What to know about Ubisoft Quartz and Digits

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently told investors that the company wants to be "one of the key players" in blockchain gaming, and today, Ubisoft announced Quartz �its approach to NFTs in games you've actually heard of. First up, Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

The announcement trailer runs down the high-level pitch for the Ubisoft Quartz beta, and there's also a dedicated site that gets into the nitty-gritty of Digits, which is what the NFTs are called. Put simply, Digits are limited-edition in-game cosmetic items with unique serial numbers, they can be sold from player to player with a third-party marketplace like Rarible or Objkt, and they have an "ownership history?" of everyone who's come before.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSVoJ0WUQfY

Depending on who you ask, the program, in general, isn't too far removed from something like the Steam Market (minus all the NFT-specific cons??iderations that are a big d??eal).

Digits are "store??d on the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain Tezos," which is a comparatively less energy-intensive solution than the Proof-of-Work protocol used for "other blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum" �but these things are all relative. On the sustainability front, Ubisoft says it will make "details" about Ubisoft Qu?artz "public" as part of its "[commitment] to measuring its global environmental impact."

For now, Ubiso??ft Quartz is technically a beta, ??so its reach is relatively limited.

Digits exist in owners' third-party crypto-wallets, and they're "playable" in the Ubisoft Connect PC version of Ghost Recon Breakpoint �the only supported game so far �after they've been synchronized with the player's inventory. The plan is for "purely cosmetic items" rather than gear that can "influence the gameplay," whether that's PvE? or? PvP.

There are also eligibility requirements: in order to acquire Digits, players need to be 18 years or older, reside in an eligible territory, have 2-Factor enabled for Ubisoft Connect, and be at least "XP Level 5" in Breakpoint. ??The launch is set for Dec. 9 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific.

To give you a sense of what Digits even look like, the first three �M4A1 Tactical | Wolves, Wolf Enhanced Helmet A, and Wolf Enhanced Pants �are shown on the Ubisoft Quartz dashboard. They'll be given out for free at varying times (the first on December 9) an??d with varying requirements (the steepest of which is over 600 hours of global playtime).

This move with Quartz �or really any of Ubisoft's blockchain experiments �might go in one ear and out the other. That's exactly how I feel, too. But whether it's play-to-earn games or NFTs based on video game artwork or limited-edition "Wolf Enhanced Pants" in something like Ghost Recon, it's clear that other publishers are also weighing their options in the short and long term. Games are??n't just games anymore. (Some of them, at?? least.)

We'll keep tabs on how the Quartz program progresses (presumably with other games beyond Ghost Recon Breakpoint once the "beta" r?esults are in), but for now, this scheme feels like a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too moment for Ubisoft to appease investors.

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I guess technically 'current-gen' now

People are still playing Ghost Recon Breakpoint. These games have a tradition of launching in ?offensively bad states before gradually morph??ing into something passable. It's not something that should be celebrated, but I guess it's something we've come to accept. All the while, they maintain surprisingly healthy player bases.

That active player base means Breakpoint is moving forward into the PS5 and Xbox Series X generation. Ubisoft outlined what that means in terms of performance bumps, and it's more or less the minimum we expect from next-gen enhan??cements. On PS5 and Xbox Series X, you'll get a choice between 4K ?at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. The Xbox Series S doesn't have any options, running the game at 1440p at 30fps at all times.

At least there's no funny business accessing the upgrades. Everyone who owns the game on PS4 or Xbox One will be able to immediately access their Breakpoint profile (including purchases and inventory items) on new consoles. Ubisoft has the good sense not to try ??paywa??lling this.

Although Ubisoft just detailed these enhancements, it seems as though they were implemented as part of the Breakpoint 3.03 title update on November 9. That means they're available now. Whoever's still playing can now experience Breakpoint&nbs?p;looking a little bett??er or running a little better.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Bre?akpoint -- Next-Generation Consoles [Ubisoft]

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Too steep a price?

Ubisoft's messy merc shooter Ghost Recon Breakpoint will be free-to-play this weekend on PS4, PC and Xbox One. All you need do is? download the title on your platform of choice, and you'll be good to go until Monday, March 30.

The free weekend will of?fer up the entire game, including its single-player campaign, multiplayer modes, and the all-new "Immersive Mode," which strips down the visuals to a minimal HUD, reduces health regeneration, and removes all bonuses and effects provided by leveled equipment and tiered loot.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint was not Ubisoft's finest hour, as the game launched in October to a harsh reception from both critics and players. Despite this, Ubisoft has continued to support the title since launch, with numerous? updates, fixes and balance tweaks across the board. The horse might be long out of the barn on this one, though.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Epic Gam??es Store.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is free for the weekend [PC Gamer]

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Immersive mode now launching on March 24, 2020

Ubisoft is reworking Ghost Recon Breakpoint on March 24 with a major update that will add Immersive mode – an alternate way to play the PvE side of the game for people who don't wa??nt to constantly deal with stat-altering loot and be beholden to an all-important Gear Score to make progress in the story.

Going forward, ??you'll be able to turn off tiered gear – and the HUD. And health regeneration.

"If you find the perfect fit, you can customize and keep the same wea??pon throughout your entire adventure," notes Ubisoft. "You are able to loot your enemies' weapons, allowing you t??o switch weapons realistically." Immersive mode will dole out new gear in "missions, rewards, and crates."

The other big change coming in the Ghost Experience update: Erewhon, the game's social hub, will no longer let re??al-world randoms run amok. In Immersive, you'll only bump into NPCs and co-op partners.

The original Breakpoint experience will live on in Regular mode, and players can switch between Regular, Immersive, and Custom mode (with lots o??f fine-tunable options that impact the difficulty and sense of realism) at any point. It's even possible to partner with players who are running different settings.

This content update is arriving later than expected, and Ubisoft still needs to add AI s?quadmates sooner than later, but hey, tangible progress. For many of us, there's simply no recovering from the b??otched launch, and that's where I'm coming from too. It's interesting to watch it all unfold, though.

There are ?still so many growing pains for games-as-a-service developers to work through.

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New mode and Engineer class pushed to spring 2020

Scorned Ghost Recon Breakpoint players are waiting for that signature "Ubisoft rebound" – substantial updates that'll help salvage the game &nda??sh; but it's bee?n slow-going, even with tempered expectations.

After gathering feedback from players last year, Ubisoft has latched onto the idea of a survival-oriented "immersive mode" in Breakpoint. (One of the community's most-requested changes, apart from AI squadmates, was removing Gear Score and tiered loot.) It was going to launch in February, but the immersive update has slipped to "sp??ring 2020," and we're now supposed to hear more on March 5.

"The complexity of integrating this new mode has proven to be a challenge and we want to ensure that the experience will be a great one when it releases," Ubisoft noted in a blog post this week.

"We understand that you have been re??questing more transparent communication and we aim to provide this whenever possible. There are a lot of moving parts in development which has made locking in dates challenging so we haven’t been able to communicate as much as we would have liked."

As it stands, the immersive mode and hacking-centric Engineer class will join Ghost Recon Breakpoint at the same time. The developers "are hoping to release Episode 2 ??with this Title Update as well."

The longer this takes, the more players are going to expect big changes. For those of us who aren't at all invested in Ubisoft's current rendition of Ghost Recon but are into either Assassin's Creed or Far Cry, Breakpoint has been an ??interesting case study of games-as-a-service sequels gone awry.

I'm increasingly anxious about Beyond Good and Evil 2.

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First look at the two-part event

On the heels of yesterday's teaser trailer for Ghost Recon Breakpoint's Terminator-themed ev??ent, Ubisoft has shared a prop??er look at Skynet's crossover with Auroa.

It's a two-part live event, and this new trailer seems to indicate that the first half (launching January 29) will focus on a T-800 disguised as a human who's wreaking havoc. It's very much the original Terminator design but without the rights to Arnold Schwarzenegger's likeness. There's a nondescript badass -- one who could definitely be an actio??n star, but who definitely isn't Arnold -- killing without mercy or discretion.

The second part (launc??hing February 1) appears to be centered around the facility where T-800s are manufactured. Here, there are several T-800 metallic endoskel??etons, all taking up arms. Also, that non-Arnold has part of his face ripped off, and you just know that probably pissed him off.

As rewards, the Terminator event has a few free? items. The event-exclusive items are: the RT5 Shepherd Terminator vehicle, Shredded T-800 facial paint, an Uzi, the Starfield X4 Terminator vehicle, the Res??istance Helmet, and an AR-18. But, let's be real -- taking out a Terminator or a dozen is reward enough.

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Unless you have a Terminator too

Following in the footsteps of Ghost Recon Wildlands, Ghost Recon Breakpoint will also get a live event that stars one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's famed foes. In Wildlands, teams were asked to dispose of a Predator, which is the world's greatest sport hunter. This week, they'll take on Skynet's toughest in Breakpoint.

On January 29, a Terminator-themed live event is taking place in Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Ubisoft hasn't revealed which Terminator model will be exterminating squad after squad. It'll presumably be the iconic T-800 metallic endoskeleton. But, maybe it'll be the liquid metal T-1000 from Terminator 2. Or, maybe it'll just be Arnold, and you're me??ant ??to blast away at his intimidating scowl and leather jacket.

Even though the event is only two days away, all we know about Breakpoint's Terminator fight is in the teaser trailer that's embedded above. Ubisoft hopes it's enough to make lapsed Breakpoint ;players say "I'll be back." Others will stick by their "Hasta la vista, baby." (I?'m so sorry.)

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'We have a lot of work ahead of us'

Ghost Recon Breakpoint has a tough road of recovery ahead of it. The game is not good, and it'll take a substantial amount of time and energy on Ubisoft's part to not only turn it around, but convince people it's worth another chance. In a blog post today, the studio outlined its plan to fix Breakpoint.

First and foremost, the big ones – stability improvements and bug fixes – are on the way.

"We are working on further improvements that ??will be coming soon with TU1.0.3 in mid-November, including fixes on the Drone deployment, on changing t??he fire rate, on NVGs blocking crosshairs and on the Mission Completion notification pop-up," Ubisoft said. "Title Update 1.0.3.1, coming around end-November, will include further improvements and updates on the most pressing community feedback."

The team is also planning new game content (with the Project Titan raid set for December), an in-game economy re-balance, AI teammates, and a "more radical and immersive version of Ghost Recon Breakpoint" to address ??criticisms over the survival mechanics and loot-based progression system.

Regardless of how that plan takes shape, generally, the developers intend to let you "tailor your experience to the way you want to enjoy the game." Continuing, the developers said "We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us to get the game where you want it to be, and that not everything will be addressed or released as fast as all of you might like. Big changes can take time to make sure they are done right, but we?? still want to be as transparent as we can about the current state of development."

Ubisoft has turned its live-service games around before – can it do it again? I would've presumed so, but after the way Breakpoint affected Ubi's earnings (and other upcoming games), I'm not so sure.

Tom Clancy??'s Ghost Recon?? Breakpoint: Moving Forward [Ubisoft]

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At ease, soldier

In the modern triple-A space, it seems publishers are more worried about making money than creating fun entertainment. While a few games have shown that "live-service" strategies can produce a quality experience, these titles often end up releasing in incomplete states that take months – if not years – of patchi??ng and updating to get anywhere close to their potential.

That description fits Ubisoft's output to a tee. The company has certainly created some good games this generation (most notably last year's Assassin's Creed Odyssey), but the majority of its titles are the same basic mold transplanted to a different setting. Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Ghost Recon: all of these series play ??practically the same and feature bas?ically identical objectives with slightly different characters.

Even that basic template couldn't have prepared me for how awful Ghost Recon Breakpoint turned out. Despite having a predecessor it could build off of, Ubisoft has somehow mashed every negative aspect of modern, microtransaction-heavy titl??es into one disgusting whole of a time-wasting, repetitious open-world shooter. A few steps are taken forward, but that's after a leap off o??f a cliff.

To put it bluntly, Ghost Recon Breakpoint is l??ikely the most disappointing release of 2019.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint (PC, PS4 [reviewed on PS4 Pro], Xbox One)
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: September 30, 2019 (Gold/Ultimate Edition), October 4, 2019 (Standard Edition)
MSRP: $59.99 (Standard), $99.99 (Gold), $119.99 (Ultimate)

The plot of Breakpoint sees Team Ghost taking on LTC. Cole Walker on the fictional island of Auroa. A former Ghost operative himself, Walker has turn??ed on his brothers in arms to mechanize a drone army against the island nation for some reason. His motivations are never made clear and ?his presence is barely felt in the roughly 20-hour campaign, which makes getting from plot point to plot point feel like an exercise in frustration.

The brief introductory mission is the only time Breakpoint comes close to capitalizing on its potential. As an open-world game allows, you're able to tackle this mission in whichever manner you see fit. Since Ghost Recon used to be a stealth series, you're able to sneak around and completely avoid combat, or snipe people from afar or just get straight up in their business. You can walk around and do objectives out of order, which le?nds some player agency in the moment. After one cutscene, you can even kill Walker and end the game in 10 minutes, which is a neat touch.

If you happen to play cautiously and not go for the glory kill, you'll rendezvous at the camp of Erewhon and meet up with a bunch of other Ghost soldiers that have been stranded on Auroa. Right from the outset, this interesting setup gets ruined to accommodate cooperative play and a completely out-of-place live-service setting. Seemingly taking inspiration from The Division (the sequel to which has become Ubisoft's most successful game of 2019), Breakpoint i??s a looter-shooter, shared-hub, RPG-styled game that makes no sense within it??s own universe.

What I mean is, past titles have put an emphasis on realism. Utilizing the Tom Clancy branding, Ghost Recon has always strived to not only give players options in tackling situations but demand they play like the military operatives they inhabit. Instead of sticking to that realism, Breakpoint has decided to inject a whole loot system with a gear score and various drops to kee??p you looking for better equipment.

Not only that, but the game attempts to double down on the survival aspects of its premise and brings systems like healing wounds, drinking canteens to top off stamina, and even crafting for secondary weapons and rations. It's a bunch of useless fluff that ultimately can be ignored since the penalties for not engaging with them are slim. As ?you run too much, your stamina meter will deplete a little, but various skills can be unlocked that increase the duration and regeneration speeds of sai??d meter. It's not very well thought out.

Also not well thought out is the campsite system. Around the world, you'll find various bivouacs that you can fast-travel to. Allowing you to cut down time spent getting across this comically large map, you can also buff your character, call in vehicles, buy things from the shop, and change your character class while visiting them. The vehicle thing is key because this is the only way you're able to call in a vehicle to traverse Auroa – apart from grabbing them in the world. This runs counter to Ghost Recon Wildlands, this game's immediate predecessor. In that game, you were able to call on the rebel forces in Bolivia to deliver a vehicle from anywhere on the map. With Team Ghost not losing the technology it had with them, this extra barrier to playability is just the tip of how obstructive Breakpoint is with letting t??he player actually navigate its environment.

A lot of this could be forgiven if you're okay with open-world titles. While the missions are boring beyond reason and the story goes nowhere, it's not like the design choices cripple Breakpoint. What does is all of the technical glitches and bugs that have shipped with the game. Many players are reporting various crashes, but I happened to get lucky in that regard. What I faced were objectives automatically failing, my character spawning underneath the world, vehicles exploding for no reason, my guns failing to shoot bullets, characters not spawning in to finish objectives, and my co-op partner consistently glitching under obstacles and halting him from progressing. It's absolutely appalling how many technical problems Breakpoint currently suffers from.

These issues drag out what is already a ridiculously drawn-out experience. It doesn't help that the design of Auroa feels so non-descript. A snowy area is the only reprieve from the otherwise brown and green jungles y?ou'll be trekking through. I’m failing to even remember anything outstanding on the map because it all just looks and feels the same. After 20 hours, it simply blurs together.

Shifting gears to the positives, I do happen to like the "Pin" system that Breakpoint uses for its map. Since the island of Auroa is massive with plenty of missions to undertake, Ubisoft has created a pi?n system that allows you to select up to three waypoints at a time. With a quick press of down on the d-pad, you're able to get a short description of each mission and see where you need to go on your mini-map. It's very helpful in keeping you on the right track.

I'm also partial to the skin override system. While this is a solution to a problem Breakpoint creates, at least you're able to customize the look of your soldier to your exact specifications. Constantly shifting gear in other looter shooters sees your character looking like an idiot, but you won't need to worry about that in Breakpoint.

Finally, I can see the idea Ubisoft was going for with the campaign. As I mentioned, you can kill Walker in the very first mission, but if you happen to delay that, you're able to tackle him at any point during the campaign. Working similarly to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Breakpoint is mainly a series of missions that slowly improve you until?? you'r??e comfortable with taking out the final boss.

It's just that when actually tackling Walker, the game boils down to an RPG. Every other boss and enemy will have barely noticeable effects from increased gear scores (mitigated further by going for headshots), but Walker suddenly turns into a Metal Gear Solid opponent and requires you to take out drones before you can even damage him. It's absolutely stupid that I'm able to unload multiple rockets to the man's face in a Tom Clancy title, but it's especially insulting that increasing your gear level magically makes the boss easier. Going ??in at 60, for instance, will see your health bar melt in seconds. Go in at 120, though, and you'll be able to play the fight like normal.

There's a glimmer of hope in Breakpoint, but the current release of the game is a travesty. I didn't like the design of Ghost Recon Wildlands all that much, but Ubisoft seemed to have hit upon a formula fans were happy with. Instead of simply improving that, the company has tried to change Ghost Recon to fit the live-service mold and has ended up with this amalgamation of the worst tropes of modern game desig??n. That there is some potential in here makes the whole endeavor feel w??orse.

I'd be remiss to leave out discussion of the microtransactions available because they are egregious. Breakpoint allows players to buy literally e??verything in the game with actual cash. If you want a particular gun or vehicle and don't have the in-game currency on hand, you can plunk down some dollars and get that thing without waiting. A few cosmetic items are only available this way, which is obviously meant as a form of psychological manipulation to get people opening their wallets.

For the most part?, though, it's hard to find the microtransactions. Not once during a playthrough does the game even bring up it has them and the menu system is so byzantine and cumbersome to navigate that ??you're unlikely to even notice there is a store tab. I'm actually quite shocked at how laggy and unresponsive the menu is. It seems to have been built with PC players in mind and then dumped on consoles with little care.

The only real saving grace for Breakpoint is that the "Ghost War" PvP mode is average. It tries to mix standard team deathmatch with battle r??oyale trappings and creates an experience that is at least somewhat playable. There's less glitches, no pay-to-win no?nsense, and a decent selection of maps. It sucks that no other modes are on offer, but a roadmap of content is promising extra additions to the mode in the future.

Still, I can't recommend you wait for this game to eventually become good. That’s not how gaming should work. Even after patches and updates, I can only ever see Breakpoint becoming an average game instead of one worth investing time into. When its predecessor is better and there are a ton of free options to get a battle royale fix going, what purpose does Breakpoint serve?

Is it to see the conclusion to some epic story? Well, I have no idea what happened in the game and the ending was anticlimactic, so that's a no. Is it to get your friends together and chill out a bit? That could have been a yes, but there are a ton of technical barriers that make progressing in its story actively difficult to accomplish. I'm really struggling to figure out what reason there would be to even give Breakpoint a second thought.

As a longtime fan of the series and as someone that honestly tried to give this a shot, I'm sorry to say that Breakpoint is ??a failure. I suppose the game can only get better from here, but it is not currently in a shape to even be considered finished.

_{[This review is based o??n a retail build of the ga??me provided by the publisher.]}

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Taking your eye off the ball

The latest entry in Electronic Arts' legendary football series, FIFA 20, has successfully retained the number one spot of the UK Charts, holding fast against the debut of Ubisoft shooter Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, which came in strong at number two.

But this was the least important news around the EA offices this weekend, as it was also revealed (via Dextero) that the publisher accidentally leaked the private details of a glut of players who signed up for the FIFA Global Series. Reports came in that fans attempting to register for the league were b?eing presented with the personal details of previous signees on-screen - including some of the pro-scene's star players - in just the latest in a long line of security breaches within the gaming industry.

Once the glitch was realised, EA quickly removed the registration page, but estimate around 1,600 players were affected. This is obviously another incident that sees a major industry player fail to lock down security around their customers' private info, and while each and every one of these incidents should be expected to receive backlash warranting investigation, it's worryingly become so commonplace that a quick apology is often all that is required b?efore the gears begin turning once again.

In regards to the rest of the charts, the remastered edition of Ghostbusters: The Video Game successfully pulled in enough sales to make it into the Top Ten, debuting at number six, while heavy hitters Borderlands 3 and Gears 5 retained their number three and four slots respectively. Bandai Namco's gothic adventure Code Vein has already peaked in physical sales, dropping from number 13 to number 36 in its second week of release. And the Xbox One trinity of Sea of Thieves, Minecraft and Forza Horizon 3 al?so continues to enjoy success in the bac?k half of the Top Ten.

U.K. video game sales chart w/e: October 5, 2019
(Chart reflects in-store physical sales only)

1. FIFA 20 - Electronic Arts
2. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint - Ubisoft
3. Borderlands 3 - 2K Games
4. Gears 5 - Microsoft
5. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Nintendo
6. Ghostbusters The Video Game: Remastered - Mad Dog
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Nintendo
8. Sea of Thieves - Microsoft
9. Minecraft: Xbox Edition - Microsoft
10. Forza Horizon 3 - Microsoft

U.K. video game charts [UKie]

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I think I've reached my Breakpoint

After making our way to a checkpoint and completing a mission objective, my co-op partner and I map out an escape route from the enemy base. We see a helicopter and gauge the distance, wondering if we'll both be able to make it in time. As we split up to divert the enemy's attention, I get downed while he jumps in the chopper. Not able to land and get me, I respawn to join him for the next phase of the mission. As soon as Ghost Recon Breakpoint finish??es its 30-second loading screen, I'?m put underneath the world and killed immediately. This isn't a one-off occurrence.

During another mission, we're tasked with ?evacuating an injured scientist. After gunning down some thugs and acquiring a getaway vehicle, my partner lands next to me so I can stow the scientist away. For unknown reasons, she dies in my arms and we fail the mission. After a restart, we're put back quite a distance and need to drive to the checkpoint. We accidentally crash our car into a ravine and I jump out. My partner is stuck under the water and can't exit, the game seemingly deciding his time in this world is over.

Instances like this happen in almost every mission we attempt. It's a struggle to properly convey how bad Ghost Recon Breakpoint really is. Even aft?er 10 hours of gameplay, I'm still at a loss for words at the issues and problems th??at keep cropping up.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint (PC, PS4 [reviewed on PS4 Pro], Xbox One]
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: September 30, 2019 [Gold/Ultimate Edition], October 4, 2019 [Standard Edition]
MSRP: $59.99 [Standard], $99.99 [Gold], $119.99 [Ultimate]

The extent of my knowledge of the plot in Ghost Recon Breakpoint comes from all of the pre-release promotional material I've followed. The actual intro cutscene for the game explains next to nothing about what is going on. In a mock commercial for the Skell Corporation (which is likely taking inspiration from Metal Gear Solid 4's mock commercials), you're treated to an advertisement fo?r "World 2.0." Not really stating what that is, it seems the fictional setting of Auroa is a testing grounds for what Skell hopes to achieve in the world.

Shortly after, the game begins in medias res with Team Ghost flying to the island in various choppers. Pulling out all of the stops, it looks like a massive squad is coming to stop LTC. Cole D. Walker – played by Jon B??ernthal – from exacting revenge with his drone army. About a minute or so into some briefing, your chopper is shot down and you're stranded on the island alone. You'll proceed to do a single, prolonged stealth mission with no assistance before you make it to the camp of Erewhon, a remote haven based in a mountain of the South Region of Auroa.

While not a bad premise for a game, this early mission is the only moment where any of the potential for the open-world setting is realized. It's a bit too easy as you're able to walk 200 meters away from enemies, thus negating their presence, but at least you're given options in approaching objectives and need to play in a cautious manner. Once you get to the camp (which functions similarly to the shared hub in Destiny or The Division), the ga??me turns into a boring, grindy, drawn-out affair.

Endless tutorials explain pointless facets of the menu system. There's weapon customization, character customization, gear levels, skill points, different pe?rks, classes, loadouts, etc, etc. It goes on and on and never amounts to much of any?thing.

What I mean is, once you're actually playing the game, all of the extraneous new features in Breakpoint take a backseat to playing missions exactly as you would in Ghost Recon Wildlands, this game's immediate predecessor. As the intro mission details, you'll occasionally become wounded after sustaining too much damage and need to bandage yourself. The tutorials make it seem like you need to be crafting syringes constantly (oh yeah, there's a crafting system!)?, but you can use the infinite supply of medkits you have to heal those wounds.

Your stamina meter for sprinting an?d climbing will also decrease over time if you don't drink from your canteen. I say decrease, but the penalty for ignoring canteens is that you lose about 10% of your stamina, which can be boosted through an unlockable skill and even given faster regeneration. I completely ignored all of that and haven't run into a single instance where it would matter.

It doesn't help that navigating Breakpoint's menu is sluggish. The cursor moves at a snail's pace and certain menu screens will occupy m??ore than your full sc??reen. In the equipment loadout, for instance, you can move the cursor freely from top to bottom and select a different tab. On the map, the cursor now controls scrolling, so you'll have to either zoom out all the way or scroll completely to the top of the map before you can change a menu option. Pressing R2 or L2 will let you change tabs, but if the tab you want is three over from your current one, you have to wait for the next page to fully load before you can swap again.

Inconsistencies like this even continue on to the in-game HUD. While a very welcomed "Pin" system lets you keep track of multiple objectives at a time, things like your health meter and mini-map will frequently disappear for no apparent reason. There are option??s to hide the HUD and even change the frequency of its presence but set to "Always," I've fou??nd my mini-map vanishing for one reason or another.

This isn't even getting into an explanation of the actual gameplay, which plays almost exactly like Wildlands, just with slower movement a??nd a bigger map. The missions are all the same nonsense and see you traveling upwards of 15 km from checkpoint to checkpoint and killing people. You can stealth in, but the AI is so confoundingly stupid that the best option is just to shoot everyone. Even on "Extreme" difficulty, tactics don't matter. You'll die, sure, but the check??points are super generous and all this emphasis put on Gear Score and leveling up amounts to a bunch of baloney. You can headshot everyone regardless of your gun's damage output or the enemy's so-called level.

Breakpoint is like a bunch of half-formed ideas thrown into a blender and then poured out on the table. Whatever chunks Ubisoft ?found floating in the mess, it cobbled them together to create the whole of this game.

Many times during my playthrough, I found myself wondering, "What would Tom Clancy think of this?" While not a perfect author, the man strived to imbue his novels with a sense of realism. Grabbing a Tom Clancy book meant you could expect a certain degree of believability in the plot and setting. The man even famously told the director of the Sum of All Fears adaptation that scenes in the film were bullshit, accepting nothing less than stri??ct dedication to th?e facts.

I have to imagine the man would be devastated at Breakpoint. This game couldn't be farther from the branding that Clancy built if Ubisoft tried. It really does feel like the studio no longer has any idea of what to do with Ghost Recon and is now attaching it to its F-tier titles to make a quick buck. There is no excuse for how buggy, broken, and utterly bland Breakpoint is.

While I'll reserve final judgment for when I get around to the Ghost War PvP mode, anyone thinking about grabbing this for a single-player or co-op run should look elsewhere. This is not worth your time, money, or effort to see through. Even Wildlands, as much as I disliked it, is a better purchase.

_{[T??his Review-in-Progress is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Hardly paradise

This week sees the release of the latest entry in the mercenary lovin' Ghost Recon series, as Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches on PS4, PC and Xbox One in just a?? couple of days. Publisher Ubisoft has dropped one final trailer to get fans in gear for the upcoming multiplayer mayhem.

Set on the fictional Pacific Island of Auroa, players will step into the combat fatigues of Col. Anthony "Nomad" Perryman and his "Ghost" squad - returning from previous entry Wildlands - who are tasked with investigating suspicious activity on Auroa, a privat?ely-owned island which used for technological design, climate study,?? and weapons research.

As is to be expected, it's not too long before the shit hits the fan, with Nomad and friends left fighting for their lives against countless odds, all armed with some of the most terrifying hi-tech equipment imaginable. Ghost Recon Breakpoint will place greater emphasis on survival, with weapon maintenance, hunger, hydration, camouflage, and injury all affect?ing your character's skill, precision, and lethality.

Bring friends, you're gonna need 'em.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches October 4 on PS4, PC and Xbox One

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Lil Wayne stars in ballistic David Leitch short

Players eager to get stuck into upcoming mercenary-fest Ghost Recon Breakpoint will get the opportunity to do so in a little over a week's time. U??bisoft has announced that an open beta for the multiplayer shooter ??will go live on PS4, PC and Xbox One between Thursday, September 26 and Monday, September 30.

Ubisoft also took the opportunity to drop an all-new live-action trailer for the game. The five-minute preview was produced by Los Angeles studio Minted Content and directed by none other than David Leitch, who was behind the lens for Hobbs and Shaw, Atomic Blonde, and R-rated comic book movie Deadpool 2.

The video feature hip-hop superstar Lil Wayne and is a key part of Breakpoint's promotion. The ad is expected to air during prime-time commercial segments on shows like Thursday Night Football and WWE SmackDown, hoping to get hype fires stoked ahead of the game's official release. As expected for a Leitch joint, the ad features a lot of c??asually-stylised gun violence and more than a little cursing.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches October 4 on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

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It's a Ubisoft game

Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches in roughly a month and Ubisoft doesn't want anyone confused about what the game contains. In this latest six and a half minute trailer, you'll learn all about the campaign mode, the co-op options, the PvP multiplayer, and the post-launch roadmap coming to this latest Tom Clancy endeavor. There?? shouldn?'t be any questions left after watching this.

For me, I'm just curious if Ubisoft has learned any lessons from Wildlands. That title was a b?est-seller for the company, but I found it drifted far away from what made the Tom Clancy brand important: realism. Instead o??f bloating out the map with tons of pointless side objectives and letting players level-up like an RPG, get back to what made the author's name stand out to begin with. I don't need yet another open-world shooter, but something with a military angle and intense realism would be different.

Whether or not Breakpoint does that, we won't have much longer to find out. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches on October 4, 2019,?? for PC, PS4, and Xbo?x One.

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I'll be back

Ubisoft has detailed the roadmap for Ghost Recon Breakpoint's post-launch DLC it includes plans for the game's first raid event. Called "Project Titan," the raid will launch with episode one sometime between October 2019 and January 2020. Titan will be a four-player event that takes place on an island with an active volcano, which is likely to play into Breakpoint's increased emphasis on terrain.

Episode one, dubbed "Operation Greenstone," will also feature a new class: the engineer. Since Breakpoint is going for one of those "persistent progression" systems, the engineer will be playable in both single-player and multiplayer modes, allowing y??ou to level them up whenever you see fit. Nothing specific was noted about what the engineer will bring, but I'd ima??gine he'd be able to repair vehicles and deploy some kind of turret or sentry gun.

Episode One will also feature the previously announced Terminator event, likely in time for the release of Terminator: Dark Fate in November. The other two episodes, "Deep State" and "Transcendence" r??espectively, will launch in 2020 with similar content. You can expect a new class?, a new raid, a new special event, and new PvP maps every few months. I guess that's better than paid DLC.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint's first raid, Terminator event coming post launch [VG 24/7]

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Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?

I honestly don't have words for this new Ghost Recon Breakpoint trailer. In a casual stroll of Twitter last night, I happened upon it and thought Ubisoft was playing a big joke. While it's just a simple introductory trailer to get you up to speed on Breakpoint's new additions, I'm puzzled why this old-timey cartoon? style was chosen. I'm also kind of mad that it's not available in-game.

Obviously poking fun at The Three Little Pigs, this trailer places Team Ghost as hunters tracking down the "Big Bad Wolves." Seeing as how Jon Bernthal keeps referring to his team of treasonous soldiers as wolves, I'm guessing it's a not so subtle joke at their expense. At any rate, this is a super fun way to tease Breakpoint that is far better than the crap Ubisoft was doing for Wildlands. At least this makes some kind of the?matic sense.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint: Big Bad Wolves Fairy Tales [Xbox via YouTube]

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Your world is getting smaller

Ubisoft has detailed the "Ghost Wars" multiplayer for Ghost Recon Breakpoint and it's taking a lot of influence from the burgeoning battle royale subgenre. Featuring two teams of four facing off on an ever-shrinking map?, Ubisoft mentions that it is designing levels in a manner that will put each class to use. The mode will launch with six maps and three classes and all progress made in multiplayer will carry over to the campaign (and vice versa).

For a lot of people, the campaigns in Ghost Recon are a side mode for the multiplayer. Since basically the series inception, multiplayer has taken precedence over the single-player and has given most of the games a ridiculously long shelf life. Even Wildlands, which I think is terrible, has a fairly active multiplayer fanbase that is still playing it to this day.?? I'm not sure adopting some battle royale trappings is a good move, but Ghost War does look to be a fun distraction.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint: PVP Ghost War Gameplay Preview [Ubisoft North America via YouTube]

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Full range of options available

One of the best perks of gaming on PC is the wide range of hardware you can get. Fitting into whatever budget you may have, there are high-end machines, low-end machines, ultra-widescreen monitors, 4K, uncapped framerates, etc. It can be a little confusing to get into but is hard to turn away from once you've tasted it. Ubisoft seems to understand that because Ghost Recon Breakpoint is going to support it all.

In the latest trailer for the upcoming open-world shooter, we have confirmation that the PC port for Breakpoint will feature the full range of PC options. There's true 4K support, uncapped framerates, ultra-wide, that dumb eye-tracking thing Ubisoft really wants to make a reality: it's all here! Whether or not it runs well is yet t?o be seen, but this won't be a quick and easy console port.

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I'm surprisingly into this game after E3

I liked Ghost Recon Wildlands way more in theory than in execution, but with this year's follow-up, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, my mind is at ease. Ubisoft's E3 showing brought me around and, frankly, I'm as surprised as anyone by this turn of events. I feel like most people who had fun with Wildlands don't need any additional convincing, but for everyone else out there, don't write off Breakpoint.

It was an eventful playable demo full of botched plans, full squad wipes, pre-release graphical weirdness typical of Ubisoft E3 builds, and even a complete power outage at one point, but despite having a rough go of it on Jon Bernthal's island of drones, I came away optimistic about Breakpoint.

The actor's performance has staying power, and even in just a single cinematic during my demo, Bernthal brought a sense of weight to the story. His presence is something to latch onto and keep us invested beyond the basic allure of co-op shenanigans. The setting – a fictional island with extravagant biomes and an army of killer machines – is perfect fodder for an open-world game in which you'll gradually power up your super-soldier, one piece of gear at a time. And the shooting! It felt good. It felt right. It's exactly what I needed from Breakpoint for me to believe it's going to stick the landing.

My four-person squad went on a mission to extract a turncoat scientist from a heavily-guarded R&D facility. We marked a patrolling unit of soldiers and took them out in-sync, as you're meant to do as a rule-following Ghost Recon player, and then we flew our drones around to scout out the base, taking note of the area's deadlier guards. There were bumps – a few bandages here, a few retreats there – but overall, we meshed as a team. The same can't be said of our encounter with a Behemoth.

You know that scene in RoboCop when ED-209 shreds a guy for not dropping his gun during an internal OCP demonstration? When we tried to take on a Behemoth in Breakpoint, I felt like that poor dude.

The tank-like drone had my number (and everyone else's). Our plan was to split up and fire rockets into its vulnerable underbelly, but it bombarded us every step of the way, almost as if it could hear our panicked comms – and you know what? It was thrilling! The Behemoth felt like a genuine threat, something we don't see enough of in carefully-curated demos. We failed, hard, and I respect that.

I hope it wasn't just a matter of our inexperience and the specific circumstances that come about when you're trying to quickly wrap your head around a new game at an expo brimming with new games. Even beyond the Behemoth, I got the distinct sense that Breakpoint isn't screwing around. I want the full game to lean into the tactical slant as much as possible – don't let us sleepwalk through missions.

If Breakpoint can make the most of its big-name villain ?and keep the stakes high long after we've gotten a feel for dismantling outposts with that One Method That Consistently Works, this game stands every chance of being a great time. You're definitely gonna want to roll with a harmonious crew, though.

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Five facets

At Ubisoft's E3 press conference, Community Developer Laura Cordrey briefly introduced Ghost Recon Delta Company, an official group created to aid the Ghost Recon community. Information? was ligh?t, but the video above has more details.

There are five facets to Delta Company. Special Activities provides cosplay guides and other resources to cosplayers, fan artists, and fan writers. Mission Intel is there to provide additional video for streamers and videographers. Company Comms is focused on "discussion drivers," people who talk up the game on social media platforms and forums. Team Operations will provide assets to people who run Ghost Recon fansites. Finally, Tactica??l Assault is the part that will assist in setting up player-vs.-player tournament??s.

Ghost Recon Delta Company is available worldwide.

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The hunger that makes you wolves

Netflix's Punisher series may be over, but at least its?? leading man has gotten good work. During Ubisoft's E3 press conference, a new story trailer showed off Jon Bernthal as Cole D. Walker giving a pep talk to his troops and it was pretty inspiring. He may be the bad guy, but holy hell can he command a room. Now if only Ubisoft made political statements, his speech might have some weight to it.

After showing off the small snippet of gameplay above, Ubisoft confirmed that AI squad mates will be coming back for single-players. A beta will be going live on September 5, 2019 to give players a taste of the game. Available on all platforms (PS4, Xbox One, PC), it will run until September 8 and will be included with a pre-order for the title. If you don't want to throw down money just yet, you can head over to the official Ghost Recon site and sign-up for a chance.

Along with that, it looks like a Terminator crossover will be heading to Breakpoint before the end of the year. I suppose that is in line with the Predator content that was found in Wildlands. Ghost Recon Breakpoint launches on Octob??er 4, 2019 and will be available on Uplay+ when it comes out.

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Tom Clancy would likely approve

The cat's out of the bag now. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint will be the next entry in the squad-based tactical shooter. Accidentally leaked yesterday, pretty much all of the information we reported on is true. This latest sequel takes place after the "Operation Oracle" DLC for Wildlands and features Team Ghost going up against Cole D. Walker and his army of mechanized drones. It will be heading to PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 4, 2019, with collector's editions available. If you pre-order the game, you'll receive access? to a beta in the near future.

In a huge upgrade over Wildlands, the environments you're traversing in actually matter to the gameplay. The extended gameplay reveal showed things like using impromptu camo in the mud and a new form of optic camo adapting to the surroundings it is put in (Metal Gear Solid 4, much?). You'll even need to manually bandage your wounds, which looked both painful and like First Blood. Not only that, but PvP is returning and will available at launch. Shared progression between the campaign and MP will let you unlock things at your own pace?, which should make for some intense gunfights online.

The one thing I'm sure everyone is just dying to hear: Breakpoint will take place in an open-world environment. As shrug-inducing as that might be, I'm more inclined to explore the world this time as player interaction with different objects seems to be expanded quite a bit. You can now cut through metal fences, for instance, and that whole thing with the camo is just super cool. It seems like lessons were learned from Wildlands, which is all I could have asked for.

As for ??the various editions available, Ubisoft has sent a breakdown of what you can buy. There will be the standard edition, a "Gold" edition, an "Ultimate" edition, ?and the leaked "Wolves" collector's edition. Everything above the standard version comes with three-day early access and the Year 1 DLC pass, while the ultimate and "Wolves" versions come with something called the ultimate pack.

The "Wolves??" version includes a statue of the game's antagonist, dog-ta??gs, a steelbook case, a soundtrack, a waterproof map, and lithographs. If you're not keen for any of that extra stuff, you can grab the statue of Cole from Ubisoft's online store separately. That's a lot to keep track of but is par for the course with a Ubisoft title.

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Shitballs

A recent listing on Ubisoft's online store has leaked the next Ghost Recon game. Set for a reveal tomorrow afternoon, the latest entry in the long-running tactical squad shooter will be called Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Taking place after the recent "Operation Oracle" event in Wildlands, this newest game will see Team Ghost squaring off against The Punisher Cole D. Walker (played by Jon Bernthal) and his army of mechanized drones. Sounds like a political statement, despite Ubisoft not doing that.

Not much else is known about the title. A Reddit thread claims there will be four-play??er co-op with the game releasing on October 4, 2019, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. We don't have any confirmation on PvP or whether the game will be open-world like its predecessor (though I ima??gine it will be). What we do know is that a Ubisoft Store exclusive "Wolves" edition will be available. That will come with a 24cm figure of Cole, a map and art book, a Year 1 DLC pass, the "Ultimate Pack," and three-day early access.

While I think it is a little early for a new Ghost Recon, this does make sense. Ubisoft stated that the last DLC for Wildlands would be a tease for things to come and it only makes sense to follow that up with a new game. I just hope the quality control is much higher because Wildlands is still a technical mess. It has a solid idea and a good foundation to build off of but drops the ball dramatically in terms of mission variety and polish. Fix that and Breakpoint could really hit it out of the park.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint leaks ?through Ubistore Excl??usive Collectors Edition [ResetEra]

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