Tom Clancy meets Just Cause in the latest of the series: Breakpoint. If you like open-world RPGs and covert ops themes, then this is definitely worth your while. If you also enjoyed The Division, (check out my review) stalking enemies in the urban jungle, then you might want to follow this title too. It’s a real jungle.
We had the opportunity to play Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint Closed Beta, and I felt invested right away. The character creation did not feel as extensive as it was in The Division, but you can see that Nomad, our protagonist, has more cinematic appeal. He/she is voiced this time. My character was not radically far from one of the male presets, but I couldn’t help but let out a “wow” in the opening cinematic. I also appreciated that the game settings are adjusted in the beginning to suit my style of play, like the settings for subtitles. The little things really won me over.
The plot seems interesting so far. Our callsign is Nomad, and we’re the head of the Ghost outfit that is investigating the disappearance of a United States naval vessel off the coast of an isolated (former) U.S. territory in the Pacific. The island is occupied by Skell Tech, a company with the noble mission of pushing humanity forward to a technological utopia. Things are not so simple, as we realize that a private security force, Sentinel, has placed the island under martial law.
Our first couple minutes are traumatic, as our chopper is downed by a swarm of (robot?) birds and we are forced to watch the rest of our comrades plummet to the earth. Before long, we are being hunted down by unknown assailants. I felt like I was really in character, evading search parties and pushing through the swamp. It felt like a game of cat and mouse, until I made moves to hunt my would-be hunters. I felt like my actions had consequences from a combat point of view.
There are plenty of ways to play, and the skill trees support classes for all guerrilla op styles. You can be a sharpshooter, a guns-blazing lunatic, a shadow, or even a support specialist (medic). There is also plenty of gear across the world that you can loot from crates, shrine offerings, and Sentinel thug corpses. As you continue, your gear level increases and you can take on more difficult missions, enemies, and exotically dangerous locales.
The game’s tone seems to switch when you find the island’s resistance homestead, because now you are reconnected with your surviving team members as well as all the other players on the server. This is where you can meet up with friends and form parties of 4. You can also continue your solo play and access certain utilities, such as the shop and the campfire. You can prepare buffs at the campfire just like in the Witcher, like hydration (not mutagens). You can also access the PVP aspect of the game here as well. I did not cover material outside of the first hour of playing though.
You can catch my adventures in the videos I recorded of the first hour of Breakpoint. I had a really good time navigating my way to the sanctuary and avoiding enemies along the way. I thought it was an intense opening and am looking forward to playing the full game.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint will be available October 4 on PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and Windows PC. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint will also launch on the new generation gaming platform, Stadia. Fans who purchase the Gold, Ultimate or Collector’s Editions will have access to the game up to three days early. More information about the game’s editions can be found here: store.ubi.com.
For the latest news about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, please visit ghost-recon.ubisoft.com.
Related: Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Review for Xbox One
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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