Ubisoft has recently revealed the latest installment in the Tom Clancy: Ghost Recon franchise to be Ghost Recon Breakpoint which is set to launch October 4th of this year. We got a short announcement trailer as well as 13 minutes of gameplay to dissect. There’s plenty of juicy details to breakdown here so let’s not waste any more time.
Island Paradise
Two years ago the Ghost Recon franchise was rejuvenated throwing players into the war-torn, drug-filled and frankly beautiful lands of Bolivia. One of just many real-life locations which the franchise has taken players to over the years but now it seems they’re switching things up. Breakpoint is set on Auroa, a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean that is completely made up. The island is diverse enough with deserts, lush jungles, snowy mountain tops and even an active volcano to boot. The island will be the new home of Skell technology a made up, technology company that, in-universe, develop all kinds of high tech weapons and gadgets including the drones we see in the gameplay reveal.
No Way Out
In the reveal trailer, we see Nomad and his team of ghosts head over to Auroa in choppers to investigate what happened after the outside world lost contact with the Skell Tech employees on the island. Shortly after they are shot down and left completely stranded on the Island with no intelligence, supplies or backup arriving anytime soon. This will most likely help push the survival and crafting mechanics which are said to be new and large additions to the game’s formula.
A Familiar Face
Many might have immediately recognized the face of Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s main antagonist but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen him. Ghost Recon Wildlands’ latest update added the “Operation Oracle” mission which introduced us to Cole D. Walker, a ghost much like yourself played by Jon Bernthal (Known for his work on The Punisher and The Walking Dead). Back then he was an ally but in Breakpoint after several years have passed it appears he will be your adversary.
It is said Walker has teamed up with a fellow ex-Black ops soldier named Stone and the two are now in control of a team of former spec ops soldiers calling themselves “The Wolves”. The Wolves have seized control of the island using Skell Tech to produce heavily armed and dangerous drones and weapons. You’ll have to shut his operation down by periodically taking back control of the island rescuing captured Skell Tech scientists and convincing them to join your side uncovering more of the story as you go.
Going It Alone
Ghost Recon Wildlands gave solo players A.I controlled teammates to explore Bolivia with so you were never really going it alone. These A.I wernt perfect, sometimes struggling to get where you wanted them to go, or even at times standing right next to enemies and being virtually invisible but it was nice to have a little support when a fire-fight broke out. Now, however, Breakpoint has removed A.I teammates altogether.
Emil Daubon, writer for Ghost Recon Breakpoint said “The mission statement that we received was we want to create a fantasy that replicates being alone trapped behind enemy lines. Ultimately, if you choose to play a solo, you have the option to immerse yourself deeply in that aspect of the fantasy. The A.I. teammates would have taken away from that.”
Despite the lack of company the “Sync Shot” mechanic will be making a return but this time Nomad will use drones to help eliminate targets.
Branching Dialogue Options
Ghost Recon Breakpoint is said to have a larger emphasis on storytelling, which will include various different dialogue options to choose from. It is sounding more like the choices will affect certain cutscenes in the game rather than have a drastic effect on the narrative but we simply don’t know how crucial your choices will be just yet.
Day 1 PVP
Ghost Recon Wildlands didn’t receive any PVP love until about six months after launch when Ghost Wars was introduced. Now it has a whole host of maps, ranks, rewards and so on. Breakpoint, on the other hand, will be shipping with PVP multiplayer from launch with some changes coming too. What those changes are we don’t know just yet but it’s nice to see some genuine improvements made after feedback from Wildlands.
Plenty of Post Launch Content
Ubisoft has already revealed plans for Breakpoints post-launch content, something of a trend Ubisoft now have with their big AAA releases. The game is set to receive additional story content, new classes and probably some weapons too as well as some seasonal events and even some endgame content in the form of raids. Exact details on all this content are obviously sparse now but Breakpoint will have its fair share of post-launch content close to the festive season.
There are still loads of things yet to be revealed about Ghost Recon Breakpoint and plenty we can speculate about too so tell me what were your thoughts on the games reveal and what would you like to see from Breakpoint when it launches October 4th? Tell us everything either down below or over on Twitter.
Escape Reality Through Games 