Ghost Recon Breakpoint is finally here and the game throws a whole lot of information at you right at the beginning. From the gigantic map of the island of Aurora, the huge UI system, to some deep gameplay mechanics, Breakpoint can be a bit overwhelming for new players.
With the game now out for everyone this week (after the Gold Edition players had early access), the full player base will get to unpack everything that the game has to offer. Thankfully, I am here with a few tips for all the new players out there that can possibly help with your experience when dropping into Aurora.
We've already broken down the classes of Ghost Recon Breakpoint to help you decide what playstyle might suit you best, but below you'll find my five best general tips for experiencing the game for yourself and how to survive.
For The Love Of God Find A Helicopter
Aurora is huge. I mean, HUGE. It is easily one of the biggest maps I have ever seen in a game, which means that it can be a bit of a chore to traverse. Many times throughout the campaign, you must return to your home base, which most likely will be a painful amount of kilometers away. You can always grab the nearest car or motorcycle, but since Aurora features plenty of mountainous regions, those regions will almost act as roadblocks when you are just trying to get to a certain location.
When in doubt, just take the helicopter. Remember where you left your helicopter, or make sure to remember the location of one when getting to a mission region. Thankfully, helicopters aren't too hard to find if you are in a larger mission region or enemy camp, making it pretty easy to get across the map quickly.
Remember to Use The Drone To Mark Enemies
Plenty of missions in Ghost Recon Breakpoint will give players the task of invading enemy camps to retrieve information of some kind, whether that be to extract a hostage or to gain some intel. Traversing those camps will be much easier on you if you remember to break out the handy dandy drone to mark all the enemies within the camp.
Once an enemy is marked, there is a greater chance of not running into any surprises around some corners. If you don't mark any enemies, then all that appears on the mini-map is a shaded red area that vaguely shows the location of some bad guys. If you want to stay stealthy, it is in your best interest to spot as many of the bad guys as possible before making your moves.
Stay Stealthy If Playing Alone
Speaking of being stealthy, it can be a bit painful to go in guns blazing when playing alone. Many times during firefights, enemies will try to flank your position, making your life more difficult if already engaging with several other enemies. Thankfully, Ghost Recon Breakpoint isn't like the typical bullet sponge games, and enemies can be taken out with a swift shot to the face.
I found much more success in my missions staying as quiet as possible. Most guns in the game can have a suppressor attached to it, giving a greater chance at staying hidden, although some guns still can create plenty of noise with it attached such as snipers and DMRs.
If you want to stay hidden and take out enemies with your sniper, make sure to be at a greater distance so others won't hear the firing of the gun. Then after that, you can take out others in close quarters with other weapons that have suppressors attached. Remember though, enemies who find dead bodies will trigger alarms and will most likely bring in reinforcements. So if you decide to take out an enemy from long range, make sure they are isolated from the others.
Be Aware of Your Surroundings
Just because you are alone doesn’t mean you can’t be spotted. There are plenty of times that passing by helicopters or drone planes will come by and spot you when you are just chilling out, planning your next moves. Whenever a helicopter does pass by, go prone so that they will not see you. It would also probably be wise to cover yourself in mud (a handy new feature that can be done when going prone) just so there is an extra layer of camouflage. Nothing is more annoying than a bunch of enemies and helicopters spotting your location when you are just trying to get to the next mission.
On top of that, there are also small drones in enemy camps whose sole purpose is to track your location for the enemy. There were plenty of times that I had no idea how the enemy was finding me until I saw a tiny drone behind me flashing bright red and blue lights. Make sure to take out those drones if you're trying to infiltrate a camp undetected.
Remember to Stop at Bivouac Shelters Occasionally Across the Map
Like I had stated above, Aurora is big: probably too big. This can make traversing across the map difficult at times, but this is also when a bivouac comes in handy. These are basecamps that can be found across the entire island of Aurora, and they can be spotted by thin smoke lines going up into the sky. Once a bivouac is activated, certain stat boosts will be able to be obtained to help you survive.
But most importantly, these camps can act as fast travel points, meaning that rather than spending a few minutes trying to get to a certain point that is 12 kilometers away, you can fast travel there in just a few seconds. Trust me when I say that these travel points will greatly come in handy when the time is right. Sometimes the bivouac spots will be a little out of the way when traveling to a mission, but they are worth the stop.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint is currently available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and will be available at launch on Google Stadia. If you haven't picked up the game yet and are thinking about doing so, you can get the game right here through Amazon.