The signs of a good interface aren't always visible. An elegant in-game display susses out the sweet spot between education and economy, making it an art that is often overlooked by design. And when games aim, claim or clamor to be cinematic, life bars and scores tend to be the first things tossed out as distracting clutter. The traditional HUD is fading from view.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier occupies the same fictional space as Call of Duty, adding a glossy veneer to war and sexing things up with tantalizing gadgets. But Ubisoft's take on modern warfare isn't about seeing -- it's about reading. Oh, there's no shortage of cover-based shooting and GET-TO-THE-RPG-ing in here, but those actions are informed throughout by a busy interface. In comparison to many "immersive" blockbusters, you're getting a library and not a pamphlet.

In practice, this means Ghost Recon is about learning to decipher information quickly, and drafting attack blueprints on the fly. Despite being on the action-heavy -- pardon me, streamlined -- spectrum of console games, Future Soldier uses its hologram-heavy premise as an excuse to fill the screen with data. Warning: It requires reading comprehension, which is a rather extravagant demand when some of the most popular games just want you to strap in and see the pretty sights whizzing by.