STACK #180 Oct 2019

GAMES FEATURE

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War never ends The Breakpoint map is massive with a ton to do. There’s solo exploration. And then co-op goon- clearing. Had enough of those? Try your hand at competitive multiplayer. You’ll use the same character, so however you choose to play, you’ll be levelling up. There are also plans for substantial post- release content, including the very RPG-like mention of raids.

budding John Wicks. Assess a hostile area with drones. Plot your ninja incursion. Lie in the mud while well- armed predators patrol nearby. Then pop a silencer on your weapons. And only go loud as a last resort. Have a buddy or three drop into your world with seamless co-op and your options open up. Being downed isn’t an instant back-to- the-nearest-bivouac.

The ghosts move from drug-packed jungle to drone-filled island in a Wildlands sequel that’s designed to push you to breaking point. Words Nathan Lawrence GHOST HELL IN THE

You can be revived. And you can be lugged out of harm’s way if you’re the kind of Leeroy Jenkins who’s caught camo-pants down out in the open. Co-op also taps into some of the gameplay diversity found in the cleverly fluid class system. There are four core archetypes to choose from – favouring sharpshooters, run-and-gunners, ninjas, and healers – each, impressively, with its own progression tree. Playing with buddies doesn’t just lead to gun envy or cosmetic FOMO, it’s an easy way to get a taste of the unique abilities of the classes you’ve yet to touch. The best bit is you can switch between these four classes by pitching a tent at your nearest save-point bivouac. Despite the abundance of weapon attachments, Breakpoint actively discourages you from getting too attached to any one thing, with stacks of loot to be bought, earned or found. Like The Division, Ghost Recon Breakpoint wants to blur the lines between solo, co-op and competitive play. The potential is certainly there in what we played. We just hope that the devs have sufficient time to fix the overabundance of jank that was evident in the recent beta. If they do, Breakpoint is primed and ready to put the ‘special’ into special ops.

G host Recon Breakpoint feels like the love child of two other Tom Clancyverse titles. The military realism and high lethality of Rainbow Six Siege shacked up with the loot-loving and RPG tendencies of The Division . The result is certainly ambitious, with a greater emphasis on Tom Clancy’s typical near-future realism, albeit infused with a loot- heavy gameplay loop. Higher lethality has the added benefit of adding much-needed weight to Breakpoint ’s shooting, with projectile-based ballistics that simultaneously reward skilled accuracy (particularly at range) and make headshots, particularly against on-the-move targets, oh so satisfying. One of the biggest detractors of the preceding Ghost Recon Wildlands was playing solo with daft AI teammates. Wildlands was, after all, a game clearly designed with strategic co-op play in mind, and it certainly played best with a four-stack of buddies.

• Ghost Recon Breakpoint is out now

two distinct experiences to play if you gun for the original design. Alone, the added survival mechanics have greater meaning. Take too much damage in a fight you

barely survive, and you might suffer an injury that hampers you. Health operates in a tiered system, and you need to manage factors like hydration to stay alive. This might sound like it tips Breakpoint into hardcore survival-game territory, but it still feels accessible. It’s more that the devs seem to be incentivising ghost-like play over rewarding

For Breakpoint , the initial plan was to ditch the AI teammates, making for a solo or co-op approach. While the devs soon relented, and Breakpoint is set to include AI teammates at launch, it honestly feels as though there are

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OCTOBER 2019

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