Feedback from the Open Beta | Forums

[Stonebridge35]

Thank you Ubisoft for allowing access to the closed & open Beta’s. Most of the technical feedback I’ve gathered has been covered extensively by the community on these forums. I’m confident that post-launch many of the technical issues will be resolved, and/or improved by the developers over the course of Year One.

Fundamentally though, BreakPoint does not meet my expectations as a sequel to Wildlands. I’ve seen some good posts from other members of the community highlighting how the game was pitched during the Pre-Launch campaign. No doubt, the first gameplay trailer which previewed a co-ordinated team assault to rescue a HVT had me fixated. To learn shortly after the first reveal that a decision had been taken to “remove” the TeamMate AI left me bewildered. For me personally, Wildlands was a squad based tactical shooter with some degree of authenticity. That was the mould I expected a sequel to follow.

Appreciating this is a Beta version of the game, but also appreciating that the game has already shipped, and a day one patch is expected, here are some thoughts :-

1. No TeamMate AI in game - I play the single player campaign due to preference. Simple as that. Without TeamMates things in BreakPoint became very repetitive, very quickly. I enjoyed the initial sequence caught behind enemy lines, and isolated from the rest of the Ghosts, but this isn’t a suitable gameplay style for the rest of my GR experience. The single player campaign felt limited to hit & run, and then rinse & repeat. The squad based gameplay should have built upon the Wildlands formula; utilising the extensive community feedback on the matter. I’m not actually sure what feedback reached UbiSoft for them to remove TeamMate AI entirely from BreakPoint. That option should be with the player to decide during the game, and based on the mission, whether they want to fly solo or as part of a squad. This option was introduced into Wildlands during Year 2, so removing TeamMates entirely was surely a step back? The most concerning aspect of this is the minimal information on “when” the TeamMates will actually return during Year 1. On this point alone, I will delay from buying this game, irrespective of any other issues I have with BreakPoint.

2. I switched Wildlands back on before the Beta ended. Instantly I was drawn to the ease of the menu interface, the rich culture of Bolivia, and the grittiness of the Game-world. I jumped straight into Itacua and immediately felt surrounded by a living population going about their daily business. I recently re-watched the reveal videos for Wildlands describing the effort that went into building the NPC’s daily behaviours and impulse system, both enemy and civilians alike. BreakPoint doesn’t seem to have the same depth or quantity of life in the game-world unless I’ve managed to overlook it.

3. The loot mechanics have birthed what I believe is a counter-intuitive system of grinding. The first mission (follow the smoke flumes) was far less tense than I’d anticipated; probably due to the dampening down of the injury system, but nonetheless I immersed myself in stealth & scavenging resources, that is, until the immersion was completely derailed by a large selection of weapons/vehicles that were suddenly available “on demand” in the only remaining secret stronghold on the island. On Extreme difficulty, this should not be possible, either in Erewhon, and even less so in the bivouacs.

4. The animations have been a source of controversy throughout pre-launch. I’m all for inertia and life-like movement of the character, but during low speed movements the players avatar should be precisely controlled. The speed of momentum should determine how quickly/slowly the character’s Stop animation plays.

5. Initially I liked the 360 degree camera system in Breakpoint, however just playing through Wildlands again I realised that having the character turn with the camera, and moving backwards in cover, allows me to make those fine adjustments where the character overshoots the object. The R1 Shoulder Switch feature also gives the player a way to change sides whilst in cover should the character be facing the wrong direction.

Don’t get me wrong, Wildlands was not perfect, and BreakPoint improves greatly on some of its drawbacks. For example, the aim-bot enemies have been toned down. The enemy AI no longer knows your exact position automatically. But these seem to be snippets of community feedback adapted into what feels like a very different type of game to me, rather than being delivered as part of a direct evolution of its predecessor.

Opinions will vary of course, and everyone is entitled to their own view regarding the creative direction of this game......but it’s telling to me that I’ve put the BreakPoint Beta down early, and started another Ghost Mode run-through on Wildlands. Unfortunately Ubisoft, I have no immediate plans to spend any money on BreakPoint, and whether I do so in the future will depend on the games development over time, and also the continued feedback I see on these community forums.

[ST3B1]

Ditto for me in regard to all of your comments...no need for me to write them myself. Participating in both the closed and open betas, I am hoping that Team AI will be in the official release, that the lack of a AI Team like we had in Wildlands could just be an aspect of the beta only, as not all features are included.