Home Entertainment Our Initial Ghost Recon: Breakpoint Review

Our Initial Ghost Recon: Breakpoint Review

by Nick Stucker

Even though Tom Clancy, a master of war, drama and spy thriller-filled story telling, has long passed, his deeply rich and content filled world of Ghost Recon, and other titles under the Tom Clancy name, will always endure and thrive in various works and projects.

The latest project, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, is to be released this October, and luckily, I was able to get my hands on the private beta version and play it a little. So here we go.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is actually a sequel/continuation of the successful and controversial Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Set four years after the events in Boliva (Wildlands), you yet again take command of Nomad, sent to the Pacific island of Auroa where a colony/corporation known as Skell Technology goes dark. Because of rumors that the highly advanced Skell Technology has fallen under control of rogue private security companies, it is your job to find out what’s gone wrong. And that’s where all hell breaks lose after you are shot down along with the rest of your Ghost teammates.

Right off the bat you are to create your character mid-flight to your main mission area. It took me a good 20 minutes to finally create my character the way I wanted. For a beta version, there were a lot of choices to make in what you wanted your character to look like. Compared to Wildlands, it was a step up in character customization, especially in graphics and detail.

Now while I was only given access to the initial first two main story mission and a series of side missions, I must say, that I was both pleasantly surprised and concerned at the same time. The gamemap itself is almost twice the size of Wildlands. While it may not look like it, due to the rich and upgraded in-depth content, Breakpoint is trying to put itself ahead of other role-playing, online shooters.

Perhaps one of the more difficult aspects of the game to grasp is the new item level system. Your gear have levels now that will determine your success at a mission or against a boss, sort of like Tom Clancy’s The Division series.  It doesn’t restrict you in taking on the mission, but just lets you know your level and the chances of success you’ll have. The only way of knowing if your gear level is below the recommended level is if the enemy has a skull above their head. I learned this the hard way, mainly because I didn’t pay attention initially.

But there was a trick I finally found out, thanks to looking it up on the Internet (yes, I needed help initially. Sue me.) Apparently the skull icons just mean that, yes, they are a higher level than you, but it means they’ll spot you/detect you quicker. However, if you’re a sniper, and place a shot in their head, they’ll die instantly, regardless of you skill level. This realistic aspect came from the user reviews and recommendations from Wildlands; and it seems the developers listened. In a Q&A, a statement was released, saying:

“Whatever the human enemy level, you will always be able to eliminate them with a single headshot, as long as they are not wearing a helmet,” Ubisoft stated, “in which case you just need to land a shot once to remove it, and then a second time to take them down.”

Also added are the different class systems, and each class will have its own unique advantages. Added, each teammate’s class will play off of the the other in unison like a team should. Another aspect to the game is camouflage, which in Wildlands didn’t have much of. In this game, you can actually cover yourself up in mud from the ground in order to hide from a Wolf Pack (group of private mercenaries sent to kill you). I initially did this and was able to take out four enemies in a matter of seconds.

All in all, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint looks to be a very satisfying game that is branching out into the role-playing spectrum, but still staying true to the epic, drama-filled shooter series that it is. And lets not forget that The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal is playing the main antagonist of the game, who is a former Ghost himself in the series.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is set to release October 4th, 2019.

 

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I am married to a beautiful and devoted woman; I have been writing for over ten years now with one science fiction novel published and currently working on a couple screenplays. I am a college graduate with a Masters in criminal justice and currently furthering my education for my Ph.D in criminal justice. In my off time, I game on Xbox and my gaming computer when time permits.

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