GROUND BRANCH

If your looking for a tactical game get operator it does everything this game wants to but better , controls and gameplay feels stiff , sound design isn't very good at all , no matter how much I mess with my settings all scopes look like they have the worst version of any AI upscale model. The enemy AI is either brain dead or will smite you with 1000 suns the second you step foot into a room. And the night vision feels awful. it feels like they updated the ready room and added some radio talking and said its ready for 1.0 . ready or not and operator are far superior tactical games to get over this

A mostly unfinished game that the original developers have abandoned, forcing microprose to step in, only for microprose to announce a 1.0 release that is months if not years too early. I assume this is some ploy to quietly cut development if the game doesn't perform well enough, given that it's been stagnating in early access hell with little to no improvement for the past half decade. Focusing on story mode instead of sorely needed gameplay additions is quite clearly just them scrambling to put together a game that they think the public will see as "worth the money" in order to scrape what's left out of the tactical shooter cash barrel. The AI is still braindead, many core and promised systems are still missing, and there's just a lack of any real focus on what the core gameplay is meant to be other than "customize a gun and then shoot it at targets that move and sometimes shoot back". It doesn't give any of the sort of feeling the game promises to give. It's just a sequence of asset flip shoot houses that you can change the skybox of. Desperately needs more time in the oven that it likely won't get due to mismanagement and burnout on the original developers' end, and a desire for a quick cash influx on Microprose's end. Sad.

Terrible camera bob, horrible weight transfer and camera wobble when side stepping making you feel like a drunk with a disability. Trying to shoot a bad guy, the frame rate skips and freezes for half a second. The game is jank. They cannot even get basic walking/movement right as mentioned above. Head bob is NOT real life.

I supported this game for 7 years and this is not ready for a 1.0 release. I am disappointed.

Crazy that this is marked as 1.0

This “1.0” is unacceptable. The game is not in a state to be released out of early access. Makes someone wonder if the devs are trying to cash out, or if they are trying to boost sales to fund more development because they are so slow there is no possible way to sustain at the rate they update

Got conned into thinking this game was going to be good since I loved ghost recon 1.

Don't make the mistake I made. We have all seen this game vouched for by various tactical shooter influencers and seen the footage that makes it look cool. But that's it... it only looks cool. Under that surface level is barely a game. A 1.0 release with a campaign with only 2 short missions. No friendly AI even in the campaign, you are a lone wolf in what is supposed to be a realistic tactical shooter. Yeah right. Keep in mind friendly AI had been promised and been being worked on for years. I was following the game's development for a long time and waiting for just that feature. That said I see why they haven't added friendly AI, because they can't even create AI that is fun to play against. Frankly is nothing more than a tech demo that will quickly go stale with the limited content that comes with a tech demo. In all honesty this game has been in development hell for years and this is clearly a sad attempt by the publisher to try to pull it out while making a buck. Please avoid it for your own good.

This game is not ready for a 1.0 release, still feels buggy and lacks mechanics that the dev said were going to be added

I really want to like this game and recommend it, but I can't. Every step forward with this game is dozens of steps backwards. Ground Branch has been an "early access" passion project for nearly 2 decades, despite having such an extended development phase and its official 1.0 release, this game still plays like a beta. IMO the game just isn't "1.0". Please take your money elsewhere. I can't support these developers anymore, and for once, its not because they're slimy or shady. In general the game is good, but its just not there yet for a "full" release and I question their decision to label the game as such. All the fun I've had playing this game [b]with friends[/b] is overshadowed by the excessively drawn out development, lack of progress in said development, poor optimization in every aspect, poor feature implementation for core gameplay mechanics, and the inability for BlackFoot to complete content one would expect ready on 1.0 release, such as the "special slot" in the armory and an actual campaign that has progression/unlocks and doesn't gain its "replay-ability" from countless retries due to poor level/game design and [i]infuriatingly unrealistically perceptive[/i] AI. AI, mind you, that still gets stuck walking into a wall and yelling "I HEAR SOMETHING!". [b]The "special slot" in the armory is STILL unimplemented, despite the official 1.0 release.[/b] What do you mean "This slot is not available at this time. It may still be in development or temporarily disabled.", for a 1.0 release, where's the tac shield, battering ram, breaching shotgun, or lockpick? We just get grenades and/or a breaching charge on your plate carrier. Nevermind the numerous bugs which STILL persist in 1.0, relating to movement, inputs, and AI logic/pathing. Make your game "feature complete" for the full release. Seriously, did BlackFoot even playtest the first mission of the "campaign"? There's an exceedingly high % chance for an exterior door to be locked, meaning, you cant open it. This results in a lot of running around trying to find an unlocked door if you're trying to remain stealthy. The only way to open the door is to either blow it up or shoot the handle, both of which, even with a suppressed weapon, alert the enemy. I argue you NEED the element of surprise to have a chance against the AI. The concept of stealth is there, but practically impossible. You get 20 minutes to eliminate the target and (optionally) collect intel in this first mission. As a completionist, its not optional, I'm completing it. I spent 10 of those minutes just running around making sure the compound is clear, then another 7 mins collecting intel, leaving 3 minutes to get to exfil, except the exfil you see [b]isn't the real one[/b]. It changes at the last second when you get there; TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAP. After doing all that, I get 3 minutes to eliminate patrolling hostiles and work my way west through a field to the new exfil. Hostiles, which can see better in the dark than you can with night vision, and have better accuracy than you do regardless of what gun you or the enemy may be using, meaning you can't just sprint full speed across the field to the new exfil. Made it nearly all of the way to the REAL exfil, only for the mission to end because I took too long. Either remove the arbitrary timer, or rework your missions to be reasonably completable without bullsh*t eating up the time causing you to inevitably fail. Yes, [i]some[/i] of this is "skill issue", but this supposed "skill issue" is being exasperated by poor game design choices. It shouldn't take 15 minutes to clear a compound that small and collect the intel, but that's how BAD the enemy AI is. Sometimes you're shot with ZERO time to react, shoot back, or run for cover. Sometimes, you're shot dead before you even fully peek an enemy you know is there, like they can see you through the wall and shoot WAY too soon, before you're even visible to them and you can see them. You have to play like they have XRAY vision and that means going SLOW, SLOWER than the amount of time you're given permits for.