Review
Played on: Xbox Series X & Xbox One X
Released: 2019
Ghost Recon Wildlands was a special treat for me, review here, I put in hours completing it. From ordering my squad around Bolivia, setting up the perfect stealth and sniper attacks, to crawling about jungles and mountains with a friend in coop. It was solid, albeit repetitive, tactical military experience, with a natural and diverse world to roam about.
Ghost Recon Wildlands was a special treat for me, review here, I put in hours completing it. From ordering my squad around Bolivia, setting up the perfect stealth and sniper attacks, to crawling about jungles and mountains with a friend in coop. It was solid, albeit repetitive, tactical military experience, with a natural and diverse world to roam about.
Sure, it had its weakness like the basic and cliche storytelling and endless map of things to do, but I really enjoyed just wandering about on the map doing my own things.
My hopes were high for GR Breakpoint and I was lucky to win a digital copy from Xbox Norway at launch. I dived straight in from the beginning! Initially I was impressed, crashing into a woodland, surviving through mother nature's harsh environments and having to find my way to the secret camp of the liberators. However, over time, my impression of the game plummeted.
The changes between Wildlands and Breakpoint were too large to be ignored. Over again, since release, I tried going back but just couldn’t get into it. Down the line it received many updates to change the experience entirely.
Let's look at the differences of Breakpoint and Wildlands, then look at what they changed.
First off, the major change, Breakpoint is level based. In a highly questionable change, they opted for a level based damage system, similar to Tom Clancy's The Division. Which means enemies are set at difficulty levels, the same goes for weapons. This, in turn, makes any difference in gun brand you’re carrying irrelevant, it’s all about the level it’s at, be it a sniper, assault rifle or shotgun. An unrealistic departure, which luckily was changed, so you can base it on actual weapon stats instead. Thus, making it possible to stick to one favourite weapon.
Enemy health can also be altered now, so the annoying bullet sponge feel of being under-levelled compared to the enemies can be altered. With bullets taking down enemies in one or two shots. It’s up to your preferred playstyle, but the latter is how Wildlands felt like.
The second major change is that you’re all alone in Breakpoint, versus having the small squad of three soldiers along the way. It makes stealth attacks incredibly difficult as you can’t keep watch everywhere or be protected from behind by your squad mates. This was altered in an update, where they added a squad, which can be fully customised with weapons and clothing, but I never felt this was as well implemented tactically as Wildlands. I ended up not using the squad and going solo.
Another change is the way the map works. You have to work out through clues where mission goals are. Combined with a confusing user interface, it's often difficult to see exactly where you need to go. You can swap to actual map indicators, but even then I found the mission pointers disorientating and the map cluttered. The key is to deactivate side missions on the mission screen, so your indicators actually show the way to your main current objective.
One of my biggest disappointments was the lack of civilians. The fictional island of Skellige is so empty. Granted, the civilians have fled but without any car traffic or people roaming about, some of the challenge of hitting targets and avoiding innocent casualties just disappears. The island feels like a barren, uninhabited space compared to Wildlands.
As you can gather, there’s a lot of changes and updates to get your head around. Bottom line is that the current and finished state of the game allows you to play it either the new Breakpoint way, or a somewhat closer take on the Wildlands experience, albeit never quite the same. Combining some of the lows and highs is probably your best option, as I did.
Long story short, I finally decided to reach the end credits of Breakpoint earlier this year. Despite my scepticism over the changes compared to Wildlands, I lay all that aside and played it how it was meant to be played at launch. All alone, with level-based weaponry. However I had the map showing where to go and less damage needed to kill enemies, where a single, proper, hit would take down a soldier.
My hopes were high for GR Breakpoint and I was lucky to win a digital copy from Xbox Norway at launch. I dived straight in from the beginning! Initially I was impressed, crashing into a woodland, surviving through mother nature's harsh environments and having to find my way to the secret camp of the liberators. However, over time, my impression of the game plummeted.
The changes between Wildlands and Breakpoint were too large to be ignored. Over again, since release, I tried going back but just couldn’t get into it. Down the line it received many updates to change the experience entirely.
Let's look at the differences of Breakpoint and Wildlands, then look at what they changed.
First off, the major change, Breakpoint is level based. In a highly questionable change, they opted for a level based damage system, similar to Tom Clancy's The Division. Which means enemies are set at difficulty levels, the same goes for weapons. This, in turn, makes any difference in gun brand you’re carrying irrelevant, it’s all about the level it’s at, be it a sniper, assault rifle or shotgun. An unrealistic departure, which luckily was changed, so you can base it on actual weapon stats instead. Thus, making it possible to stick to one favourite weapon.
Enemy health can also be altered now, so the annoying bullet sponge feel of being under-levelled compared to the enemies can be altered. With bullets taking down enemies in one or two shots. It’s up to your preferred playstyle, but the latter is how Wildlands felt like.
The second major change is that you’re all alone in Breakpoint, versus having the small squad of three soldiers along the way. It makes stealth attacks incredibly difficult as you can’t keep watch everywhere or be protected from behind by your squad mates. This was altered in an update, where they added a squad, which can be fully customised with weapons and clothing, but I never felt this was as well implemented tactically as Wildlands. I ended up not using the squad and going solo.
Another change is the way the map works. You have to work out through clues where mission goals are. Combined with a confusing user interface, it's often difficult to see exactly where you need to go. You can swap to actual map indicators, but even then I found the mission pointers disorientating and the map cluttered. The key is to deactivate side missions on the mission screen, so your indicators actually show the way to your main current objective.
One of my biggest disappointments was the lack of civilians. The fictional island of Skellige is so empty. Granted, the civilians have fled but without any car traffic or people roaming about, some of the challenge of hitting targets and avoiding innocent casualties just disappears. The island feels like a barren, uninhabited space compared to Wildlands.
As you can gather, there’s a lot of changes and updates to get your head around. Bottom line is that the current and finished state of the game allows you to play it either the new Breakpoint way, or a somewhat closer take on the Wildlands experience, albeit never quite the same. Combining some of the lows and highs is probably your best option, as I did.
Long story short, I finally decided to reach the end credits of Breakpoint earlier this year. Despite my scepticism over the changes compared to Wildlands, I lay all that aside and played it how it was meant to be played at launch. All alone, with level-based weaponry. However I had the map showing where to go and less damage needed to kill enemies, where a single, proper, hit would take down a soldier.
To my amazement it finally grew on me. The bonus of playing it with a Xbox Series X update too, it launched without one, was neat. Running at a smooth 1440@60fps on my Xbox Series X, compared to the rougher 1080p@60fps mode I initially played on the Xbox One X. Performance mode is in any case highly recommended!
Skellige island is a visually impressive location, displaying diverse lighting, night and day cycles and weather types that change the look of the world dynamically. It gives places a whole new atmosphere when it changes. Containing itself to an island feels like a natural map border too, there’s a nice balance between nature and ultra-modern buildings in small cities scattered throughout.
With dense foliage, deep snowy mountains and lovely beach areas, it’s a graphically satisfying and varied title, considering the vast size of the map. Simply walking through woodlands and natural environments is atmospheric and incredibly satisfying. Again though, I must state, that it lacks civilians wandering about, other than a few enemy soldiers, and the roads need traffic, not just a few military convoys.
A cool and impressive feature is the camouflage system, increasing your changes of not being spotted when sniping or sneaking about. You can dig yourself into mud or snow, covering your uniform and face in it, to hide yourself when enemy soldiers pass by. Perfect for a sniper shot or surprise attack.
Even further down the realism path, and this is optional, you can damage yourself if you roll or fall down a hill. Forcing you to mend wounds or walk slowly about with a broken leg. Added to the mix, are several types of surfaces to traverse, thick mud and snow makes you walk slower, while a steep gravel hill will send you sliding down the mountainside. It depicts the difficulties of crossing wild nature.
While I initially missed my squad, finding it overwhelming attacking enemy bases alone, I somehow developed the skill to pick down soldiers silently and then go guns blazing into fierce firefights thereafter. I would recommend playing it on a more forgiving difficulty and damage level or with a friend in coop.
Gunfights are very solid, heightened by satisfying controls and powerful sound, taking part amidst intense, stormy, weather or tricky jungle warfare. New for Breakpoint are futuristic weapons utilised by the enemy, such as drones and larger attack robots. These can be countered be certain weapons or gear you are carrying, but they add a tricky element while enemies are attacking. Robots will relentlessly attack, while enemy soldiers will find cover.
My only gripe here is that it that enemies can overwhelm you a little too much at times, there's just a too short time period before reinforcements are called in and the amount of enemies swarming you could have been toned down somewhat. Maybe have a scaling system like GTA has with how much heat you build up, results in more and more enemies, rather than throwing a ton at you at once.
I found the overall story in Breakpoint interesting, a strong improvement over Wildlands, and while it never blew me away I felt it was a more cinematic approach with more personality to the main characters. Breakpoint's story is about modern weaponry falling into the wrong hands and a veteran soldier that’s gone rogue, forcing a high-tech scientist turn his technology against the world. It's cool and kind of relevant story of modern times.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed a lot of the intense moments in Breakpoint, the gunfights are satisfying, the map is a beautiful place to explore and challenging to traverse on your way to mission locations.
That said, if you’re wanting a Wildlands replacement, Breakpoint doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor. It can be tailored to be fairly similar, but the change from a realistic Ghost Recon, which the series is known for, to a level-based shooter is obvious. A lot of people were turned down early by this, and thus the added changes probably hasn’t convinced the Wildlands fans.
I found the overall story in Breakpoint interesting, a strong improvement over Wildlands, and while it never blew me away I felt it was a more cinematic approach with more personality to the main characters. Breakpoint's story is about modern weaponry falling into the wrong hands and a veteran soldier that’s gone rogue, forcing a high-tech scientist turn his technology against the world. It's cool and kind of relevant story of modern times.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed a lot of the intense moments in Breakpoint, the gunfights are satisfying, the map is a beautiful place to explore and challenging to traverse on your way to mission locations.
That said, if you’re wanting a Wildlands replacement, Breakpoint doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor. It can be tailored to be fairly similar, but the change from a realistic Ghost Recon, which the series is known for, to a level-based shooter is obvious. A lot of people were turned down early by this, and thus the added changes probably hasn’t convinced the Wildlands fans.
Wildlands was the better realistic and tactical Ghost Recon experience, hampered by repetition and a generic story, Breakpoint is a level based Ghost Recon experience, with a better story, but it falls short with a less realistic approach.
