The Ghost Recon Breakpoint closed beta has begun, and with less than a month until its full release we got our hands dirty with the PC version which includes a whole heap of bonus features making it the preferred platform for the hardcore gamer. With our PC specs in check, we had everything on ultra in 2K (or 2.5K, 1440p) and we definitely noticed Breakpoint dropping below 60 frames per second, though it stayed well and truly above 30 with a Ryzen 1700x, 32GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 1080. While some of you may be gearing up to go hands-on with Breakpoint next weekend at the Ubisoft Experience, check out our hands-on impressions first.

After a cinematic explaining the events that have taken place on the strange archipelago Auroa and lack of communications from military weapon engineering company Skell Technology, you create your very own personalised character, pick a gender, hair, facial features, and more before setting out in a helicopter convoy on a recon mission. Without spoiling the story, let’s just say you soon end up on the ground and alone, tasked to search the immediate area in what we assume is the starting zone of the game. Opening the map, the archipelago Auroa is massive. You begin in the north east corner of the largest island, however there are a few smaller islands scattered to the north and south as well. Ghost Recon Wildlands had a massive map that most players traversed using one of the hundreds of helicopters freely available around Tom Clancy’s Bolivia, and we expect traversing Auroa will be similar once progressing through the first few hours of the game.

There’s no easier way to say it: the game has changed. The Ghost Recon Breakpoint closed beta introduces players to the new controls, new interface, and overall new layout before playing the full retail game. There’s a new loot system, new abilities, new vehicles, new cover system (or lack of) and most importantly in the Ghost Recon franchise new ways to be a ghost. While the game retains its decent level of hardcore difficulty, players can also opt to play Breakpoint on casual or normal for an easier experience.

Stealth has always been a big factor in the Ghost Recon games, but since going 3rd person and introducing tech like drones it has become imperative to know your surroundings and how to take cover at all times. Ghost Recon Breakpoint introduces a new stealth system and allows you to perform ‘prone camouflage’ where your character covers themselves in mud and lays as still as a rock. While this new form of stealth works a treat against most enemies, we did encounter some tech that was able to spot us even through bushes and a tree canopy. The Breakpoint closed beta is a great way to get used to the controls, the conflict, and what to expect when the full game launches next month, and the fact you can do it all with three friends makes it just that much better.

Pushing Tab loads up your HUD or Interface as they’re calling it, which shows the minimap, weapons and ammo, and current mission objectives. It’s great that we were able to remove the HUD altogether by simply pushing Tab, as that definitely provided a more realistic experience. In the menu we found a louadout where you can equip found weapons and gear, and there’s also the option to customise your appearance once again, but not your gender.

The menu is also where you find the skill trees. Choosing between Field Medic, Assault, Panther and Sharpshooter, players can then choose skills to strengthen their arsenal. It’s probably a good strategy to go with all four different classes if you’re playing with mates, and always back up your medic!

Finally, matchmaking is available in the menu for those that don’t have a squad to play with. It didn’t seem to take very long to find a group, and after holding F2 to accept we were soon running and gunning with stranger ghosts. When you join a game you’re introduced to the online lobby where players can meet others as well as use the facilities including a shop that sells a whole range of items including weapons, vehicles, gear, and even emotes. We found the lobby area was a great way to meet other players and form groups, and will definitely assist in making it easier to play as a full group throughout the entirety of the game without relying on the AI. Ghost Recon Breakpoint is definitely looking very different to Wildlands, and it looks like Ubisoft wants Breakpoint to have a much bigger and longer online presence this time around.

Graphically, the Breakpoint closed beta appears to be a bit of a hit and miss. While it looks absolutely stunning every now and then, other times the environment can be benign. Racing through the rainforest on a vehicle with a turret, we took notice that we weren’t really leaving any impact on the environment despite blasting it to pieces. Also, the turret on the back of the vehicle had no recoil and felt a bit ordinary.

It remains to be seen as to whether Ghost Recon Breakpoint will be as big as Ubisoft clearly wants it to be. With Jon Berenthal owning the role of the antagonist it’s clear there’s some big money behind the game, but we have our doubts after being very critical of Ghost Recon Wildlands’ launch. We do see similarities between how Wildlands played at launch and how Breakpoint does, and a lot of it has to do with vehicular gameplay and teamwork, so it will be interesting to see how the game’s development progresses and how ready it is at launch next month.