Ghost Recon Breakpoint
This brand new Ghost Recon game begins
with that old military videogame
favourite – the helicopter crash. High
above the jungles of the Aurora
archipelago – a remote chain of islands in
the
Pacific – a swarm of… something attacks
your
chopper, and the fact it seems to be targeting
you,
suggests it might be something more
sinister.
The Aurora archipelago is home to Skell
Technology, a massive corporation that
makes everything from home computers
to automated war machines. It’s the latter,
a growing threat to the world, that brings
the Ghosts here. Despite being a relatively
small archipelago, Aurora contains several
diverse biomes including forests, deserts,
an active volcano, and snowy mountains.
It makes no geographical sense, and call
me a cynic, but it feels like an
environment
that’s been tailor-made for a battle royale
mode. Such a mode hasn’t been
confirmed (or hinted at) by Ubisoft yet,
but
come on, it is 2019.
The Ghosts’ plan to infiltrate under
cover of darkness and rescue a Skell
engineer is scuppered by that bizarre
swarm, which is a little bit like something
out of Lost. Breakpoint is set in the near
future, and although not as fantastically
futuristic as something like Future
Soldier,
this world’s technology is far in advance
of
our own. And, yes, there are drones: flying
ones, ones that roll around on wheels, and
ones you can use to scout a location and
mark enemies. Ubisoft’s love affair with
drones is far from over, and they’re
actually central to the plot in Breakpoint.
As your chopper burns you limp away
from the flaming wreckage and find
yourself behind enemy lines, poorly
equipped, injured, and hunted. An enemy
militia calling themselves the Wolves are
aware of your presence on Aurora, and
painted a target on your back.
These cloaked, mask-wearing soldiers are
every bit as well-trained as you are,
making them a formidable foe. The idea of
Breakpoint is to put you on the back foot,
to make even a super-soldier like a Ghost
feel like they’re struggling to survive. As
you explore the game’s giant open world,
completing missions and engaging in
guerrilla warfare, the Wolves are always
hot on your heels.
Big Bad
The group is led by Cole D. Walker, a
former Ghost turned villain who is played
by Jon Bernthal, who you may recognise
from The Punisher on Netflix. Walker was
recently introduced in a free Wildlands
mission called Operation Oracle, in which
he was ostensibly a good guy. But now
he’s in full-on villain mode, leading the
Wolves in their charge against you. Ubisoft
says story is much more important this
time around. And while I don’t think this
series necessarily needs one, it’s
encouraging to see the developer taking
strides to make this aspect of the game
more compelling.
I must say, though, a flashback
cutscene between Walker and returning
Wildlands character Nomad (the one with
the beard and the baseball cap) has a very
weird tone. The two characters have a
relaxed conversation – the kind you’d have
with an old friend in a quiet bar. But as
they chat they’re using a sniper rifle to
casually shoot unidentified enemies in the
head. One bullet doesn’t quite land, and
Nomad finishes the crawling enemy off
with all the emotion of someone scrubbing
a toilet. I don’t know if this scene is
supposed to make them look like
badasses, or get across the idea that
soldiers are people doing a job. But our
alleged hero’s cavalier attitude to death,
which seems to be at least partly played
for laughs, is just a bit gross, really.
But back to the game itself, because
honestly, who’s going to be paying
attention to the story. This isn’t The
Wire,
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| Ghost Recon Breakpoint |