It would be hard to explain in one article the many quirks of the modern gaming industry. Early Access gaming is one such quirk that has had a profound effect on gaming; the idea that releasing games before they are fully complete is now an acceptable business practice. Combined with the games-as-a-service doctrine that most modern publishers use, as well as shareholders that demand certain release dates, means that it not uncommon for games to be released early or in an uncomplete state: often a game can be vastly different a few years down the line when compared to its initial release.
No Man’s Sky is the prime example of a game that has been greatly improved since release, were it to be reviewed now, it would most likely get a near perfect score but as we all know it had an abysmal rating upon its release. Ghost Recon Breakpoint, while not changing as dramatically, has markedly improved since its release, but has it improved enough?
A lot of things haven’t changed, namely the open world; which isn’t different from when the game released; none of the DLC’s add any new land, not that it needed anything extra: the Islands of Auroa are vast and there is a lot of verticality, which makes it seem even bigger, and the graphics combine well with the crisp environmental sound design to draw you in. The world is truly enormous; although this isn’t necessarily a good thing. Breakpoint suffers from the same bloat that plagues other Ubisoft games: it’s crammed full of activities that can wear a bit thin after playing for hours. The locations on the map follow the basic Ubisoft formula, the world is dotted with Ubi-outposts that have a handful of enemies and three or four chests to open. One thing Breakpoint does add is “Intel” which is another type of collectable used to unlock map markers that point to loot and fast travel points. Intel is also a common objective within missions. This means that you’ll spend most of your time sneaking into outposts, murdering the guards and collecting intel.
The story does nothing to break this monotony, I can’t say that I have been particularly gripped by its narrative, the main character sounds bland and uninterested and, while Jon Bernthal is a nice, albeit unnecessary, addition, his character of former spec-ops operator gone rogue is rather uninspired. For some reason Ubisoft also decided to add a dialogue menu when talking to NPC’s which is a direct copy and paste from the Assassins Creed games. The dialogue options change nothing and only provide you with the option to listen to some additional exposition: it feels very out of place in a Ghost Recon game.
So, a lot of the criticisms remain valid, Breakpoint released to some scathing reviews and for a AAA game of its calibre it fell very short of the mark. Reviewers marked it down for its bloat, its empty world and its subpar story. The thing that dragged Breakpoint down the most however, was its loot system. Ubisoft decided to take the loot system from another one of its IP’s “The Division” and transplanted it into Breakpoint. A strange choice given
that the Ghost Recon series has never been a looter shooter. It felt out of place: it diluted the military aspect of the game and made the weapons system arbitrary. Breakpoint introduced the idea of loot tiers into a franchise that has always put more of an emphasis on realism. Instead of a limited selection of realistic guns, the world is full of weapons with randomized stats that you need to routinely switch out as you find better ones. It also meant you had a huge inventory, and for a game about survival and guerilla warfare with limited resources it felt woefully discordant with them theme.
Ubisoft listened to this criticism and concocted a new way of playing Breakpoint, much more in line with fans expectations and the theme of the game. They added Immersive Mode: which gets rid of the loot system in place of a realistic inventory system in which you can only carry the two guns on your back, along with a sidearm. Getting rid of the loot system immediately elevated the game as it gave fans a more authentic Ghost Recon experience. Having to decide on a loadout means you will have to think about the type of soldier you want to be, I have been running with a silenced MP5 for covert, close quarters infiltration, and a sniper rifle long distance engagement; my tactic being: thin the guards from long range before sneaking in to take out the rest. If you wanted a more guns-blazing approach, then finding an LMG or an assault rifle may be more in tune with your playstyle. The revised inventory system also makes finding guns more rewarding, finding a specific gun that suits your play style is satisfying, and if you get some intel on the location of a particular sniper rifle, it can give you a reason to go on a mission to infiltrate an outpost to retrieve it; which alleviates some of mundanity and chore-like nature of clearing outposts for the sake of it.
If, however, you do like the loot system then you can keep it, as there is a toggle between “Immersive” and “Levelled Gear” mode, letting you freely switch between both modes of play. The customisation of game mechanics goes beyond just the one toggle: instead of making a binary choice between each mode you can adjust all the many different parameters of the games to find an ideal balance that suits you personally. As someone who enjoys immersion, but is awful at stealth(and shooting games in general), I switched immersive gear on so that I was limited to two guns, but turned the awareness of the enemy NPC’s right down so that I could enjoy stealth; and as someone who doesn’t like combing the map for collectibles, I switched HUD markers on for loot chests. This level of customisation of the mechanics themselves is welcome; it lets you create the type of experience that you want from Ghost Recon: a hardcore, highly tactical experience; with no HUD, constant drone patrols and highly vigilant enemies; or a looter shooter where all opposition falls before your mighty gold rarity shotgun.
No matter which kind of game you choose it to be, the action is dressed up with some incredibly tacti-cool customisation options. There is a huge plethora of cosmetic items that can be found in game or bought without the need for real life currency. Another thing that Ubisoft brought back in later updates are the AI teammates, which can also be fully customised. You can create ghosts: a deadly team of silent infiltrators, with black balaclavas and night vision goggles; or you can all run around in boonie hats and tank tops with machine guns. Maybe you just want to be a lone assassin, operating silently and alone behind enemy lines, it depends on which side of Breakpoint you want to embrace.
Another thing Ubisoft brought back from Wildlands is its main campaign, which is much more freeform than Breakpoint‘s, this was yet another part of Breakpoint that was met with resentment from fans and critics alike. Wildlands set you loose in Bolivia and it was up to you to figure out your own path to taking down the cartel, it made the game much more of an open world military sandbox and less of walking from point A to point B over and over again to pick up a new mission. This mode of campaign returns with Conquest mode, which takes place after the main story, setting you free into Auroa, where it’s up to you to destabilise the many different regions and take control of them in the way that you see fit. You can start this mode at any time and were it not for the increased difficulty of this mode (there are some nasty end game enemies) I would recommend this for first timers, as it gets rid of all the tiresome narrative in the base game.
I haven’t mentioned the gunplay yet: it is by far the best part of Breakpoint. It is rock solid, aiming feels snappy and the guns have a real weight to them, the cover system is smooth and the camera angles facilitate easy aiming and manoeuvring during firefights; no matter how you choose to enjoy Breakpoint, you can rest assured that the running, gunning and stealth feel excellent. This brilliant gunplay is why Breakpoint has mediocre reviews instead of bad ones. Controlling your character feels so good, it’s just the execution of everything else around it that caused Breakpoint to fall short.
It’s a game where you decide what kind of game you want out of it, it feels like Ubisoft released it without a vision, The Division gear system that was tacked on for no reason and a story that doesn’t add much was a disappointment upon release. Ubisoft have since released the tools to shape it into the kind of Ghost Recon game that you want. You can get rid of the loot system, and you can skip the story to go straight into conquest mode.
However, it’s hard not to imagine what it could have been if they kept the best parts of Wildlands: the lively open world, the mission structure and more freeform gameplay; and built on it with the graphics and gunplay of Breakpoint: it could have been the absolute pinnacle of the Ghost Recon series. Instead, they tried to add things to it like a gear system and a story that it didn’t need. Whether this was encouraged by the money up top, or if the developers thought that loot system = good game, I don’t know. The silver lining is that they did listen to fans; they added Conquest mode and the immersive gear system. But the world still feels empty, the story lacking and it still carries the scars of its underwhelming release. Breakpoint is a good game, but it has this feeling of being too little too late, and it’s hard not to think that it could have been so much more.
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