Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint Review
Friday October 4th saw the launch of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, releasing on PC via the Uplay Store and Epic Games Store, PS4 and Xbox One. There was both a closed beta and open beta that occurred during the month of September to introduce the games various features. Now we can dive in to explorer the full released game in more detail.
I did a short write up on the closed Beta, when it was available, exploring the various game play mechanics and features that were involved during that Beta test. When I jumped into the full release of the game, of course I was greeted with way more content, features and mechanics overall as I started making more progress throughout the game. I was really shocked at how much more content there was and really impressed by this effort.
There is plentiful customisation options available to you while you enjoy your stay in Auroa. The main aim is to explore the island, while you have missions or side missions active, in order to find military crates so that you can increase your loot arsenal. I found this to be really enjoyable as it gave me a chance to soak in my environment, learn who my enemies are, gather resources and to start understanding how to use the games mechanics more effectively. The game also has timed events for extra special loot that the player can grind for which I really appreciated being added to the game. There is also once again support missions scattered around the map to help the local island community as we saw in Ghost Recon Wildlands. There is so much future plans for this game so best to jump in now to reap all the rewards!
Furthermore, you have a very large skill tree which really aids you in your fight against the Wolves. The more missions and enemy interactions you get involved in, the more XP you are going to gain in order to improve on your skills overall. I really like the four classes that are given to you and you are not restricted for example to an Assault only based class. You can mix and match it when you want to at any time to change the experience. Along with the many weapons, attachments, perks, upgrades and combat gear to choose from, Ghost Recon Breakpoint gives you abundant ways to customise your character to your liking.
The Map is rather large and exploring it will take a lot of time. When you embark on your various missions or just general exploration between missions, there are many options for transport that will assist you. You can also discover various Bivouac locations, where you can rest up and craft various items that will aid you in your journey. These Bivouacs also serve as fast travel locations throughout the map, making navigation slightly easier as well. I really felt immersed into the open world environment of Ghost Recon Breakpoint and felt that the developers did a fantastic job of making a very realistic environment that is unforgiving in so many ways. The most impressive feature for me, in this open world, is the fact that you know you are not welcome on this island. You have to be on high alert at all times, I found this to be a truly gripping experience while exploring Auroa.
The next feature of the game that I really started pilling the hours into was the games multiplayer feature called Ghost War. You unlock this game mode when you reach Erewhon, which is the safety nesting for the locals in the mountains away from the watchful eye of the enemy. Here you will speak to an NPC that will give you an overview of Ghost War and then you can jump straight into the action. The modes on offer is a straight up 4v4 elimination rounds where you need to eliminate the enemy team in a Team Death match scenario and a Sabotage mode which again is 4v4 rounds which puts one team on defense and one on the offensive. There is also 6 maps available from launch with dedicated servers.
Moreover, a really nice feature for Ghost War is that players are matched against the same skill leveled players going into a match. They have done this to level out the playing field for the more serious players versus the not so frequent/causal players. I would hate to be paired in a match with a player that is level 100 plus and I am on level 20 with a few hours of play so, I feel personally this type of balancing is perfect. The hit detection is very good overall even considering that we do not have local servers available for Ghost War. Finding games is also very quick and easy. I find it loads easier finding games in Breakpoint compared to how long I had to wait to find a game in Wildlands, so a definite improvement in this new title.
I am playing the game on PC and with all settings switched to Ultra in 1440p resolution, I found the game to run really well compared to both Beta's even. I mean yeah, the Beta is for testing and don't expect it to run 100%, but the Beta's ran really well so the fact that the complete released game runs even better shows that the development team did a solid job. I did not experience any frame drops and the graphics is seriously something to experience for yourself. I cannot really criticize much on the overall performance of the game as I did not run into any problems while playing either the PvE or Ghost War PvP modes.
If you have not picked up this title yet and are a fan of behind enemy lines, realistic military shooters, then Ghost Recon Breakpoint is most defiantly right up your ally. You will really be able to pack in the hours with this game. The story line is just so captivating and you really struggle to logoff. I really feel like they have improved on so much compared to what they did with Wildlands and don't get me wrong, Wildlands was a roller coaster of a ride. Breakpoint is just the next level experience and shows that the franchise is moving in such an incredible direction.