Recently we were given the chance to download Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint open beta and through this get a first-hand experience of what their next game has to offer. While I expected there to be a few missions and the multiplayer, what I didn’t expect is just how much they had to offer as an open beta. They easily could have given us only a small sample of the entire game, but then again this just might only be a small sample.
Gameplay
Starting out with an opening cutscene that shows our helicopter going down, we get the first set of tutorial pieces put in front of us. Through a variety of situations, starting with healing ourselves and leading into the different enemies we encounter, we can learn all the different controls that we will need in order to get through the game. It is long into this tutorial that we trigger the cutscene that shows us the role that Jon Bernthal plays – a traitor to the military and the leader of the rogue army known as the Wolves.
This first experience shows you all the different tools you have to work with, including healing items, grenades, mines, and more, as well as the actual combat. Wielding two main weapons and a pistol, you have a variety of options on how to handle each and every situation or mission you come across to the point that you can add a suppressor to all your different weapons for extra stealth. Going through these options is made simply with direction buttons and an easy guide.
You will also get to take your first vehicle out, but I find the driving controls to be a little bit lacking. It does feel like you are holding the e-break constantly and get a drifting effect, but it is still workable. I prefer to use the helicopter whenever possible as it is easy to control and the fastest way to travel.
They also added a kind of survival aspect where you can find campsites that you can set up at. Once you set up you can craft different items that will give you a boost in different areas like stamina, accuracy, and such. You can then look through the consumable menu and pick one of the many options to boost you through the next hour. This could be drinking water to make your stamina last longer or any of the other options listed.
Interestingly enough, the weapons and set up you have for your single-player / co-op mission character is the same set up you take with you into multiplayer. This means when you rank up your weapons to be more powerful, that transfers over with you. Not having different setups makes the main and side missions that much more worth going through, plus you don’t even have to go it alone! So be sure to set up your clothing to suit multiplayer action before going in as well.
Currently, there is only elimination and sabotage set up for multiplayer, but so far it is randomized, and I keep getting elimination. In this mode it is a 4v4 battle on a semi-large map with the only way to find the opponent is for you or a teammate to tag them, or to get to the hacking station once it is available. If you are successful with the station, all enemy players are shown on the map for a short period of time. You can also heal downed players, so you can use this knowledge to both get your team up and use downed players as bait to lure out your opponents for a quick kill. The arena will shrink as time passes, so the game will be forced to an end if it starts taking too long, but keep in mind that stealth, focus, and teamwork are all key elements.
Expectations
They had a whole bunch of side missions that you could do as well as main missions in the game. Each of these missions came with their own rewards and experience, so I hope to see tons of hours of gameplay opportunity here. Even if the main missions only take six to eight hours to get through, the side missions seem to be on track to keep us busy for far longer.
I love the idea of the crafting and survival aspects they added to the game. Being able to dismantle the gear that we aren’t using and then use those parts to upgrade our own weapons or craft items to boost our stats is an awesome aspect I hope to see expanded on for players to use easily. Although, I didn’t see any way to drop items or trade with a player which would come in handy when it comes to sharing resources with teammates. A trading system of some kind needs to be added to the game.
Conclusion
Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is on a fast-track to being an amazing game! Perfectly mixing stealth and intense gameplay, all while leaving how missions are completed up to the player, to bring the action to a peak that lets players enjoy a challenge while toning their skills is something I love to see. There are some things that need to be added and improved upon, but they are heading in the right direction. If you haven’t tried the open beta yet, I highly suggest getting on it before it’s closed.
