In a game with an entirely fictional backdrop, that wouldn't be so much of a problem. Because Santa Blanca are also foreigners, for the most part, there is no attempt to engage with actual Bolivian culture, no point of interaction that isn't driven by mechanical violence. Not once in the many ( many) hours of the campaign is there a single moment of humility. Never for a moment does your squad consider that to be an unreasonable task. Thematically, however, it's all murder and condescension. There is no attempt to engage with actual Bolivian culture Little churches on the hillsides look like they've been there for decades, a perfect mix of care and neglect. Wind from a helicopter's rotors will part grasses and shake trees. After the rain, water pools along the dirt road inside the tire tracks and footprints, little puddles with so many variations it's hard to tell if it's from template or if each kilometer is totally handcrafted. During a rainstorm, light will pierce the clouds and dapple the distant hills with sunlight while a grey, oppressive sky colors the world around you up close.

The contrast between the visual details of the game and the thematic construction is impressive and vexing.

The Buchons set the thematic tone for a province and must have their entire criminal infrastructure dismantled piece by piece. Under them are the regional bosses, the Buchons. He has four heads of operation, who each have an underboss. You play one member of a team of four special forces soldiers tasked with bringing down the Santa Blanca drug cartel, a Mexican drug-running operation that has taken over the whole country to create a religiously motivated narco-state. Even when viewed from above, you see a cohesive whole where climate and elevation dictate the landscape more than a deliberate theme. Each province of the game feels huge and aesthetically distinct. Wildlands borrows the landscape and architecture of Bolivia, one of the most naturally varied and lush places on Earth. It's not immediately apparent at first how stock-standard the game's interactivity is on account of the grandness and complexity of its map.

Tom clancy ghost recon wildlands