The 5 Best Things About Ghost Recon Breakpoint & The 5 Worst

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The 5 Best Things About Ghost Recon Breakpoint & The 5 Worst

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint has gotten a negative reception, but there is some good here. Here's the best and worst about Ubisoft's latest game. Tom Clancy has been deceased for six whole years now but his legacy still lives on... most notably in video games. Thanks to military and espionage novelist, Ubisoft was given tons of video game material; their latest foray into the "Clancyverse" is For many fans, however, it probably would have been better if Ubisoft gave it a rest. The reviews for Ghost Recon: Breakpoint both from the audience and the critics are less than favorable. It probably had a lot to do with the lesser development time for the title but it's safe to say that for some, Breakpoint was a disservice to the Ghost Recon franchise. Still, it's not without its redeeming values, which makes it all the more harder to like or hate. So, we'll give you five flaws and strengths so you can decide for yourself whether Clancy will be rolling in his grave because of Breakpoint or not. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY

BEST PRODUCTION VALUE

Jon Bernthal. Ubisoft basically pulled an Activision here and grabbed a bit of star power in order to propel the Ghost Recon: Breakpoint's marketing. Hence, the Hollywood actor lent his grimace and tough-as-nails look as well as vocal growls to the game. Needless to say, he was the most memorable character. While most players would mostly forget the character's name and simply call him Jon Bernthal, there's no mistaking the emotional weight he adds to the game's plot. Ubisoft fully utilized Bernthal's presence as the main antagonist of the game. As a result, you know that the budget is definitely higher here or at least it feels like it was.

WORST ATMOSPHERE

via TheGamer The problem with creating a generic and fictional environment for a game is that there are fewer real-life references for it. By comparison, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Breakpoint's predecessor, was set in the Bolivian countryside, meaning it was made to have the same or similar atmosphere and locale. This arguably made Wildlands' Latin American black ops escapade more immersive and memorable. Meanwhile, Breakpoint has the Auroa islands-- a made-up chunk of land sprinkled with some pine forests and rockies supposedly somewhere in the Pacific ocean. It's a lot less populated and feels more like a digital playground than anything else. Additionally, the enemies are rather faceless and generic (save for Bernthal), making them less human than the cartels of Wildlands.

BEST SKILL TREE

via TheGamer Character progression and customization were overhauled in Breakpoint. This time around, it became closer to Ubisoft's and the skill tree was made a little more elaborately than Wildlands. You get plenty of tweaks to your stats and perks and these augment your playstyle experience which is commendable especially if you prefer different approaches. The skills are more tailored and make more sense this time around. They also make more impact and give you something to work towards other than the missions or completionist goals. Moreover, how you level up your class-specific skills vial challenges is a great way to experiment and compel players to branch out of their comfort zones in combat.

WORST BUGS AND GLITCHES

Sadly, no matter how refined the gameplay elements are in Breakpoint, the game's developers could have used more time, perhaps a few more months, to iron out the game-breaking bugs and glitches. We're talking about broken vehicle physics, awkward animations, and poor collision detection in models among many other problems. Additionally, the optimization is not exactly a strong point of Breakpoint (though the same can be said for the previous game, Wildlands). A.I. is no better either-- it's laughably broken and easily abused as if the game never improved past its Beta stage. All in all, it's not really a safe game to purchase on day one, or month one even.

BEST LOOT

Just as the skills and perks received an upgrade similar to The Division, so too did the gears improve. Weapon customization and item rewards are now better, at least compared to the rather nonexistent looting mechanics in the previous games. Now, Ubisoft has introduced some light-roleplaying game (RPG) mechanics to Breakpoint. As such, you can find armor, weapons, attachments, and many other items and tools scattered all over the game world. Some of it doesn't really make sense from a realistic and strategic point-of-view and feels like those elements are shoehorned (particularly the Gear Score), but it adds a layer of replayability to the game.

WORST OPEN WORLD

For some reason, the vehicles in Breakpoint remained the same as they were in Wildlands. That means they're only ever useful for driving on flat terrain from point A to point B-- and even then, the handling or controls is abysmal. The problem with this is that the terrain of Auroa is mostly diagonal and mountainous. Traversal is more difficult since flat and horizontal ground is a lot rarer in this game for some reason. You're better off going on foot instead of using the game's fragile death traps called vehicles, making the exploration a lot more tedious and sapping for Breakpoint. Apart from that, it's the typical Ubisoft cookie-cutter open-world, meaning you've already seen this and are probably already tired of it.

BEST GRAPHICS

This one's already a given but most new open-world usually push the boundary of graphics, meaning they're bound to be prettier. Breakpoint follows this tradition and instantly appears better compared to the previous game. The hair and face textures are more detailed and natural along with the textures. Ubisoft also apparently traded in Nvidia's exclusive foliage simulation technology for AMD's texture sharpening software for PC users and the results are more noticeable. Everything looks more realistic this time around and some of the previous inherent graphical anomalies of the previous game are nonexistent.

WORST MADE FOR CO-OP

If there was one redeeming value that can make players forget how bugged and glitchy Breakpoint is, it would be the co-op multiplayer. Playing tactical stealth espionage with actual human beings can be fun even against the dumb A.I. of Breakpoint. Sadly, you'll be left to your own devices in a game designed for multiplayer is you choose the solo path. No one will rescue you whenever you die and you'll have to face the frustration of getting respawned a kilometer away from where you died. The game will also be notably slower by yourself and a lot lonelier-- even A.I. had some okay banter and jokes.

BEST STORY

via TheGamer Thanks mostly to and strong presence in the game, you actually have the drive to see the story through to the end. In that regard, it's also more intriguing than Wildlands' pretty basic Cartel food chain plot. The story is certainly more fleshed-out here. More than anything, it provides a nice respite from all the generic Ubisoft open-world activities you need to do in order to progress in-game. You also get to learn more about Bernthal's character's behavior and motivations, essentially making him the backbone of the game's story.

WORST MICROTRANSACTIONS

By far, one of the most disdained and negative things a developer can do to a full-priced game right now is to give it microtransactions. Breakpoint is no exception; Ubisoft gave it a full-blown microtransaction system for cosmetics and attachments. That in itself bad but you have to remember that Breakpoint is an AAA game with a full price tag and single player. Most of the items sold on the are also the same ones you can obtain while playing the game. That means you're basically paying to skip some of the content. This has a negative effect on the gameplay as a whole as the developers have to find a way to compel impatient players to spend money, such as making the grind longer, thus making the game tedious and boring. Such is the state of some AAA games these days, like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.