Breach

Before we get into the meat of things, let me get one thing straight in the spirit of full disclosure. Could I have played more {Breach}, could I have spent many hours more with it? Probably. Did I unlock all the gadgets the game has been making a big deal of? No. Leveling up in Breach is a fairly slow affair, which isn't a bad thing, but it also means that when I sat down with it I couldn't always find players to play with, which means no one to kill, which means no experience to level up with. Even the couple of sessions created pre-launch by the developer, so journalists could get a handle of the game's MP wares, opponents were few and far between. You get the idea.

I feel bad about this all, of course - but stalking across the net I've seen people talking about Breach in ways that makes it clear to me that they have about the same amount of experience with the game as me, but still feel either criticize it or love it without telling the readers about the amount of time they've spent with it. Are we clear? Are you able to take that into consideration when reading what I have to say? Yes? Awesome.

Similar to Zombie Studios' {Blacklight: Tango Down}, Breach is a modern first person shooter with the single player campaign stripped out. The important part here is the multiplayer, filled with the bells and whistles that we are used to - fast matchmaking, different play modes, leveling and experience points that unlock new weapons and gadgets as you progress up the ladder. It's clearly inspired by {Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2}, both in setting and execution, and anyone familiar with that game's multiplayer will feel be instantly familiar with Breach.

Breach has also thrown a glance at the {Battlefield: Bad Company}-games, as it features destructible environments. A well-placed rocket can tear through a wall, or a whole house, bringing what cover your enemy had to hide behind falling down around him. This part works quite well, with former sniper spots turned into rubble (or wooden debris), without taking over the focus of the game - it's still very much about teamwork, about killing your enemies, securing certain part of the maps or bringing home canisters of dodgy materials, not about turning the battlefield into dust (even if that was a lot of fun in {Red Faction: Guerrilla}'s multiplayer).

But compared to both Modern Warfare and Bad Company, Breach comes with its own set of problems. First of all, the game feels sluggish and slow - nowhere as frantic or smooth as in the games which it clearly has taken inspiration from. It even feels frustrating at times, especially since it can take ages to get back into the action because of it. The maps are not big as such, they are actually of a quite nice size, but even when sprinting I feel like I'm moving my character through soup.

Another issue is the graphics, that frankly don't look good. Breach is generally brown and grey, with uninspired character and environment design. In short, it looks as old as it feels and while the maps work, they are no wonders of design. It would be easy to dismiss this complaint by virtue of Breach being a downloadable game, but compared to other titles - including the previously mentioned Blacklight: Tango Down - it still looks dated. And while not important to the game's gameplay, I can't really stand the terribly bland terrorist vs special troops thing anymore. Your mileage might, of course, vary. I've also seen some rather terrible glitches, with hidden enemies' guns moving through walls for example, and the Gears of War-inspired cover system is simply too much of a hassle to even bother with.

The big question mark hanging above Breach's head is who the game is actually supposed to be for. Or no, scratch that. It's quite clear which audience Atomic Games are aiming for - the {Call of Duty}-crowd. The problem is that at 1200 MS points, the game does not offer up enough news for the Modern Warfare-kids to be excited about. It plays worse and it looks worse than the games it takes inspiration from and the final result just isn't up to snuff. Remember, this is a segment of the market that companies like EA and Activision spend uncounted millions trying to charm their way. Breach just isn't solid enough to compete.

Might things change when you get your hands on the gadgets and toys of the upper levels? Perhaps it does. But a modern multiplayer shooter should be fun from the second I enter a match, not hours and hours later. I don't spend time unlocking things to have fun later, I unlock things later because I'm having so much fun that I keep playing. That's what got me to spend time with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and what has me coming back time and time again to {Battlefield: Bad Company 2}.