This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Breach and Clear is a turn-based strategy game in which you control four members of a squad of your own design. While there is no over-arching story, the game offers plenty of scenarios and challenges to overcome.
Pros:
There's quite a bit of content: three types of gameplay ("Terrorist Hunt," "Bomb Defusal," and "Escape Plan") across 35 settings (in seven campaign scenarios). That's 105 levels in the core game. On top of that, there's a lot of replay value here, especially if you care about earning achievements, acquiring different gear, or improving your mission rating.
I've read that this is an import from iOS and Android. In no way does B&C feel like it; it feels as if it was designed from the start for the PC. This, of course, is a very good thing.
Many details, whether aesthetic (such as first-person perspective views using the first four number keys), or mechanical (such as the ability to drag and move paths that have already been placed) are welcome.
Offers seven different, specialized squads to play, as well as dozens of weapons that open up as you progress. Also offers several personnel types (Medic, Intelligence, Weapons Sergeant, et al), each with their own perks and preferences.
Thoughtful (and occasionally complex) level design, coupled with a clever mix of random and strategic mob placement, offer serious challenges and extend the playability of the game. I spent nearly two hours, failed attempt after failed attempt, trying to take out Gus Frin-erm a cartel's meth lab; when I finally succeeded, it felt *good.*
There is the option of Permadeath (yay!), and even a "Memorial" area where you can view your fallen heroes. Nice touch.
Cons:
The tutorial is so bare-bones that the game has an unfair reputation for being shallow, when it's simply that players are never taught correctly about the deeper features and functions available to them.
The number of stars (the game's rating system, from one to four stars) you get is, for the most part, entirely time-based. That is to say, losing team members obviously makes your rating go down, but it will also drop to a one star rating if you go past a certain time limit, no matter how well you did on the actual mission (even if everyone survives with health intact). This seems, to me, to be a bit unfair. Give me two stars at least for completing it with everyone alive.
In the last campaign of the "Terrorist Hunt" mode (in Columbia), my soldiers simply refused to open doors, often walking right up to them but not bothering to swing it open (maybe they were busy setting up the Livestream). In any case, changing the rules this late in the game wasted valuable turns staring at the door's presumable lovely wood grain instead of killing whoever stood behind it (although this was inconsistent, even on the same map...some doors they'd open, others they wouldn't, so this was more likely a glitch than a design decision).
Enemy AI can be wonky. If mobs are facing the opposite direction, they may not even notice you. I had my whole squad throw open a door and walk past an apparently deaf cartel member only two tiles away. Also, Snipers can often see through walls and high obstacles, but this mainly just affects corners.
There is no real story to speak of. That's fine, but it would have been nice to have some kind of feeling of accomplishment at the finish line. "A winner is you," or "Conglaturation!" Anything would have been nice, particularly because some campaigns promise a big finish and never follow through. For example, in the Columbian campaign, [spoiler] you are told you're chasing a major drug lord throughout his compound; the game leads you to believe there will be a massive shootout on the roof, complete with a helicopter waiting to take him away, only when you get there - no drug lord, no helicopter.[/END SPOILER]
In "Bomb Defusal" mode, terrorists can suddenly appear behind you, coming through the door you've just breached! What the heck is that?
You can't sell an item you already own unless you have enough money to buy another one. Makes no sense to me either, but apparently it does to one of the developers, so there it is.
A few of the 64 Steam-specific achievements are just plain broken, and support is, from the forums on Steam and the developer's own website, most likely not coming.
The Bottom Line:
It may sound like I'm complaining, but I'm really only nitpicking. This is a solid effort that provides a lot of hours of fun. There's nothing here that a patch couldn't fix (not that I'm expecting one; it seems as if the devs have long since given up on supporting this). It's just that Breach and Clear is so close to being a really special, great game that it feels like a bit of a shame that the developers didn't feel the need to take better care of it after the birthing process. As it stands, though, B&C is a very, very good game, but one which requires some time, online research, and experimentation to truly see its depth. Recommended.… Expand
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