Breach

Breach shows strong respect for armed combat. The weight, realism, and dry approach to the online shooter genre proves Atomic Games as a developer who takes their first-person shooters seriously. By dealing with its content maturely, Breach proves that sometimes games don't die; they just change shape.

You won't confuse this $15 arcade game with a full-priced marquee shooter, but its distinct flavor and fresh gameplay make it worth cracking out whenever you want a break from the genre's big boys. [March 2011, p.78]

Compared to Battlefield 1943, Breach has more maps, classes, modes, depth, and unlockables for the same price, but 1943 definitely has the kind of dedicated audience that Breach needs.

The areas in which Breach innovates help to propel it above other downloadable shooters. While it won't surpass big-budget FPS titles, it's a great buy for those who want something different and don't mind a lack of polish.

You fight for a bit, die, respawn somewhere on the back end of the map, and then spend a few minutes racing back across the map only to die again.Rinse, repeat, and eventually you'll earn enough experience points to purchase perks to upgrade your skills and status. Even for 800 points, there are better titles out there to spend your money on.

For the price it's not bad for being a multiplayer-only title, it's just that nothing about Breach is particularly noteworthy.

Looks generic, but plays fresh. [Apr 2011, p.109]

Perfectly competent from a mechanical point of view, yet somewhat lacking in appeal over the long term. [Issue#69, p.101]

When the playability distractions are absent from Breach, though, it is a relatively good, albeit barebones, Call of Duty online military shooter substitute.

It doesn't make as much of an impact as Atomic expected, but if you're stuck on a budget and can't afford one of the more popular $60 games right now, this is a certainly adequate substitute for $15.

If you love multiplayer FPS, you'll surely find in Breach a lot of pros: frenetic gameplay, stunning physics and environmental interaction and, last but not least, a perfect skill system for the player. It will never be remembered as the most innovative FPS in Xbox Live, but it accomplishes its job well, and that's enough.

This is a really good multiplayer game, with few but interesting maps, and a good number of different gameplay modes. But it is also a limited game, like a small Battlefield, and doesn't have much new features.

As it stands, military enthusiasts or die-hard shooter fans looking to grind for a new set of unlockables may find something to like. Those willing to put in the time will find some very enjoyable weapons and gadgets waiting for them.

Breach does it's best to climb a hill already filled with solid online FPS titles, and even without being the king of the mountain, Breach has its moments that can match up with some of the bests.

An accomplishment for a downloadable title and absolutely worth a look, but don't be surprised if you find yourself pining for Nuketown or Arica Harbour before long.

Breach is an average FPS, carboncopying tens of previously released games without adding nothing personal or new. FPS fans may want to give it a try.

A decent online shooter that mainly reuses ideas you've already seen elsewhere. The controls are spot on, and the enviromental destruction is impressive. However, it suffers greatly from lag problems, and host migration isn't handled very gracefully. It's very cheap, though, and gets enough things right that it's worth checking out. But you can skip it if you already have a stack of Battlefields and Calls of Duty on your shelf.

Breach isn't a complete disaster. Despite many flaws and limits, many of them linked to the netcode, it reaches a narrow sufficiency thanks to a good character growth system and a gameplay that does not forget the standards of this genre.

Bug and glitches completely spoil what could've been a decent shooter.

If you are looking for a new multiplayer shooter to pass the time until a triple A release comes out and have the points to spare than Breach may be for you. For everyone else try the 30 minute trial first.

Breach delivers some excitement, but its generic online first-person shooter action and a number of performance issues prevent it from standing out from the crowd.

For the price it's not bad for being a multiplayer-only title, it's just that nothing about Breach is particularly noteworthy.

Overall, Breach had a lot promise but technical shortcomings ruin the experience.

Sub par to moderately effective visuals and sound could wind up being a strong deterrent to players wanting to check out "Breach." Those who do and want a cooperative, tactical first person shooter, will find their efforts rewarded.

Breach has some great moments, but it suffers from too many noticeable flaws.

It may be "just a $15 downloadable game", but there's no other way to say it: Breach is a mess. The game's foundations have something to build upon (and mostly to learn from), but those who've been waiting for the next best FPS on XBLA might have to stick with Battlefield 1943 or Monday Night Combat for a while.

Although Breach sounds like an incredibly exciting game on paper, its execution comes up short. The online-only content is very limited, and the action pales in comparison to pretty anything Infinity Ward has ever created. With so many superior alternatives, this kind of lackluster experience has no place in the modern market.

Not sensing the damage you're imparting and receiving makes skirmishes seem arbitrary (you'll rely on the HUD reporting your XP wins to know you've taken out enemies at long range), while explosions - in a game based on destruction - pack no punch. [Mar 2011, p.97]

Breach will test your patience, but gamers who need a respite from other shooters will find a reliably enjoyable experience.

Breach simply doesn't match up to what is on offer in the videogame market today.

Breach isn't terrible, but I don't see anything here that hasn't already be done better by another game, resulting in an instant recipe for mediocrity.

There's nothing particularly interesting about what Breach has to offer, and while it's map design and play types are competent, the actual gameplay involved isn't that hot.

Breach suffers from being bland. There is no visual style, it sounds dull, and without hardcore mode turned on the level design is uninspired and weapons lack impact.

A decent attempt at a free FPS, but bad net structure and bland levels and weaponry makes Breach easy to forget.

There's a workmanlike shooter dug in behind the bugs and blandness, but why bother unearthing it, when you could be playing Shadow Complex or Costume Quest? Best avoided.

Drop in a handful of bugs (including one proper braincooker, whereby the game refused to let my character pick up an explosive charge required to destroy an objective until I appeased it by flinging myself off a cliff), and you've got something I can't imagine someone choosing to play over any of this generation's excellent shooters. The bar's too high and it's still rising, way above Breach's reach.

If you feel you've conquered the multiplayer battlefields and adhered to the call of duty for the umpteenth time, then perhaps Breach may be of interest to you, in short, controlled bursts.

Breach looks nice, but does not offer anything innovative except for the magnificent destruction. Everything does feel a bit clinical and adrenaline is nowhere to be found in the game. If you buy this game for 1200 Microsoft Points, you will be disappointed because it's just not worth it.

A poorly thought out attempt to take on Call Of Duty and Battlefield, whose main gimmick is as a flawed as its other elements are overfamiliar.

Does not hold a candle to heavyweights of the genre.

That's pretty much Breach's biggest issue: Even if it's a cheaper XBLA alternative, everything it does has been done better elsewhere. If it had contributed something new to the FPS landscape, I'd forgive its attempt at imitation, but most folks interested in it already have immediate access to great games such as Halo, Black Ops and Battlefield.

he game is definitely built to favor more methodical, communicative teams over groups of lone wolves. However, aside from diehard fans of the genre, it's difficult to imagine someone convincing enough of his friends to buy Breach to form a cohesive team.

Whatever it ought to have been, it's not. It has a few new features, but nothing to separate it from the more popular, more polished games that cover exactly the same ground. It may be inexpensive, but the cost-to-value ratio is still too high.

Breach is barely worth the effort, a plodding experience that sucks you dry of your time offering very little long term reward and a minuscule amount of instant gratification.