Ghost Recon Wildlands was brilliant, so you’d have thought a sequel could only make things better…
I’d been looking forward to Ghost Recon Breakpoint a LOT. The last game in the series was a pleasant surprise for me, with its open-world gameplay and strong multiplayer focus making for an enjoyably tactical romp against some Bolivian baddies. Somehow though, Ubisoft have missed the mark here; whilst Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s world and gameplay has its strengths, most other aspects of the game let it down.
First, Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s strengths. The general gameplay mechanics get a lot of things right – the open-world is massive and full of impressive sights, the shooting is satisfying, there’s an abundance of content to get through, whilst the use of futuristic tech makes for some intriguing scenarios. Believe me, getting pursued by an army of drones is terrifying in-game.
One particularly neat aspect of the game is the way that it makes you work to unveil mission details. Rather than just sending you directly to your objective, sometimes you’ve got to gather intel or interrogate the right person – it’s a clever mechanic that makes you feel more involved.
The multiplayer is great too, with it never feeling boring to clear an enemy base with a group of friends. It’s during these moments that Ghost Recon Breakpoint is at its best and I’d even go as far as saying it has offered one of the most enjoyable multiplayer experiences I’ve had this year.
So it’s clear that Ghost Recon Breakpoint isn’t a bad game at all. However, it has a WHOLE lot of flaws that really weaken the overall experience.
For one, the missions get really repetitive. Whilst there are plenty of them to complete, they start to feel the same over time with a lot of the same objectives coming up time and time again. They’re not very streamlined either, with the player expected to go to the main hub area regularly to activate new ones… it feels unnecessary. Then there’s the loot system which is just a mixed bag – it’s satisfying to get new gear and there’s lots to grab, but it was inconsistent in quality and a lot of gear I collected just didn’t feel worthwhile.
Those issues are pretty forgivable, but the glitches? Not so much. I noticed environmental bugs, I fell through the map mid-mission, enemies spawned out of nowhere, my weapon randomly stopped working… normal stuff, then. The enemy AI is massively inconsistent too, with some enemies proving to be killing machines and some so dumb that they can’t even notice you when you run right in front of them. A lot of these issues are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but they’re certainly noticeable and show a clear lack of polish in the game.
I’d be remiss not to mention that the game has microtransactions and they’ve caused a stir amongst gamers, but honestly, they’re not that bad. You can buy stuff if you want, but the game is pretty generous with its loot and currency anyway so it’s not at all necessary.
Summary
Ghost Recon Breakpoint is a game of two halves: at times, it’s brilliantly action-packed and encourages fun team-work with friends, but other times it’s a broken mess. Those moments where it shows it strengths just about do enough to make it worth taking a look at if you like an open-world shooter like this, but it’s hard not to feel a little disappointed overall.
Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform(s): Xbox One (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC
