The long road back for Ghost Recon Breakpoint begins this coming week, with the first of two title updates planned for November. Developers from Ubisoft Paris have also asked fans to participate in a detailed survey about the game as they search for a way to improve their tactical shooter, if not give it more separation from other offerings in the Tom Clancy’s lineup.
While new missions and other content are on the way with the next title update, the linchpin for Breakpoint’s post-launch rehabilitation seems to be in the survey. Over the next two weeks, players are being asked to prioritize their biggest expectations. From the Ghost Recon official subreddit, it sounds like players want major adjustment to drone behavior, and a return of some basic gameplay parameters they enjoyed in 2017’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands.
One of those caught my attention: Going undetected in an enclosed enemy vehicle. It would be a massive help, given how frequently players are interrupted by the many roaming patrols (foot and mechanized) as they head toward the next mission.
True, fast travel in Breakpoint is an immediately acquired and easily used option, but the fact you can’t drive a kilometer without getting out to shoot a bunch of wandering stooges is a major brake on open-world exploration. Wildlands had a variable means of discoverability when operating a vehicle — from totally exposed (dirt bike) to mostly concealed (box truck). In Breakpoint, it’s all the same, and not only is that a gameplay hindrance it even breaks immersion, when you think about the role stealth is supposed to play in the series.
For now, on Tuesday Nov. 12, Breakpoint players will be getting improved stamina and the means of switching their firing position (left or right shoulder) while in cover. It seems bizarre to tout details this granular as major quality-of-life improvements, but they really are. Additionally, Tuesday’s patch will add two narrative missions tied to Breakpoint’s homesteader and outcast factions. Later this month, another title update promising unspecified optimizations and bug fixes is planned.
Two weeks ago, Ubisoft Paris developers acknowledged how far short of expectations Breakpoint fell in a note to players, while promising a “more radical and immersive version” of the game to come. Immersion is the word I’d focus on, considering that so many suggestions — both in the forums and in the survey Ubisoft is taking — directly affect the player’s sense of asymmetric warfare behind enemy lines. That’s supposed to separate Breakpoint from other Tom Clancy’s games, like the March release of The Division 2, which is more of a heroic, go-it-alone shooter with cooperative elements. The way Breakpoint plays right now, it’s not much different.
Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot noted that the game “did not come in with enough differentiation factors,” in acknowledging that it had been “strongly rejected by a significant portion of the community.” That was a big reason he told investors to expect lower-than-estimated revenue figures for the remainder of the year. So it’s not much surprise that, in the survey of players, AI squadmates is among the priority options for players to call out. AI teammates that can be ordered around tactically were not included in Breakpoint’s launch and were expected to join the game in a later title update; apparently Ubisoft wanted players to focus on human-with-human team-ups and cooperation. But AI teammates now seems to be fast-tracking, although when exactly that feature could arrive hasn’t been said.
More broadly, players are agitating for decoupling the game from a gear score progression that seems to resemble The Division 2 and other loot shooters too much. How that will go is an open question, though, considering how much weapon and gear modification and improvement ties into Breakpoint’s microtransaction economy — where just about everything can be bought for real money.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpointlaunched Oct. 4 and is available on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. On Metacritic, it’s the lowest-scoring game (on a lead platform) in the Ghost Recon franchise since 2004’s Ghost Recon 2.
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