Breach is the newest FPS online multiplayer game to hit XBLA and Steam courtesy of Atomic Games. Many may remember these developers as those behind the canceled game Six Days in Fallujah. Straying from controversial topics the team at Atomic Games has crafted a downloadable tactical FPS that takes numerous ques from highly acclaimed shooters in hopes to stand amongst the best. But can this game stand out in a market oversaturated with competitive first person shooters or will it earn the “budget title” label that many downloadable games in its genre have before?
HOT
Tactical Gameplay
At the core of Breach lays team work. The game requires the cooperation of all of your teammates in order to complete some of the objective based modes. There are 5 modes and only 2 are your basic deathmatch variants. The remaining 3 are Infiltration, Retrieval, and Convoy. Infiltration tasks each team with capturing and holding key points across the map. Retrieval has players nabbing bio weapons to score points much like capture the flag. Convoy does something completely different, but I’ll get to that later. These modes play out just as anyone who has invested their time in shooters over the years would expect.
Each character has access to 4 classes from the beginning: Rifleman, Gunner, Sniper, and Support. There is a 5th class, however it requires that 2 classes be “mastered” before it is unlocked. Every class has access to 3 primary weapons which can then be upgraded with sights, scopes, grenade launchers, silencers, and in some cases a recoil compensator. The upgrades require credits to be attached which are earned through completing matches.
Now that the basic premise has been laid out lets dive in to the more tactical aspects of Breach. Yes, this is a first person shooter, but it is not limited to the first person perspective. There is a cover system implemented into the game which adds a little extra depth to its tactical nature. When snapping to cover the game reveals the character in third person. Looking at it gamers will be reminded of how Rainbow Six Vegas worked. There is one subtle difference. When leaning around or over cover the camera remains in third person as long as the player is “firing from the hip”. If the player aims down the sights, then the game resumes first person. This isn’t uncommon for snipers, but for basic sights its definitely a feature that hasn’t really been seen except in Killzone 2. Atomic Games found the right balance there. The cover system does its job well for the most part and cover isn’t always reliable so it leads to a consistent flow of battle as new, intact spots are being sought after.
Convoy
It is in the game mode Convoy that Breach shows its potential. In Convoy one team must escort vehicles throughout the map. In order to proceed the defenders must keep attackers at back while removing road blocks from the path. Also, the team must stay relatively close to the vehicles or else they won’t continue forward. The attackers have to do whatever it takes in order to take out these vehicles so that they do not reach the set destination before time runs out. Those who have played MAG will notice some similarities here. The reason this mode works so well for Breach is due to its destruction and cover systems. Normally players will hole up where ever they feel is a good vantage point, but in this mode the terrain is changing as you move along with the vehicles. Your tactics have to change on the fly with what the map is currently providing you. This results in quick thinking and exciting skirmishes for both teams.
NOT
Destruction 3.0
Atomic Games boldly stated that their destruction system was the next step for destructible environments. Individual bricks can be blown out of walls, supports can be obliterated, and floors can be taken right from under you. In theory, this feature does sound like the next step in environment interaction. Unfortunately, it falls short from being what it set out to accomplish. Sure, individual bricks can be shot out, but I didn’t see many players wasting bullets to take out a brick or two. The vantage points rarely lasted since RPGs sat beside ammo crates and were launched relentlessly into any standing structure. As free as the destruction likes to make you believe it is it shows its limitations in many areas. Underground tunnels have obvious weak points in the walls which can be seen by the circular cluster, and slightly lighter, bricks. This indicated a spot which could be blown through. It was very disappointing that, although the walls thickness was the same throughout, I was given one or two options to make a pathway through to the enemy. It made it easy for them to predict where their opponents would strike from. In addition, small pieces of cover and trees were indestructible. Mainly only the houses were set up to be brought down to rubble. Nearly everything else remained surprisingly resilient to explosives and gun fire. They had a good idea going, but this is definitely not Destruction 3.0.
Graphics
The game really starts to suffer in the visual aspect. This title doesn’t have the polish to keep it from looking out of place today. Even with the polish however, it can’t escape the bland presentation. Nothing in these levels is going to captivate players and make them say “Wow”. It’ll be quite the opposite. The maps are uninspiring for the most part and if that wasn’t enough there is barely any detail in the destruction the game relies so heavily on. One would expect large explosions and rising dirt as broken bricks fall apart to the ground. None of the visual aspects reflect the result of what’s happening in the game it seems.
Progression
Ranking up, unlocks, and perks are nothing new to the genre and it has even become expected for most games of this nature to survive. While Breach contains these characteristics it has made progressing more tedious than rewarding. It starts to feel like grinding as you make your way to a loadout you actually care about. Oddly enough you can reach your goal without even knowing that you have done so. You can play round after round accumulating experience for your weapons, but the game isn’t about to tell you that you have enough for the next weapon or attachment. You won’t find out between rounds either because you can’t alter your loadout there. Instead, you must exit back to the main menu and observe what you can and can’t afford. It would be nice to keep the action consistent and allow the players to view these things between rounds so they can see what they need to do in the upcoming match to obtain what they want without removing themselves from said match.
There’s another issue with progression in the game, but it isn’t found in gaining experience points. I’m talking about the physical progression of a player as he moves across the map. I’m not sure who decided these movement speeds were acceptable, but they are just atrocious. Walking is crawling and running is pretty much walking. It looks very awkward as your character seems to be trying to sprint, even if its in a gimpy fashion, but he is barely gaining ground. In a game where cover can be blown away leaving you exposed I’d like to take comfort in the fact that my character would show haste instead of waddling through gunshots.
Verdict
Breach is a very ambitious game with some solid ideas. Convoy is a wonderful game mode and its good to see this type of cover system return. Other than that it seems the game spread itself thin among too many goals while limited by a small budget. On its own its a decent shooter with potential, but at the end of the day it won’t hold players’ attention for too long before the return to the bigger names in the genre.
[Editor’s Note: Breach was reviewed on the Xbox 360. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]