Ghost Recon Breakpoint is fun for the first few hours before repetition and glitches take over.

GHOST RECON BREAKPOINT PITS YOU AGAINST FORMER ALLIES, DRONES, SERVER CRASHES AND GLITCHES

Infiltrating enemy lines and leaving without a trace is the signature of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be depending on how you play it). Its latest installment, Breakpoint, transports you from its predecessor’s drug cartel-run Wildlands to the lush jungles, sandy beaches and urban landscapes of the island of Auroa. Sounds like paradise? Sure — until bullets start flying.

THE PLOT

You take on the role of Nomad, a character you can customise at the beginning of the game, who is in command of a group of Ghosts, an elite group of Special Forces i.e. the best of the best. The Ghosts are sent to Auroa, the island home of a company called Skell Technology that’s been making advances in drone technology. While originally intended simply for commercial use, the company has moved to research military applications, which is the cause of worry when the whole island of Auroa suddenly loses contact with the outside world. That’s where the Ghosts come in, and after crash landing on the island after their helicopters are swarmed by killer drones, they find themselves few in number and behind enemy lines. What’s more is that they discover a private military contractor who have dubbed themselves “Wolves” have taken over the island and they are comprised of former Ghosts, including their leader, Cole Walker (played by The Punisher’s Jon Bernthal), who Nomad has a personal history with. Drama, drama, drama.

THE GAMEPLAY & GRAPHICS

If you played Wildlands then you’ll find that almost everything feels familiar. The concept of having to sneak through bases or shoot and clear them out, as well as travelling by various modes of transportation through the beautifully animated varying landscapes remains pretty much the same though there are notable improvements in other aspects of the game. What I realised from the get-go is how Nomad’s movements are as close to reality as possible, something that they showed off in the game’s first gameplay trailer. The prone camo feature where you get on the ground and cover yourself with mud is just one example, but the limitations put on your character as well like the stamina bar brings the realism up a notch. You can’t just sprint all the way or roll off hills without your stamina being affected. Realism is something the game tries to deliver to the player and it accomplishes it in some aspects. Originally, I was upset that being in a four-man squad was done away with in this game unlike in Wildlands, but with the whole plot of Breakpoint being behind enemy lines, it just seemed fitting. Of course, you can still squad up with friends online and while that does open up a lot more strategies and opportunities for sneaky fun or bullet-ridden mayhem, I was OK just going at it alone. Having to go up against the Wolves, who are basically your former brothers-in-arms, also presents a tougher challenge than your usual NPC hostiles. A part of being able to beat them involves having to get better gear, but unfortunately that’s where things start to be a little dicey for Breakpoint.

As much as it wants to be realistic, Breakpoint also involves some RPG elements, which kinda takes away from it. I found myself comparing it to another Tom Clancy title, The Division, since I had to go around scouring through chests for better gear and loot so that my gear score went up. This is important since some missions are fatal unless you’ve got a certain gear score. However, the skill tree is a welcome returning RPG element and has been expanded to include four classes you can play around with depending on your play style. The realism of the game also takes a hit with its NPCs. It’s funny how I snuck around bases or neighbourhoods with NPCs basically just not minding me or how I’m on a rescue mission and the person I’m rescuing keeps telling me to get away from them yet they follow me. While enemy NPCs are a tad better, there were also numerous times when I was spotted by one and despite being far away from the rest of the enemies, everyone basically just honed in on my location. There are also times when they heard my gunshots even if my guns were silenced, so basically most of my attempts to sneak around were foiled.

Unfortunately, Ubisoft is known for its glitches and Breakpoint isn’t spared. The glitches can range from mildly annoying like not being able to aim down your sights to extremely frustrating like having to do a mission all over again. But my greatest frustration with the game is that it always has to be online to be played despite the fact I played solo all the way through (because I have no friends or social life). That wouldn’t have been a problem if the servers worked fine everyday but I spent a good chunk of time just staring at the menu waiting to connect, as well as my game being stopped because there was some sort of server problem with one of those code names and numbers.

THE VERDICT

Ghost Recon Breakpoint from the outset is a fun game that really makes you feel like an elite soldier. The first few hours are fun, but as the game continues it gets repetitive and sometimes a little frustrating. There’s a whole lot of stuff to do but you’ll probably take a break for a week or two before coming back to play it again. RATING: