Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft. The game was released worldwide on 4 October 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on 18 December 2019 for Stadia.[2] The game is the eleventh installment in the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon franchise and is a narrative sequel to the 2017 video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Cover art featuring Nomad, the playable protagonist, carrying wounded squadmate Vasily.
Developer(s)Ubisoft Paris[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Director(s)Eric Couzian
Producer(s)Nouredine Abboud (Executive Producer)
Writer(s)Emil Daubon
David Gallaher[1]
Composer(s)
SeriesTom Clancy's Ghost Recon
EngineAnvilNext 2.0
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Stadia
Release4 October 2019
Genre(s)Tactical shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

The game is set in an open world environment called Auroa, a fictional island chain in the Pacific Ocean. The player takes on the role of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony "Nomad" Perryman[lower-alpha 2] a U.S. Special Operation Forces service member sent to the island to investigate a series of disturbances involving Skell Technology, a military contractor based on Auroa. Upon release, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed commercially.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor Wildlands, Breakpoint is a tactical shooter game set in an open world environment. It is played from a third-person perspective and uses an optional first-person view for aiming weapons. Players take on the role of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony "Nomad" Perryman, a member of the Delta Company, First Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, also known as "Ghosts", a fictional elite special operations unit of the United States Army under the Joint Special Operations Command. The game world, Auroa, is an open world environment that features a variety of landscapes, and these can be used for tactical advantages. For instance, players can slide down rocky terrain and use mud to camouflage themselves. According to Ubisoft, Auroa is larger than the game world featured in Wildlands. Players have a variety of ways to traverse the open world, controlling various air, land and sea vehicles.[3]

The game was planned to launch with four character classes. Ubisoft announced plans to make more classes available through post-launch updates. Each class has its own abilities; for example, the panther is a class oriented towards stealth and is able to throw smoke bombs. The player will be able to switch between classes in-game. Players have to gather intelligence in order to progress through the game and can use a variety of methods to approach missions. As in previous titles in the franchise, they can utilize a variety of weapons in combat, with the player's repertoire expanded to include combat drones and rocket launchers to kill enemies. Alternatively, the player can use stealth to silently neutralize opponents. In Breakpoint, players can equip a variety of new weapons and gear such as a blowtorch to cut through fences, sulphur gas grenades to kill enemies, and electromagnetic pulse grenades to disable drones and vehicles. Players can carry corpses away and hide them so that enemies would not become alerted. Fallen enemies will leave loot for players to collect. Fallen teammates can also be carried away so as to revive them safely.[4] Many of the new features added to Breakpoint were developed based on player feedback in Wildlands.

The game places a larger emphasis on survival than Wildlands. Enemies will be more numerous and the game will feature a wider range of enemy archetypes. These enemies will have access to many of the same weapons, skills and equipment that are available to the player. Enemies will respond more realistically to player actions and patrols wander the game world searching for the player. Ubisoft introduced these changes to give the player the sense that they were "no longer the most dangerous thing in the game world". Players need to collect different resources in the game's world and use them to craft resources such as bandages. Regular weapon maintenance checks are necessary to keep the weapons functional and the player will need to manage their character's fatigue, hunger and hydration. Failing to do so may slow the player down, limit their ability to regenerate health, or cause them to make more noise while moving. The game uses a regenerative health system whereby the player character naturally recovers health, but serious injuries will impede the player character's performance, as they will start limping and can no longer aim their weapon accurately.[5] Players can set up a bivouac shelter in order to heal themselves. The shelter is also the site where players can manage their weapons and inventory, customize their character and change the character's classes.[6] The game can be played with up to three other players cooperatively, or in single-player. The game was initially announced to have no AI squadmates,[7] but the addition of AI squadmates was later amended as post-release content based due to negative feedback from players. Unlike previous Ghost Recon titles, Breakpoint will require a constant internet connection to play, in-part due to the game's single-character progression system.[8]

The game's story features dialogue choices. These will not affect the main narrative, but instead enable players to gain intelligence that may aid in their missions.[9][10] The game also features a mode called "Exploration" that was first used in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Unlike most open-world games where the player is given an objective marker to guide their progress, Breakpoint's Exploration mode gives the player a rough approximation of the area where an objective may be located. Their approximation can be refined by exploring the world or through investigating intelligence. A competitive multiplayer mode will be released at launch, and end-of-game content such as raids are set to be introduced post-release.[11]

Premise

Setting and characters

The game is set in the year 2025, six years after the events of Wildlands. The story takes place on Auroa, an island in the South Pacific owned by a billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist named Jace Skell. Skell is the founder of Skell Technology, a blue chip company producing drones for commercial applications, but the company has also found success as a military contractor developing cutting-edge equipment for the United States government. Skell purchased Auroa with a vision of turning it into a hub for the design, research, development, and production of artificial intelligence and drone technology, which he dubs "World 2.0". The island is made up of a series of individual biomes including marine estuaries and wetlands, fjords, arboreal forests, snow-capped mountains, and active volcanoes.

The main antagonist is former Ghost Lieutenant Colonel Cole D. Walker (Jon Bernthal), who has gone rogue after leaving the army. After witnessing his fireteam be slaughtered on a mission in Bolivia,[lower-alpha 3] Walker has come to believe that the United States government does not value the lives of its soldiers. A private military contractor named Sentinel has occupied the island under Walker's command while Walker himself is leading a team of soldiers calling themselves the "Wolves".

Returning characters from Ghost Recon Wildlands include the members of Nomad's fireteam Dominic "Holt" Moretta, Corey "Weaver" Ward and Rubio "Midas" Delgado.

Story

Prior to the events of the game, Skell Technology comes under increasing public scrutiny when they are faced with mounting evidence that its products are falling into the hands of corrupt regimes, whilst its technology is implicated in an assassination of a political candidate by an armed drone.[lower-alpha 3] The situation escalates further when the USS Seay, an American cargo ship sinks off the coast of the Auroa archipelago and all contact with both the island and its inhabitants are subsequently cut off from the outside world. Determined to investigate the cause, CIA Deputy Director Peter Miles initiates Operation Greenstone, deploying a Ghost Recon platoon from the USS Wasp to re-establish contact with Auroa and determine the circumstances of the Seay's sinking. The insertion ends in disaster when the helicopters carrying the platoon to the island are attacked by a swarm of drones. Nomad is the sole able-bodied survivor of his squadmates, whilst Holt is seriously injured in the crash, and Midas is missing in action.

Shortly after obtaining a weapon and attempting to find a working radio to communicate with the Wasp, Nomad witnesses a firefight between several Ghosts led by Weaver and multiple unidentified individuals. The firefight abruptly ends when Weaver is executed by Cole Walker, a former member of the Ghosts who is now leading the assault force, known as the "Wolves." Additionally, Nomad discovers a private military company called Sentinel is also operating on the island alongside the Wolves. Eventually, Nomad manages to reach Erewhon, a secret mountain hideout that is kept hidden from both Sentinel as well as the Wolves. With the assistance of ex-U.S. Marine Mads Schulz, Erewhon's de facto leader and his wife Maria, Nomad learns that the drone swarms that ambushed the platoon have imposed a defensive perimeter around the island; preventing anyone from entering or leaving the Archipelago. To help bring down the drones protecting the island, Nomad works with another survivor, fellow Ghost Recon Sergeant Major Josiah Hill and is instructed to locate Maurice Fox, Skell Tech's chief mathematician, his daughter Harmony, and eventually Jace Skell himself.

Upon reaching Skell, Nomad discovers that Hill has been secretly working with Walker and the two offer Nomad a place by their side. Nomad refuses and manages to evacuate Skell to Erewhon.

Downloadable Content

Project Titan

Released in November 2019, Breakpoint's first raid event, Project Titan takes place on the previously inaccessible Golem Island.

Terminator

Beginning with the release of the first mission on January 29th, and the second mission on February 1st 2020, the expansion features two missions involving the Terminator. In the first mission, Nomad is tasked by Maria Schulz to locate a woman in Sentinel detention that managed to take down several armed drones on her own. Investigating the emergency center in Mount Hodgson, Nomad comes across a woman who identifies herself as Rasa Aldwin, a time traveler sent from the future to search for Nomad. However, as she explains her situation, a T-800 Terminator manages to track their location and they are forced to escape. Making their way to Rasa's workshop, she explains that forty years from now in her timeline, an artificial intelligence known as Skynet would be responsible for developing the machines for infiltration-based assassination missions. At the hideout, Nomad is provided with a rifle specifically designed to destroy the machines and sends Rasa to Erewhon. In the second mission, Rasa tasks Nomad to investigate the unexplained presence of multiple Terminators on Auroa and what their true purpose is for being on the island. After installing a tracking device on an array and discovering strange electro-magnetic patterns coming from a composite facility in Smuggler Coves, Nomad discovers that the machines have converted the facility into a factory to begin mass-producing Terminators in the present. Reaching the control room, Nomad comes across the T-800 that was originally encountered in the first mission and is now in control of the facility. After battling and destroying the T-800, Nomad seals the airlock leading into the production facility as it self-destructs; trapping the remaining Terminators inside. With all remaining Terminators on Auroa destroyed, and the threat posed by Skynet now abated, Rasa chooses to stay in the present at Erewhon.

Deep State

The spring 2020 DLC Deep State features a tie-in with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, with actor Michael Ironside reprising the role of Sam Fisher. Fisher is deployed to Auroa alongside his friend Victor Coste, under the guise of working for the latter's private security company, Paladin 9. While Coste is ostensibly working alongside Sentinel to provide logistical support, the duo are actually investigating the kidnappings of military specialists that are traced back to an individual on the island known as "The Strategist." Fisher and Nomad decide to team up when it is discovered that Midas is alive and is being held by the Strategist for a top-secret program known as Project CLAW; an artificial intelligence hive mind that enables human-controlled drone swarms that can be used for military applications. After making contact with and enlisting the help of system analyst Hollie Mackenzie, entomologist Willem Van Dyke, patent legal advisor Stephanie Burgess, and former US Army general Reggie Paxton, Nomad and Fisher discover that The Strategist is Leon Fairrow, a billionaire industrialist and head of weapons manufacturing conglomerate Lomax-Fairrow. Fairrow and his partner, US Senator Michael Lomax are part of a conspiracy that involves high-ranking members of various US government agencies and private development firms to create the drones. Fearing that Fairrow was not reliable and concerned about the kidnappings, the CIA and the Department of Defense had asked Fourth Echelon to investigate. After infiltrating Project CLAW's research facility and facing off against an array of drones, Fisher and Nomad manage to capture Fairrow and rescue Midas, who is evacuated to Erewhon to recover with Holt. Meanwhile, using a short window provided by Mackenzie in the drone swarm that is protecting the island, Fisher and Coste manage to evacuate onboard the C-147B Paladin with Fairrow in-tow and force him to testify before Congress; in the hopes that his testimony will convince them to officially launch a US military invasion of Auroa to remove Sentinel from the archipelago.

Development

Following the success of Wildlands, the development team expanded to more than one thousand people. For the first time in the series, the setting is fictional as the team felt that they would have more creative freedom regarding the game's world design.[13] The development team created a backstory for the Auroa archipelago dating back eighty million years to make the setting feel more realistic. The game world itself was created through procedural generation with some areas developed from the ground up. An archipelago was chosen for the game's setting as it would make it easier for the developers to add post-game content by adding additional islands and open up new regions for exploration. The development team also listened to players' feedback from Wildlands and introduced a variety of changes players had requested, such as an increased focus on realism and improved vehicle control.

The game's premise of the Ghosts being hunted and alone on the island caused Ubisoft to remove AI companions from the game.[4] According to executive producer Nouredine Abboud, Jon Bernthal was hired to voice and provide motion capture for the game's antagonist because the team felt that he had the potential to be a charismatic villain and an effective nemesis for the Ghosts.[9] The name of the game, Breakpoint, reflects the game's narrative in which the Ghosts are on a mission which is on the brink of failure. Emil Daubon, the game's writer, added that the story would explore the themes of "pain, trauma, brotherhood, and mental exhaustion".[14]

After the game's release and in response to its poor critical reception, Ubisoft announced plans to rework Breakpoint with the introduction of "the Ghost Experience". The Ghost Experience allows players the option to disable some game mechanics, such as the gear score, and independently alter others.

Release

Marketing

Ubisoft released a downloadable content (DLC) chapter for Wildlands titled Operation Oracle that introduced the character of Cole D. Walker and focused on Skell Technology.[15] Breakpoint is set to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 4 October 2019. Two DLC chapters, Deep State and Transcendence, are set to be released following the game's launch.[16] Ubisoft also announced at E3 2019 that the game would feature a Terminator-themed crossover as part of its DLC schedule.[17]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic(PC) 58/100[18]
(PS4) 56/100[19]
(XONE) 62/100[20]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid3/10[21]
EGM[22]
GameSpot4/10[23]
IGN6.0/10[24]
PC Gamer (US)40/100[25]

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[18][19][20] The game was described as "underwhelming" and "miserable", with criticism for its mission design, characters, dialogue, and microtransactions.[26] Richard Wakeling of Gamespot wrote that "Breakpoint is a messy hodgepodge of disparate ideas, pulling various aspects from other Ubisoft games and shoehorning them in, half-baked and out of place ... Its defining characteristic boils down to just how generic and stale the whole thing is."[23] The game underperformed in sales and was considered a commercial disappointment by Ubisoft.[27][28]

Microtransactions

The scale of the game's microtransactions system drew criticism when a Reddit user who had purchased for early access posted a number of in-game screenshots which detailed items that players could buy with real-world money. Concerns were raised that this allowed players to bypass aspects of grinding as content could be bought as soon as the game began, as well as fears of it being pay-to-win.[29][30][31][32]

Ubisoft responded by releasing a statement saying they "aimed at offering a fair and rewarding experience to our players however they want to experience our game" and "two key factors stood out as extremely important for the team: That Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint doesn't include any pay-to-win elements, [and] to make sure that players not choosing to engage with in-game purchases do not see their experience affected." At the same time, Ubisoft removed the "Time Savers" microtransactions affecting player levelling, stating they had not been intended to be implemented so early and would return in due course.[33] Kotaku argued that while they disagreed with their inclusion, the microtransactions were able to be ignored as all content on offer could still be obtained through hours of playtime and with little difficulty.[34] Writing upon release, Polygon were also concerned with the ability to obtain every item in the game's store using real-world money, but noted that while doing so had some benefit, it was not possible to spend obscene amounts to gain an advantage over opponents in PvP as the game would automatically equalize each player's stats. Additionally, buyable weapons, which relied on crafting to improve further, were scaled to the player's current level.[35]

Sales

The PlayStation 4 version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint sold 54,733 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, making it the second bestselling retail game of the week in the country.[36] Three weeks after its release, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemont was quoted as saying the game's overall sales figures had been disappointing.[37]

Accolades
YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2019 Game Critics Awards Best Online Multiplayer Nominated [38]
Gamescom Best PC Game Won [39]
Titanium Awards Best Spanish Performance (Guillermo Romero) Nominated [40]

Notes
  1. Additional work by Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Odessa, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Belgrade
  2. Promotional materials produced by Ubisoft present the character as being male, but the game allows players to create a female character using the call-sign "Nomad".
  3. As depicted in the Ghost Recon Wildlands DLC event Operation Oracle.[12]
gollark: I see.
gollark: How will it know?
gollark: Interesting!
gollark: (the second one would leak the number of matching private messages, but I assume this isn't a horrible issue)
gollark: This could be resolved by accumulating a list of all subforae a user can view and passing that to the query which does search, or postprocessing search results to remove hidden stuff.

References
  1. Blitz, Stephan (1 July 2019). "FOG! Chats With 'The Only Living Girl' Co-Creators Steve Ellis and David Gallaher!". Forces of Geek.
  2. Wang, Jules (26 November 2019). "(Update: Spitlings) All the games on Google Stadia". Android Police. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  3. Kelly, Andy (10 May 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint is more about survival than Wildlands, but it lacks a compelling hook". PC Gamer. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  4. Bertz, Matt (9 May 2019). "Everything You Need To Know About Ghost Recon Breakpoint". Game Informer. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  5. Donaldson, Alex (9 May 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint is a conservative but smart expansion on Wildlands – and it's got the new boot-tuck tech to prove it". VG 247. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  6. McWhertor, Michael (9 May 2019). "The new Ghost Recon leans into survival and a grim Black Mirror future". Polygon. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  7. Forward, Jordan (9 May 2019). "You can't have human AI comrades in Ghost Recon Breakpoint". PCGamesN. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  8. https://gamerant.com/ghost-recon-breakpoint-internet-connection/
  9. Williams, Mike (9 May 2019). "Inside Ghost Recon Breakpoint: How Ubisoft is Mixing the Wildlands Formula With Survival, RPG Mechanics, and Even Raids". USgamer. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  10. Rivera, Joshua (10 May 2019). "Ubisoft Announces Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, A Sequel to Wildlands". Kotaku. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  11. Robinson, Michael (9 May 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint brings more survival and neck-stabbing to the Wildlands formula". Eurogamer. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  12. Ubisoft Paris (30 April 2019). Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows). Ubisoft. Level/area: Operation Oracle. Walker: 'A high-level Skell Tech engineer, Daniel Rodriguez Arellano. See, Danny here, he's got access to company technology that the government does not want shared. But he's been spending a lot of time in Bolivia.' / Nomad: 'Probably not soaking up the culture.' / Walker: 'He's been selling secrets to Unidad.'
  13. Bertz, Matt (7 May 2019). "Ubisoft Explains Why Ghost Recon Breakpoint Has A Fictional Setting". Game Informer. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  14. Mahardy, Mike (9 May 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint Is Both Promising And Concerning". GameSpot. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  15. Avard, Alex (3 May 2019). "Ghost Recon Wildlands players have found an in-game tease for a potential sequel". GamesRadar. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  16. Sitzes, Janae (9 May 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint Pre-Order Guide, Release Date, Wolves Collector's Edition". GameSpot. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  17. Ramée, Jordan (10 June 2019). "E3 2019: Ghost Recon Breakpoint Will Have A Terminator Crossover". GameSpot. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  18. "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  19. "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  20. "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  21. Glagowski, Peter (13 October 2019). "Review: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint". Destructoid. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  22. Goroff, Michael (4 October 2019). "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  23. Wakeling, Richard (11 October 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint Review - Faulty Reconaissance[sic]". Gamespot. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  24. Tyrrel, Brandin (11 October 2019). "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint Review". IGN. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  25. Lane, Rick (7 October 2019). "GHOST RECON BREAKPOINT REVIEW". PC Gamer. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  26. Capel, Chris J (6 October 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint reviews – a roundup of the critics". PCGamesN. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  27. Good, Owen. "Ghost Recon Breakpoint's spectacular bomb blows up Ubisoft's plans for 2019". Polygon. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  28. Nunneley, Stephany (24 October 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint critical reception and sales "very disappointing"". VG24/7. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  29. Lee, Patrick (1 October 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint Store Is Reportedly a Microtransaction Bonanza". The Escapist. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  30. Saed, Sherif (1 October 2019). "Look at all the things you can spend real money on in Ghost Recon Breakpoint". VG247.
  31. Tassi, Paul (1 October 2019). "'Ghost Recon Breakpoint' Has A Hilarious Amount Of Microtransactions". Forbes.
  32. Strickland, Derek (1 October 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint has pay-to-win microtransactions". TweakTown.
  33. Chalk, Andy (3 October 2019). "Ubisoft removes Ghost Recon Breakpoint's booster and skill point microtransactions". PC Gamer.
  34. Alexandra, Heather (1 October 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint's Microtransactions Explained". Kotaku.
  35. Good, Owen S. (4 October 2019). "Every item in Ghost Recon Breakpoint can be purchased with real money". Polygon. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  36. Romano, Sal (9 October 2019). "Famitsu Sales: 9/30/19 – 10/6/19 [Update]". Gematsu. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  37. Franzese, Tomas (25 October 2019). "Ghost Recon Breakpoint Sales and Reception Were "Disappointing"". DualShockers. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  38. Nunneley, Stephany (27 June 2019). "E3 2019 Game Critics Awards – Final Fantasy 7 Remake wins Best of Show". VG247. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  39. Mamiit, Aaron (25 August 2019). "PlayStation 4 exclusive Dreams takes home Best of Gamescom 2019 award". Digital Trends. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  40. "Titanium Awards 2019 [game title is missing the word "Breakpoint" in "Ghost Recon Breakpoint"]". Fun & Serious Game Festival. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.