Ghost Recon: Breakpoint video game review

The latest instalment in the popular Tom Clancy Ghost Recon series does not disappoint.

There’s plenty of neat hardware to deploy in the new Ghost Recon game. Picture: Supplied

Tactical shooter fans have been enjoying a bumper crop of games coming out of this year’s E3 expo in Los Angeles, many involving the ballistic application of projectiles to assorted digital enemies with lethal effect.

One of those games was the latest instalment in the popular Tom Clancy Ghost Recon series from Ubisoft, with Ghost Recon: Breakpoint — a squad-based third person tactical adventure set in a dynamic open world with a near-future setting.

Ubisoft provided a select group of journalists — including me — with a two-hour hands-on with the game, showcasing several missions within the game and a chance to see how some of the new gameplay mechanics worked.

There’s plenty of neat hardware to deploy in the new Ghost Recon game. Picture: Supplied

The basic gameplay was similar to the previous game, but being a PC gamer I found the Xbox controls in the demo a bit hard to get used to, meaning I sometimes faltered because I’d just used a special item I was saving or accidentally switched to something I didn’t need to.

After a bit of playing around (and falling off a hydro-electric dam), however, I got things under control and was ready to join my colleagues in the field.

The first mission was to rescue a scientist being held in a research facility, which allowed our four-journo squad to recon the area with drones to find the enemy.

During the process our squad was spotted by the enemies and a firefight ensued, giving a chance to showcase our different specialities, with the sharpshooter picking off snipers on the roof while those of us with close-range capability were able to take out opponents from cover, especially after discovering head shots were an instant kill.

After a protracted firefight we emerged victorious — only to discover there was more work to do, with strategic resources that needed to be blown up and additional bad guys fought before we eventually rescued the scientist, escorting her to a nearby helicopter and making our escape with bullets whizzing past the fuselage.

In addition, between missions we had the chance to visit a bivouac camp, where we could replenish our ammunition, change weapon loadouts, and pick a temporary boost — eg, more damage resistance or better accuracy for a limited period of time.

You are fighting against rogue US Special forces, who have the skills and training to be a serious challenge.

The demo, which lasted two hours, provided a really good look at the game and I enjoyed what I played a great deal. Everything I liked in Ghost Recon: Wildlands was there, with some interesting tweaks and enhancements.

Because we were playing with a full squad of humans, I didn’t get a chance to see what the friendly AI was like, but the developers say it has been upgraded from the previous game.

The enemy AI seemed quite good, noticing things like drones flying above them (a notorious blind spot for baddies in many games) and investigating noises, flanking, and providing covering fire.

It’ll be interesting to see what it’s like in the full game, especially at higher levels.

You can return to your bivouac to rest, recuperate and plan your next move.

You’re not the only ones with drones, either — they’re a key part of the Wolf forces and were a serious threat, able to detect our team even in foliage.

One character class has a special ability that allows them to be invisible to drones for a short time, and other characters can basically cover themselves in mud while hiding to reduce their thermal signature even further.

One addition to the combat that I really liked was the idea of serious injuries that would require bandaging before they could heal.

This created some interesting tactical choices too, like whether to find the nearest rock to hide behind and hope not to get shot while doing first aid, or make a tactical withdrawal to a safer area, tend to your injuries, use a healing syringe then return to the fight in a much better and more effective shape.

Vehicle handling had been adjusted as well — the vehicles in Wildlands were famously off-road capable, even when that seemed wildly implausible.

The terrain in Breakpoint is much more of an obstacle; losing your footing and sliding down a steep embankment can cause injury and put you at a real tactical disadvantage if you encounter a patrol.

The various biomes of Auroa are well done too — most of what we saw was jungle and grassland, but there also appeared to be snowy areas and rocky desert-like places on the island too.

Heavily armoured mobile drones require teamwork and co-operation to bring down effectively.

One of the new additions to the game are Behemoths, basically heavily armoured tank drones.

In addition to being extremely dangerous and damaging, their armour needs to be stripped away to expose weak points, which required some teamwork from our squad to pull off but was very satisfying when it came together.

As a fan of Wildlands, I’m looking forward to Breakpoint and will be very interested to see how the new dynamic — being the hunted rather than the hunter — plays out in the full game when it releases on October 4.

The author attended E3 as a guest of Ubisoft

Are you looking forward to Ghost Recon: Breakpoint? Continue the conversation on Twitter @RoyceWilsonAU

Originally published as Ghost Recon: Breakpoint video game review