Ghost Recon Wildlands’ PS5 upgrade has one job: make a 2017 shooter worth reinstalling

Ghost Recon Wildlands has reached the point where better hardware is more useful than a fresh coat of marketing paint. Its August 6 PS5 and Xbox Series upgrade targets 4K at 60fps, faster SSD loading, 3D audio, and PS5 DualSense features. That is a meaningful repair job for a 2017 open-world shooter built around constant fast travel, checkpoint reloads, vehicle handling, and chaotic outpost fights.

The update is free for existing owners, includes the new The Last Rites mission, and arrives alongside free access from August 6 through August 10. Progress earned during that window carries into the full game. The decision is simple for returning players: reinstall it. For everyone else, use the trial to determine whether smoother performance can overcome the parts of Wildlands that were never hardware problems.

60fps fixes the friction, not the formula

A native 60fps version matters more here than it would in a slower, linear game. Wildlands asks players to pan a camera across sprawling compounds, track targets through busy firefights, fly helicopters through uneven terrain, and steer vehicles that have always felt more functional than elegant. Better frame pacing makes all of that easier to read and control.

SSD loading should also improve the rhythm of play. Fast travel, deaths, restarts, and co-op joins are recurring interruptions in a map this large. Reducing those delays will not transform Bolivia into a tighter open world, but it removes the sort of low-level friction that makes an older Ubisoft game feel older than it needs to.

The important caveat is obvious: the upgrade does not redesign the game’s structure. Wildlands remains a broad tactical sandbox of reconnaissance, synchronized takedowns, base infiltration, and a lot of driving between objectives. Players who bounced off that loop before should not expect 4K resolution to stage an intervention.

The free trial is the useful part of Ubisoft’s pitch

The August 6-10 free-play period is more valuable than the usual “look, an old game runs better now” announcement. It gives new players a short, practical way to test the upgraded version before buying, while lapsed players can see whether the performance changes materially improve the experience they remember.

• Existing PS4 or Xbox One owners: Download the upgrade. There is no purchase decision to make.
• New players: Use the trial for a busy combat scenario, a stealth infiltration, and some vehicle travel. That covers most of the game’s actual loop.
• PS5 players: Test the DualSense haptics and adaptive triggers during sustained fire and weapon changes. They need to add useful feedback, not merely resistance.
• Xbox Series S players: Compare the reported 1440p Quality and 1080p Performance options on your own display rather than treating a mode label as a verdict.

One practical test matters most: find a large outpost, trigger a loud fight, and watch the camera movement and target tracking when explosions, AI, and vehicles pile up. A 60fps target is the headline. Stability under pressure is the evidence.

The Last Rites gives returning players a reason beyond settings menus

The Last Rites is the part that keeps this from being a purely technical refresh. The free story mission introduces La Llorona and her cult, Los Penitentes, giving veterans a new operation to run rather than asking them to admire faster load screens from the main menu.

It also includes the return of the Predator mission, adding a legacy challenge alongside the new story content. Neither item amounts to a campaign-sized expansion, and players seeking a fundamentally new Ghost Recon should keep expectations under control. But for a game approaching a decade old, a new mission plus current-gen performance support is a more credible revival package than a resolution bump alone.

What to watch before committing

Start The Last Rites early in the free window, then test fast travel, respawns, co-op joining, stealth audio cues, and one large firefight. Those checks reveal whether the native version improves the parts of Wildlands that consume most of a session.

For existing owners, this is a free upgrade worth claiming. For newcomers, the trial is the correct entry point: judge the tactical sandbox on its own terms, then decide whether the improved performance makes its older Ubisoft design easier to live with.