What is Breach?

You might know developer Atomic Games from their World War II strategy titles like Close Combat, World at War, and V for Victory, but Beach is their first foray into the shooter genre. (It might actually be what remains of another FPS called Six Days in Fallujah, which was cancelled by Konami due to the controversy it stirred up.) It’s described as a team-based online FPS that features “enough destruction to change the very nature of multiplayer combat.” We’ll get into whether or not they achieved that in a bit, but it also features an active cover system (a la Gears of War) and an experience-based ranking system that is used to unlock new gadgets and perks for use.

Breach has four different maps, as well as a night-time version of one, bringing the total to five. Each of these maps supports all 5 of the following game types:

• Infiltration -- The standard Domination/Conquest mode where each team tries to capture and hold control points throughout the map. The team that holds the majority will receive points, and the first team to reach 250 points wins.
  
  
• Retrieval -- A fancy name for Capture the Flag, this mode has teams racing to locate and deliver a randomly-placed bioweapon canister.
  
  
• Team Deathmatch -- Self-explanatory, kill enemies to earn as many points as you can in the time allotted.
  
  
• Sole Survivor -- TDM, but without respawning. The last team standing wins the round.
  
  
• Convoy -- Breach’s most unique gameplay type, involving escorting two APCs on a winding path across the map. Vehicles can be damaged by the assaulting team, which stops them until repaired by a defender. Barricades must be destroyed with a special charge placed by a defender. Like Team Fortress 2’s Payload, there is a time limit that extends when the defenders make it to each checkpoint.
  

Every round you play earns you some experience toward ranking up and unlocking new weapons, equipment, and perks. It can be rough starting out with only the bare minimum (one weapon per class with either frag grenades or timed charges), but as long as you have some skill, you should be able to get up to speed reasonably well. The real fun is in explosives, but until you level up to the point where you can spawn with a grenade launcher and/or sticky bombs, you’ll need to rely on the limited supply of RPGs scattered around the map. Be careful with those weapons caches, though; they can be sabotaged by one particularly devious gadget.