The new game from Ubisoft, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (GRB) is the biggest talking point in the videogame world right now.
Imagine: You and your team are part of a special forces group called Ghosts. The team gets sent to the island of Aurora to investigate a sinking ship where you are immediately attacked by the paramilitaries who dominate the island. The leader of this group is a rogue Ghost called Lieutenant Colonel Cole D. Walker, who used to be close to the lead-player-character – you. But your job is to take the island back from Walker.
Some time ago I played the first instalment, Ghost Recon Wildlands (GRW). Initially I thought it was fun, but it slowly started falling into the tedious category, and I never finished the game. So, when Ubisoft announced the new GRB I was like “C’mon guys, not this again.” But the marketing team at Ubisoft are awesome: they prepared an amazing demo which promises that you the player will be fighting a group of elite soldiers, not cartel members. The only way that you’d be able to survive this better-equipped and better-trained enemy, is by using all your expertise and smarts. I was sold! Finally, they have given me the challenge that my inner gamer wants……or so I thought.
It turns out that GRB is GRW with prettier colours. Both games are designed to be played mainly in co-operative mode. When me and my friends played the latest version together, we had a good time. But let’s be honest here. It isn’t every day that your friends will be able to play with you. So, you are either forced to play with strangers, which can be a bit awkward at times, or play by yourself….but the game is not really designed for single player gamers.
GRW gave you three Non-Playable Characters (NPC) for you to order around and make you feel like the leader of a squad of elite soldiers. GRB takes your team away from you, leaving you with a sensation of loneliness. It is tedious to play by yourself.
Now praises must be given to the look of the game. The environment is beautiful! The island of Aurora is huge, with various different landscapes to explore, from sunny, tropical beaches to icy, rocky mountains. The game gives you the freedom to explore as you wish, but that is also where the problems lies. To explore this beautiful land, you must use its vehicles. And the vehicles in this game, all drive like a shopping trolley with a broken wheel. Sometimes they don’t turn at all and other times they decide to just turn and throw you down a cliff. Sometimes your character just decides to get stuck in the environment and requires you to reset your game – the only way not to remain part of a tree or the floor. It feels like the game was rushed and none of the bugs was fixed.
This game shines best when it comes to its customisation. Character customisation allows you to modify your character to your liking. Weapons, too, can be customised to suit your style of play. As great as the customisation is, it seems like Ubisoft has spent all the money on this and under-paid their voice actors – some of the voice acting is just terrible.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint has great potential to be an amazing game but it’s not focusing on the right areas. I really wanted to enjoy this game and give it a good review, but you know the saying: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I would be really ashamed to go above 6.5/10.
