Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW 2) is the sequel to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It expands on the game play of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and is the fourth installment in the popular Ghost Recon tactical shooter video game series, published by Ubisoft.

The game takes place in 2014, less than a year after the events of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW), just south of the United States border, and deals with the conflict between a Mexican rebel group, Mexican loyalists, and the U.S. Army for a time span of 72 hours. A wide array of location types are included, featuring mountains, small towns, urban environments, and a large hydro-electric dam just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Plot
The game begins in Ciudad Juárez after the events of the first GRAW, where rebel activity has caused civil unrest throughout Mexico. Despite the death of Carlos Ontiveros in the first game, the insurgency has continued under the leadership of Juan de la Varrera, even spreading into other Latin American states, including Panama, Chile and Ecuador where rebel forces have effectively shut down the Panama Canal. The Ghosts are sent to Mexico by General Keating to investigate claims that the rebels are in possession of a dirty bomb, as well as prevent the rebellion from directly assaulting US soil. Immediately after arriving in Mexico, the Ghosts are put to work destroying a sizeable rebel position guarded by two large artillery pieces, enabling additional American forces to reach the main battle-zone unmolested. Shortly thereafter, Mitchell aids in an aerial attack against a rebel supply base from Blackhawk 5, annihilating two enemy weapons convoys in the process. The Ghosts also learn that de la Barrera has obtained old Ukrainian Red Star IV nuclear warheads. Combined with several medium-range, Pakistani-built Kashmira-II missiles stolen from cargo ships in the Canal, the rebel now possess the ability to destroy any major city in the United States.

With the WMD threat confirmed, the Ghosts travel to Ciudad Juárez to search for the nukes, and link up with loyalist Mexican Army troopers led by Colonel Jimenez. Aided by Mexican armoured vehicles and American fighters, the Ghosts and their allies clear out much of the rebel presence from the city, neutralizing several checkpoints before crushing a rebel stronghold in the local marketplace. As the Mexican troops advance to secure the marketplace, however, an underground explosion rips through the district, killing the loyalist vanguard and flooding the area with deadly radiation. Realizing that the market held one of the missing Red Star IV's and containment was lost, Keating orders a retreat. After linking back up with Jimenez and his soldiers, intelligence arrives suggesting that a local journalist with inside access to the rebel leadership knows the location of the remaining two nukes, and is willing to come forward and assist the Americans. Working with Jimenez's most elite troopers, the Ghosts destroy a series of anti-aircraft batteries and hold off a devastating rebel counterattack, enabling the journalist to be extracted safely, and the information she holds preserved. With all other assets devoted to protecting the reporter, Mitchell and his squad link up with Blackhawk 5 in front of a local church for evac.

Disaster strikes when Blackhawk 5 is crippled by enemy RPG fire and brought down, and the Ghosts, now cut off from rescue, are forced to defend themselves against a group of heavily-armed and highly-trained mercenaries assisting the rebels. Barely escaping the immediate warzone via Humvee, the vehicle is hunted down and destroyed by rebel Havoc helicopter, killing both the driver, PFC Provenanzo, and incapacitating the Ghost squad. The only survivor of the wreck, Mitchell manages to escape aboard Blackhawk 9 with the aid of a friendly Mexican soldier, before providing air support for the American salvage convoy sent to recover Blackhawk 5. Having captured both Lieutenant Rosen (Mitchell's friend and field runner) along with the remains of the helicopter, the rebels attempt to use this victory as a propaganda tool. Unfortunately for the rebels, the Ghosts shut down their attempts at media manipulation by destroying the Blackhawk wreckage (removing the evidence of the American loss), before storming a heavily-defended, mercenary-controlled hacienda to rescue Lieutenant Rosen, weathering a powerful reprisal from mercenary reinforcements before they can be extracted.

With the intelligence gathered from both the Mexican journalist and Lieutenant Rosen, the Americans finally have the location of the last two nukes, back in Ciudad Juárez. Destroying additional enemy anti-air defences around the site, Mitchell leads one team of Ghosts to secure the exterior of the target building while a second unit of Ghosts, lead by Derrick Parker, assaults the site directly. As Mitchell and his team bravely battles off a strong force of rebels, Bravo Team secures one of the nuclear weapons, but are stymied by de la Barrera, who escapes with the last warhead. Fighting through a densely-packed urban warzone, often faced with rebel APC's, machine-gun nests and anti-tank units along with the mercenaries, the Ghosts eventually punch through the enemy lines and kill de la Barrera, removing the rebel leadership...but do not find the last nuke. Oblivious to the defeat of their rebel employers, the mercenaries have taken the last nuke and intend on using it against the United States in a final act of revenge.

US intelligence finds out that the mercenaries plan to take the nukes to El Paso, Texas, in order to destroy a large dam and the city around it. The dam turns out to be on top of a major American military installation where the mercenaries successfully hacked the US anti-ballistic missile defense grid, leaving the country vulnerable to nuclear attack. Discovering that the nukes are not, in fact, in El Paso, the Ghosts return to Ciudad Juárez, fighting through the last, desperate enemy forces to discover the last warhead has been armed and installed in one of the Khasmira-II missiles. Mitchell and his team end up pinned down on a balcony overlooking the launch site. With little time to spare, and President Ballentine unwilling to destroy the entire city in order to neutralize the threat, the Americans try to use an EMP(Electro-Magnetic-Pulse) missile fired by air support to disable the launchers. However, Mitchell and his team are still in range of the blast, and General Keating hesitates on authorizing air support with friendly soldiers in the blast area. Keating tells Mitchell "Son, I can't ask you to do this," but Mitchell says "Sir, it's why you sent me here, you know this is the only way." An American fighter fires the EMP missile, eliminating the threat but catching the Ghosts directly in the blast. The view cuts to Mitchell falling back by the explosion, with faint voices from Mitchell's crosscom. Lieutenant Rosen's Blackhawk can be seen from this view, and while Keating and Rosen plead with him to stay alive, President Ballantine thanks him for saving the nation. Rosen's chopper hovers over Mitchell, Rosen appears on the crosscom saying "Soldier, you're going home" and the game then cuts to the credits.

A TeamXbox Article confirms that Captain Scott Mitchell survives, as the article states that Mitchell leads the JSF Forces as a General in Tom Clancy's EndWar, which takes place sometime after the events in Advanced Warfighter 2. However, it does not state whether or not Mitchell's team survived.

Trivia

 * In Tom Clancy's HAWX, the first mission is set in Ciudad Juàrez where you cover Captain Scott Mitchells squad.