Explore the island of Auroa as an elite tactical operative as you uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of a future tech mogul. Play solo, or co-operate with up to 3 friends as you loot and shoot your way across a harsh, unforgiving environment. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint Details
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Reviewed on: Xbox One
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Tactical shooter
Modes: Single player, Multiplayer
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Near-future nightmare
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint takes place on “Auroa”, a remote island archipelago in the South Pacific. Here lies the base of operation for Jack Skell—a tech mogul focusing on creating a future utopia for the coming generations. However after a series of mounting disturbances puts Skell Technology in question, it’s up to the Ghosts to investigate.
Normally the elite military tactical “Ghosts” have the upper hand. However, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint focuses on what happens when things go wrong. Your squad suffers heavy casualties right from the get-go. The game wastes no time in transitioning from a scripted operative to a struggle for survival.
An equally skilled team of rogue agents known as the “Wolves” have taken over Auroa, and Skell’s drone army seems to be working against you. Now instead of executing a well-crafted plan, “Nomad” (the player-controlled protagonist) must instead adapt and improvise with every skill and survival tactic at their disposal. Your job is not just to unlock the mystery behind Auroa and Skell, but to simply survive at all.
A large open-world island to explore
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint certainly offers a well-dotted open-world experience. After a relatively brief tutorial/introduction leading players to the hub base, Auroa opens up entirely. Nomad is free to pursue multiple objectives or simply wander anywhere across the expanse.
The environment itself is gorgeous, and looks great on my Xbox One X console. Dynamic weather patterns and lighting really bring Auroa to life. As I play I continue to find the advancements in permeating sunlight or the way rainwater fills muddy tire tracks amazing. The screen darkens with greater intensity the thicker your foliage cover, obscuring your view and lending a greater sense of realism to attacking enemies in stealthy terrain.
Traversing the island quickly is easy with a number of mobile options, including helicopters. Although I have to say that I’ve never seen so many options for flight control axis inversion in the options menu—while simultaneously still not delivering the one I want. Despite much effort I was neither able to get the helicopter or my drone to behave in a way that made sense to me.
The same old song and dance
There are plenty of dynamic events that occur as you traverse the environment. A completionist could actually find the number of markers on the map daunting. It seems that within a hundred yards in any direction there is always at the very least a quest to follow or a piece of intel to gain.
The downside is that these events become repetitive far sooner than expected. My first explorations on Auroa, and discovering the wealth of interactions and events that seem to populate it was vitalizing to say the least. However they become dull and predictable far too soon.
It’s difficult to understand just how many times exactly three enemies can have car trouble. Nevertheless it seems to be an hourly occurrence on Auroa. It’s the same story every time, dialogue and all. “Hey, can you speed this up? Did I hear something?” Pop, pop, pop—moving on. It’s as though the island is run by an evil warlord whose strategy is to evenly deploy his troops in trios bearing faulty mechanical vehicles and components with perfect spacing. Of course there are variations, but the uncanny repetitiveness persists.
The ability to go prone and camouflage Nomad seems cool as well—at first. You’ll soon discover that its only real purpose is to hide from the frequently prowling overhead air support. It makes sense logically, but it isn’t always fun. In fact it can be downright annoying to be setting up for attack only to have to regularly lay prone to avoid detection.
Satisfying combat
For all its repetition, the upside is that the combat itself in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint is actually quite fun. I chose a stealth-based loadout and had a lot of enjoyment both sniping my enemies from a distance, as well as sneaking up for CQC (close-quarters combat) kills.
There are plenty of weapons to unlock and skill trees to explore. Rewards and upgrades come around nearly every corner, so you’ll find yourself spending a lot of time bouncing between the game and loadout screens equipping the latest gear. This is probably a bonus for those who love gear management, or a bane for those who just want to play without interruption.
The focus on tactical survival is definitely there. I appreciate innovative details such as fatigue and injury from traversing steep terrain to quickly. The “bivouac” is also an interesting way to encourage preparation in forms such as cooking and crafting.
I did still find a few combat glitches however—mostly in the form of clipping bullets or levitating NPC’s. Normally this worked out to my advantage—but nevertheless shows a lack of polish here and there.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint is a repetitive tactical shooter set in a vast open world
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint seems as though it is designed with an ongoing experience in mind. At this point however, the core gameplay just doesn’t offer enough diversity to justify it. I love the survival focus and the innovative steps it takes towards a more immersive experience, but these ultimately aren’t sustained over time given the cookie cutter scenarios and combat loops.
Still, the combat is engaging and fun if you focus on single moments rather than the collective whole of the game. If you aren’t the type to lose interest in formulaic events and gameplay loops quickly, then there is a vast world to explore, and plenty of boxes to check off.
+ Beautiful environments
+ Interesting survival mechanics
+ Fun combat
– Repetitive events and gameplay
– Quite a few bugs and glitches
OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF TOM CLANCY’S GHOST RECON BREAKPOINT
Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 3.5/5
Overall Rating 3.8/5 (75%)
Get Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint for PlayStation 4
Get Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint for Xbox One
Buy Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint Gold Edition for PlayStation 4
Buy Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint Gold Edition for Xbox One
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The visuals look great, but I’m not sure how long I’d stay interested if the gameplay and events are so repetitive. Thanks for the review!
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