Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 PC

Dynamic Shadows

Dynamic shadows is the process of realistically simulating shadows in response to light in the game. Tree shadows that move across the ground in relation to the movements of the actual tree in the game-world? That’s an example of dynamic shadows.

Shadows can add a lot to a game like GRAW 2 in ways you might not even realise whilst playing. Because all the rebels you fight throughout the game are decked out in the appropriate camouflaged gear, they can be hard to spot and the excellent placement of the enemy – something GRAW 2 has done really well – means that dynamic shadows can make the difference between spotting the sniper early and take a bolt of lead to the front teeth.

Obviously, what we want to see here from the dynamic shadows setting is that the higher levels can correctly simulate the movements of shadows across the landscape and that they significantly add to the overall ambience.

GRAW 2 gave us three settings to tinker with – high, medium and off – so check out the comparisons below before reading on.


So, obviously turning the dynamic shadows off looks a bit pants, but what about the high and medium settings? Well, a careful eye will be able to spot that the higher setting appears a little sharper and we reckon that the setting also scales the number of dynamic shadows, as well as the quality.

Basically, dynamic shadows is a setting which should be pushed up to maximum in order to get the most realistic and interesting experience from GRAW 2 as it effects the look and feel of the game on a wider level.

Effects Detail

Effects detail governs the amount of detail which goes into elements like dust clouds and smaller physics objects which are kicked up by bullets hitting walls. That doesn’t usually happen to us when we play because we’re so unbelievably accurate with a scoped, silenced M14, so to get these screenshots we shot a few into the floor and snapped away.

There are two effects settings to choose from; high and low. Imaginative, eh? Comparative screenshots, as usual, are below.


The difference between the two screenshots is really quite stark, with the higher effects detail being obviously evidenced by the more dense cloud and more physics debris which is kicked up. Putting the higher setting on is going to make the game much more immersive and interesting to play and look at.

Many are the times that the walls around the player will suddenly explode with a plume of dust as a sniper round misses by a few inches and it’s times like that when the higher effects detail really does add to the game.