Ghost Recon games have been a staple of the tactical shooter genre for years. Yet, while there have been several noteworthy titles in recent years like Escape From Tarkov and Rainbow Six Siege, tactical shooters have slowed down in comparison to more general first-person shooters. In fact, Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s main point of criticism is that it seems to have identity issues, being caught between a tactical shooter and a looter shooter.
Ubisoft’s latest take on the franchise, Ghost Recon Frontline, seems to have a clear identity, although it is taking the franchise in the almost opposite direction from Breakpoint and Wildlands. Frontline is a massive PvP experience, where tactical engagements still apply, but in large-scale battles and other game modes. This is already a massive change for the franchise; in fact, there are a lot of major breaks in this new entry. Perhaps the biggest, though, is the franchise’s move away from the tactical third-person camera.
Ghost Recon Games – A Brief History
That’s not to say every single Ghost Recon game has been in third-person, but that it has become a quintessential part of the Ghost Recon formula over the past decade or so. Early games like Ghost Recon 1 and 2, as well as the Advanced Warfighter games, were primarily first-person though some platforms had third-person options for one or two of them. Since 2010, however, every game across every platform has been in third-person: Predator, Ghost Recon (2010), Shadow Wars, Future Soldier, Phantoms, Wildlands, and Breakpoint.
Indeed, this is perhaps because—typically—a third-person camera gives the best general lay of the land. It’s slightly easier to understand the tactical situation by seeing it in third-person instead of first, allowing players to better know their positioning and overall situation in any Ghost Recon game. However, the past decade has certainly seen some major changes to how players approach any game, and first-person cameras can be considered more present, more immersive, and overall cleaner for good shots.
The difference between the two, in terms of being a tactical shooter, has seemingly shrunk—and, at the very least, first-person shooters tend to be the more popular nowadays. Either way, Ghost Recon Frontline players won’t be assessing the tactical situation from a third-person perspective as they have over the past ten years, but from a first-person perspective.
Ghost Recon Frontline – A Massive, Tactical PvP Experience
Frontline is a major departure from Wildlands and Breakpoint, it trumps Phantoms in sheer match size, and it is overall completely different in tone from games like Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Unlike each of these games, Frontline is also a first-person tactical shooter utilizing various game modes such as the battle royale-like Expedition game mode. It remains to be seen how this truly impacts the overall reception of Frontline as a Ghost Recon game and how it changes the tactical approach in-game modes like Expedition. If nothing else, it’s certainly going to be different from Wildlands and Breakpoint because of this one choice.
Yet, one choice could be all it needed. Wildlands, Breakpoint, and tactical shooters, in general, have been on the decline, and while being in third-person is certainly not the cause of that, it may be time the Ghost Recon franchise did something new and fresh. At least in comparison to the franchise entries of the past decade, Ghost Recon Frontline is indeed that.
Ghost Recon Frontline is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
