games. Think Advance Wars with the high-tech, edgy Tom Clancy license.

Naturally I wanted to know more about the game. I was curious how Ubisoft was approaching development on the 3DS, particularly with Ghost Recon, which was changing direction with its new platform. I fired off several questions to Shadow Wars producer Julian Gollop, who proceeded to not only answer my questions, but answer them in incredible detail. In some ways, short of hands-on impressions of how the game plays, this is everything you'll need to know about Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars . Be sure to check out the trailer below as well as the screenshots I uploaded earlier today.

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Turn based strategy games are my favorite type of game, and I have been making them since 1983. Unfortunately this style of game became virtually extinct on the PC with a few notable exceptions, such as Civilization.When I first got 'Advance Wars' for my GBA I was overjoyed. Here was a very playable, thoughtful game that was purely turn based. Tactical RPGs have also developed as an interesting niche, and have some similarities with the X-Com games I made back in the mid-nineties. In fact Nintendo handhelds have been a bit of a haven for such games, so I decided to propose making a turn based tactical game based on the Ghost Recon series.The game has a similar interface to Advance Wars, but the focus is more character based, like Fire Emblem. You control a squad of six distinct characters with different abilities and equipment. Sometimes you have allies, depending on the mission. The emphasis is on tactics, taking into account many factors such as cover, elevation, range, line of fire and the various capabilities of all the weapons.Yes, the game is entirely in third person. This works best for tactical games because the player needs a good overview of the battlefield and the relative positions of his squad, the enemy and terrain elements. The environments are very varied and detailed with terrain elements having a significant effect on the game play.Basic gun combat is based on range, accuracy and line of fire. Some weapon types are less reliable and more random in damage inflicted, such as machine guns. Some are much better at close range, such as the PDWs (personal defense weapons). Some retain power and accuracy at longer range, such as sniper rifles.Another significant factor is the maximum range a character can move and still use his weapon. Heavy weapons, such as machine guns, have a limited move and shoot range, whereas lighter weapons, such as PDWs have a bigger move and shoot range. Beyond this, special weapon attributes are very significant. These include armor penetration, anti-vehicle, indirect fire, area effect, return fire, support fire, suppression and EMP (electro-magnetic pulse weapons).All these elements make for interesting choices in every turn. For example, a gunner in the open with a heavy machine gun may need to make a choice between shooting at an available target and remaining exposed, or moving into cover and relying on return fire to deal with the enemy.In addition to standard attacks there are also 'power attacks'. Each Ghost will accumulate 'power points' from attacking or killing enemy characters and vehicles. Once a Ghost has 100 power points he has the option to launch a power attack, which varies based on the weapon type. For example, the Commando's shoulder launcher has a 'wide impact' power attack which increases the area effect of his missiles and doubles the damage. The Recon's 'rapid strike' attack can allow her to deal double damage with her knife and then move and act again.Finally, the player has access to 'Command Powers' which can be activated by spending 'Command Points,' which are earned by controlling 'command flags.' Normally a map will have two or three command flags positioned around the map at strategic points, such as hilltops or command bunkers. In many missions, capturing command flags is an important intermediate objective. The command powers are 'Power charge', which gives 20 power points to all Ghosts, 'Reactivate', which allows an acted character to act again, and 'Airstrike', which calls in a devastating airstrike with a wide blast area. The airstrike is the most expensive, and most fun, command power, but it is not available in every mission.These factors make the game very positional. You need to think carefully where to place your soldiers to maximize offensive capability, return fire and cover. Soldiers at higher elevation gain a damage bonus when shooting at targets below, whereas shooting from below to a higher target will incur a damage penalty.Cover is a very significant factor. There are two types; soft cover – such as trees, vegetation and wooden fences, and hard cover – generally buildings and solid walls. Soft cover will reduce damage by 25% and hard cover by 50%. Return fire and support fire are the most innovative concepts in the game system. Generally, when a target is attacked it can return fire if it survives.Additionally, two other characters allied to the target can also shoot back, which is called support fire. Thus, by using groups of three soldiers positioned correctly, they can provide each other with support fire. However, not all weapons are good for this. A sniper rifle can never be used for return or support fire. Assault rifles will only provide 50% damage in return or support fire, but machine guns are the best – giving 100% of their normal damage in both return and support fire.In the story based campaign mode there are 37 missions, which will take about 25-45 hours to play through, depending on difficulty level selected and the tactical expertise of the player. In this mode the player can level up his characters and equip them. There are 10 two-player missions, in which players take turns to control the console.There are 20 'skirmish missions' which are standalone missions with fixed deployments. Some of them are training missions, some are battles, and some are puzzley. These missions are unlocked either by completing certain campaign misisons or by earning ranks. The rank system is based on earning 'eagles'. You gain a number of eagles for each mission based on the difficulty selected (rookie, veteran or elite). In order to gain the maximum rank you need to complete all the campaign and skirmish missions at the highest difficulty. Fortunately you can always go back to any unlocked mission and try it again at a higher difficulty.