Ubisoft has announced today the release of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 into retailers across the U.S. Though the game bearing the same name hit the Xbox weeks prior, Ghost Recon 2 has been built "from the ground up" for the PS2, making it very much an original experience of the console (plus, it's set four years earlier). Players see the role of Captain Scott Mitchell in leading the Ghost Recon Special Forces team on a vital mission to investigate and defuse a possible nuclear threat from North Korea in the year 2007.

Employing prototypical soldier-of-the-future combat equipment actually based on current development of the U.S. government, Ghost Recon 2 offers what's been called a Lone Wolf single-player mode. The game's laundry list of features include a new team of ready-to-go Ghosts, a new over-the-shoulder camera angle (though classic first-person's still here), cinematic sequences and top-of-the-line graphics supported by the Unreal engine and Havok physics, plus extensive online multiplayer consisting of 10 maps, two new modes and full support of 16 players with voice chat.

"A brand-new team of Ghosts is storming PlayStation 2 this week, where they will blow away gamers with near-future realism, intense action, an original single-player campaign and a phenomenal multiplayer experience that rewards real-world strategic military tactics," assures Tony Kee, vice president of marketing for Ubisoft. "Not only is Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 for PlayStation 2 a completely different game than Ghost Recon 2 for Xbox, and the first Clancy title built from the ground up for the most popular console on the market, it's the only big military shooter for PlayStation 2 this year and the online shooter to get this holiday."

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 will be regrouping in stores all this week, and can be found under the suggested retail price of $49.99.