Review ~Breach~ [360]

Hey folks! Krismas here with another great adventure spun over the last few days using lots of lead and explosive materials. After my my not-so-surprising disappointment in the quality of a certain new and ridiculously popular FPS game, I bring to you an ambitious newcomer promising fun times for all.

Now some of you who know me are probably saying to yourselves, “wait a second, Mr. Krismas, don’t you have at the very minimum a lukewarm attitude towards FPS games?”. The answer is yes, and stop calling me Mr. I may not be the biggest fan of the genre, but I believe it is only due to the fact that I do not have fun playing intelligently and instead only have fun being a barbaric madman who likes to rush straight into enemy territory, close enough that I can tell what brand of deodorant they are currently using, and start wreaking havoc. Still I am no pushover in the genre and have been around many of the big name titles. Any doubts as to whether my opinion is any good would probably be relieved to know that my favorite FPS of all time is in fact Goldeneye for the N64. Feel any better? Okay then let us move forward.

For most people, Breach is a left-field title that they have heard very little of and as such they are understandably skeptical about it. Developed and published by Atomic Games, the very people who designed this game make real life military combat situations and as such have an intimate knowledge of both the weaponry and strategies used by actual soldiers. Combine this with their genuine effort to make sure that the game is balanced and has very little exploits, and you have a very enjoyable experience. Let’s delve into the juicy details then shall we?

First thing’s first, Breach is a completely multiplayer game with no campaign or single player mode. The only way for you to familiarize yourself with the game is to jump right into a multiplayer game and get your licks in. A number of gametypes are available, most of which are already staples in the FPS community such as team deathmatch, a capture-the-flag variant called Retrieval, and a king of the hill variant called Infiltration, similar to Call Of Duty’s Domination gametype. An original gametype called Convoy has one team trying to escort two vehicles to the destination while the other team tries to delay them long enough for time to run out. Each game type can be played in Hardcore Mode which limits your HUD and increases bullet damage for a more realistic experience.

There are 5 classes to choose from each with their own flavor of usefulness. Riflemen have access to assault rifles which are accurate and have a decent clip size with decent power backing them up. Gunners have access to light machine guns that have large clip sizes and high power that results in a strong weapon kick so they are hard to handle. Snipers are pretty self explanatory and the Support class is home to your close range weaponry like shotguns and the MP5 sub-machine gun. The Recon class is unlocked by maxing out your Rifleman and Sniper class and is a hybrid of the two serving to be a comfortable medium to long range class. Completing actions with an equipped class will earn experience for that specific class which unlocks other weapons for you to use. Class experience differs from general experience which is used to buy weapon attachments like scopes and suppressors, gadgets such as motion detectors and sabotage kits, and perks such as steady hand and agility.

There are a few key components to this title that seek to set it apart from it’s FPS brethren. The amount of objects on the map that can be used as cover is only limited to what you can lean or hide against giving you tons of things to keep you somewhat safe from oncoming fire in addition to an added boost in armor when in active cover mode. Just because you have many things to hide behind does not mean you are always safe. Almost anything you can take cover behind can be reduced to rubble with a well placed rpg, grenade, or breach charge. The destruction of passageways such as bridges and other key structures is important to the flow of the game as it could prevent easy access to an objective or force your opponents into a choke point for easy pickings. The Suppression factor plays a big role in firefights extensive or otherwise. What Suppression does is the game actually factors in the amount of gunfire heading towards you and reduces your aim under more tense circumstances. Each weapon has it’s own level of suppression with Machine Guns toting the highest suppression capabilities.

Of course no game is without it’s problems and I must say I have encountered a few in Breach. The biggest obstacle I’ve run into during my adventures has to deal with bullet delay and latency. Because this game has a realistic approach to bullet velocity, Breach has a tough time registering your bullets hitting an enemy on time if they hit him at all. This will lead to some miraculous kills and deaths leaving you wondering what the hell actually happened. Even past the bullet delay, hit detection could be better among the weapons. I have missed stationary targets with a well placed sniper shot and with point blank shotgun blast on more than a few occasions. The melee combat also leaves much to be desired as it seems the knife attack only hits a very specific point in front of you making it extremely hard to hit with. The only other gripe I have with the game is small and doesn’t effect gameplay in any way, and that is the lack of character customization. You only get three skins for each of the two factions you get to play as without any kind of color changes to go with them either.
There aren’t many shooting games that I give my seal of approval of, but Breach definitely gets it. It takes a level of teamwork that is fun to play with without getting too serious like most of the Call of Duty players I have come to loathe. The game types are all fun variants of already introduced gametypes. The importance of destruction is also a breathe of fresh air as it makes for clever strategies and forces you to work against the odds at times. The balanced perks and gadgets make for more interestingly challenging games that keep you on your toes.

I definitely advise anyone looking for a very fun shooting game experience to pick this game up. At only 1200 Microsoft Points, you are definitely getting more bang for your buck. If you so wish, you can also play alongside me and have a rootin-tootin barbarian on your front lines to distract the opposing team from everyone else. Until next time folks, this is Krismas taking out your bridges with SLAM charges.

Rating: 8.0