Ghost Recon Breakpoint Review: Gameplay Videos, Impressions and Speedrun Tips

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is the latest in Ubisoft's popular series of tactical shooters bearing the Tom Clancy seal of approval.  

It was always going to be interesting to see how the series continued to evolve coming off the wildly successful (though average reviewed) Wildlands that released in 2017. That offering sent the series headfirst into open-world concepts and beyond. 

In hindsight, Wildlands was just a dip of the toes into the water for the evolution of the series—Breakpoint is more akin to a headfirst dive into the ocean from a helicopter. Looting, a social space and other modern gameisms are now in and define the experience of Ghost Recon Breakpoint. 

Funnily enough, this entry in the series looks like it could be a "breakpoint" for longtime fans. 

Graphics and Gameplay

If nothing else, Breakpoint is a great-looking game, in most regards. 

Fictional or not, the island of Auroa is beautiful, especially from afar, with a good draw distance that really rivals anything out there in terms of scope. Lazy smoke from fires stretch to the heavens, and varying landscapes and jaw-dropping explosions pepper the scene when viewed from above.

But like anything with Breakpoint, there always seems to be a "but." The insides of buildings are bland, and the more a player spends time in the world, the more they might notice reused or similar-looking assets.

This isn't to say some things don't look great up close. Explosions look amazing, and the smoke from them billows impressively in the wind, while the sound design behind them is staggering. Foliage sways, the weather shifts and all sorts of animals scatter at the sounds of approaching boots. 

The sound design feels a bit hit or miss overall, though. The guns sound great, as expected, but the NPC chatter is hard to get a read on directionally and from at what distance, which is a massive problem for a tactical shooter. Ambient noise out in the world, especially when taken in via an Astro A50 or something similar, is impressive, at least. 

While the world is diverse and beautiful, the immersion takes a hit—there are enemies and vehicles everywhere. Riding through the land, it seems the minimap never stops popping up with red indicators. There are patrols out, and enemies riding bikes and other vehicles. This feels like an overcorrection of sorts after recent open-world games have been hit with criticisms of feeling like there is nothing to do between missions. 

Speaking of characters, the faces here are rough. Jon Bernthal as the big bad is partially to blame. His character looks miles and miles better than the game's other NPCs. He's detailed and has good lip-synch, whereas most scenes without him not only feel dragged down without his presence, but the characters within those scenes all look gamey, in a way. It's a little detaching from the whole experience, as if non-Bernthal characters were created earlier in the console generation. 

Putting that aside, the shape and actions of models look great. Shoot an enemy in the leg and they hobble on the one good one for a while before crumbling to the ground, for example. 

And that's just one example of the stellar gunplay here, which for those who have played a Ghost Recon game in the past isn't any big surprise. It follows the tried-and-true formula: third person, but first-person when aiming down sights. The guns have a fun kick, and anticipation matters. Mostly everything that a player seeking simulation-style gunplay would want is here. 

Traversing the island itself is an interesting affair, though. Out in the wild, there are some survival-style elements to manage, such as filling up a canteen to fend off the ever-decreasing stamina bar. This isn't terrible, but it becomes tedious.

But something that sounds good, like needing to address specific injuries, usually amounts to a button press, and resources are plentiful enough that the risk of major injury is never more than a brief blip on the radar. 

Along those same lines, it's nice that the game generally has vehicles readily available to the player. But it would have been welcome to see other gadgets and stuff come into play to make getting around easier. This is an island run by a high-tech company, so where are options like a grapple? 

The gameplay loop is mostly enjoyable. There isn't anything wow-worthy out in the open world besides the usual side events that can get repetitive quickly. But tackling a base or big area is fun simply via versatility. 

Note that each base or situation is approachable in a variety of ways. This isn't just saying it for the sake of it like one might for Far Cry games in the past. A rather extensive stealth experience clearly implemented from years of Splinter Cell influence means enemies respond to diversions and players can even carry and hide bodies to remain hidden from the survivors. Taking a hostage and interrogating is in, too.

However, detection isn't perfect. In fact, it is wonky enough to detract from the immersion at times. It mostly comes in the form of spotty AI. This isn't as noticeable in true looter-shooter hybrids because the shields and overall health of enemies masks it a bit. Here, AI sometimes bugs out and doesn't leave doorways or is easily manipulated into positions advantageous to the player.

While browsing some of the unfortunate negatives, player movement is one. Being weighty is usually a good thing, but not here. There is a heavy momentum to each action that is a little hard to explain, but at times the player character will go too far and overshoot what the person at the controls intended.

This pairs poorly with a bad cover system that probably could have just used a dedicated button instead of forcing the player to engage a guessing game as to whether the character will actually stick to a piece of cover. 

Like the rest, this is a mixed bag. The fun bits of gameplay are so engaging and addictive that it's a little easy to overlook some of the problems. That's going to vary on a player-to-player basis, but the gunplay seems like it should take priority, and it is a winner here. 

Story and More

Bernthal's Colonel Walker is the whole show. Breakpoint tells the tale of a team of Ghosts whose plan goes awry quickly and, unfortunately for the bits of interesting plot devices, the game clashes pretty heavily with them. 

In short, there isn't anything fans of these sorts of movies or games haven't seen before. Bernthal's performance on its own is worth the time investment, but the plot—super-rich smart guy goes for the libertarian dream island that gets commandeered by a military group and he may or may not be involved—has been done before. It's like a good shoot 'em up romp at the movies: don't take it too seriously, move on. 

Problems arise on the immersion front. The initial idea for a player is awesome: stranded alone on a hostile island, it's all about survival. 

Then the player gets dropped into a social space. 

Trying to survive out in the wild in a land where pretty much every person encountered is an enemy and then getting dropped into the social space for the first time is a wildly jarring experience. It's something straight out of The Division, with 20-plus other Ghosts from other player characters running around in their silly outfits and doing emotes. Instead of a lone-survivor scenario, there's a ton of other Ghosts. And within that social space, everything is oddly spaced and the players are refined to a slow trot. 

"Division in the jungle" is a fair comment. Investigate, go to a place, complete the search and progress the story, then go back to the social space to chat it up with a few faction leaders to earn unlocks from their respective pools. 

This sort of experience means the loot conversation will be a big talking point. Giving this a looter-shooter feel blends the realism-immersion lines in the same way The Division does. Coming across the same weapon a player has equipped but with a higher number can be strange. So does simply stronger enemies who can morph into bullet sponges—but only on body shots. Aiming for the head is still as lethal as ever, but it requires multiple shots thanks to helmets. 

This wouldn't be so bad, truly. Bullet-proof vests exist, after all. There is a risk-reward here where players can tackle areas well outside of their level range and find success via headshots and avoiding damage. But the problem is the real bullet sponges are the drones, and those are about as fun to fight as they sound. 

Other looter mechanics persist. Thankfully, a transmog of sorts called Skin Override made it in, meaning players can benefit from the perks of finding upgraded gear without changing their appearance to look like something that was assembled by a toddler out of a toy box. But overall, upgrading weapons and armor never felt like a must because of the lethality of the gunplay, which smacks of things at odds once again. 

Like other games falling under this sort of umbrella, players can commit to one of a handful of different classes with their own skill trees. One is clearly aimed at solo players thanks to access to healing materials, another can vanish in smoke, for example. 

While the skill trees aren't that bad, the UI involving investigations and the branching paths of quests for different factions is confusing at times. Navigating the clutter and trying to figure out how to further a quest after finding some evidence is an exercise in frustration. 

What isn't is the option to play the game in a guided mode where everything is on the map via waypoint, or in a more hardcore mode that really tasks the player with figuring things out for themselves. This latter mode offers more immersion, provided the player can look past some of the other items mentioned that break it. 

The trend toward rpg-lite items doesn't hurt and helps build diversity when playing with others or if you're simply seeking a fresher play-style experience. But The Division had already tackled this well, whereas Breakpoint sort of feels like it only half-committed to the idea. 

In a way, this game is largely at war with itself. Players have to manage a stamina bar, yet hiding will allow a player to regenerate health. There's no AI companions to help out in the fight, presumably to fit the narrative, yet there is an endless stream of Ghosts thanks to the social space. Clearly, it's also at war with the series itself, which has gone from tactical shooter to a hybrid mishmash of ideas that clash. 

Keep in mind there is an engaging PvP mode, too, with fun four-on-four combat that leans into the lethality of the gunplay in the best possible way. It's a blast, so for players mostly seeking that out, the game is a winner. 

The microtransaction conversation has to happen, too. There's a massive store in the game, and while some of the more aggressive things have already been removed, the wealth of content within the store is large.

The game isn't grindy enough to make it feel like things are restricted to encourage purchases, but things the player can find in the game such as blueprints or scopes are purchasable with real money. These have no impact on PvP but apply to everything else. 

Speedrunning Tips

Funnily enough, Breakpoint is actually a superb speedrunning game. 

With the way the game is designed, players can hop right in and go for one of the bigger moments of the game as opposed to playing through the story, leveling up and seeing all there is to see. 

With that comes great skill, understanding of the mechanics and all the usual goodness of a speedrun. But quick times should be possible, and those should make for great viewing given the skill that is required to pull off such a feat. 

As far as traditional runs go, there is plenty of potential here, co-op or solo, as well as any-percent or otherwise. The open world, varied classes and skill it takes to smoothly navigate a game this large should interest viewers and keep a healthy community attempting to find ways to reduce the time of runs. 

The big notes on a run won't surprise. Skipping cutscenes and dialogue will shave off some healthy times. So will smart traversal, meaning a priority on air transportation—not only for speed but for cutting down on some of the RNG with boots on the ground. Speaking of air travel, dipping a helicopter low over a bivouac will unlock it as a fast-travel location, as opposed to actually landing, going in and sitting through the animation that the game tells players unlocks it. 

Otherwise, moment-to-moment combat isn't too hard to understand from a run perspective. For the most part, the first class that allows players to heal themselves with a drone makes the most sense. Topping off health at will is going to be a critical element of keeping a run rolling. 

Overall, the speedrun quips here might seem basic, but this one largely boils down to understanding of the complicated UI, where to go, when and why. The important note is the nature of the game should have a fun community attached to it, and going at it from a co-op stance should make for an enjoyable challenge. 

Conclusion

It is hard to slam a game too much for trying to push a series in exciting new directions, provided the intent was to do so. 

That's partially what makes Breakpoint a frustrating release—the gunplay is brilliant. In the thick of a firefight, with enemies calling out locations, shouting names of their fallen in anguish and the sheer lethality of the fight hanging over it all, few games do it better. 

But those moment-to-moment experiences of bliss are counteracted with some odd decisions that clash directly with other elements, which ends up leaving a player wondering "what could have been?" 

Breakpoint is bound to be incredibly popular either way, and there is some fun to have within. Perhaps the most encouraging thing is the fact the game has an opportunity to improve as its lifecycle progresses post-launch. There is also now a firm blueprint in place for the next game in the series that should truly be something to experience if it cuts out some of the whiffs and emphasizes the greatness.