Wraith Recon RPG Setting

It took me a few moments to "get" the title of this new fantasy setting for 4E D&D, put out by Mongoose Publishing. Now, I'm a big fan of the original Ghost Recon game. Actually, I was a big fan of the original Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear computer games, and Ghost Recon took my enthusiasm to a whole new level. I would play GR for hours upon hours, my whole world nothing but my 19" monitor and my headphones (definitely one of the first games for me where the usefulness of stereo sound was critical - you could actually tell where voices and footsteps and gunfire was coming from just by listening). I never played GR 2, and GRAW (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter) has been long neglected but is currently on deck for the next time I get the video gaming bug. In terms of FPS video games, I think Ghost Recon is one of the best for an overall sense of realism, tension, and just plain attention to detail. There are better looking games and more advanced games, but Ghost Recon is for me the standard against which all other FPS's are judged.


Which brings us back to Wraith Recon. Now, I'm not super obsessed with fantasy being kept as "traditional" fantasy, but there's just something that rubs me the wrong way here. Granted, most PC parties are like a Special Forces A-Team - you've got specialists, you've got cross-trained generalists, you've got recon and medics and heavy support and all that fun stuff, just in a fantasy PC group. BUT, to take this idea and carry it to what may or may not be a natural conclusion just sits a little bit wrong with me. I usually don't mind a little cross-pollenation of my gaming genres, but it has to be done with a certain sly-wink attitude so that I know it's all done for the sake of a good laugh and a little bit of "hey, that's sweet!". This setting just seems a little too close to serious to give me that vibe. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right, who knows.

I ask that you take a look, and judge for yourselves. Comments?