Last year, I started something pretty dumb. I launched a column called The Tom Clancy Chronicles. You can find the first entries here and here.
I have been working on new entries for the column, as I still very much want to get to the bottom of why I like this jingoistic junk. But I also resolved to myself that I would cover any other Clancy-related news. And lo and behold, do I have some news.
Ubisoft has released all manner of information about the latest installment of the Ghost Recon franchise Breakpoint – starring Frank Castle himself, Jon Bernthal. We got two full trailers and all manner of screenshots.
All told, not bad! Bernthal’s Cole D. Walker (which is the most Clancy name ever) was recently teased in a DLC of Ghost Recon: Wildlands (a game I have YET to play but hope to soon), but this looks far crazier than I would have expected.
For one, setting it in a whole damn separate part of the world disconnects it from any touchy racial optics. Which hilariously and troublingly enough has been something the Tom Clancy game IPs have really been struggling with. You’ll notice that’s why the Division 2’s new factions are mainly masked antagonists, devoid of any racial coding. So that is def a plus for me.
Plus, this whole angle about the antagonists taking over a tech company with a budget that would make COBRA blush is fun for me, as a Clancy reader. It both engages in the kind of military tech fetishism he was so famous for AS WELL AS his deeply ingrained fear of it falling into the wrong hands. Another capital H – Huge theme of his works. Plus, you have the whole “underdog soldier” element of it with the player characters and NPC squad, so it checks all the boxes in terms of keeping the themes of this inexplicably famous weirdo alive.
As I said, I have some more entries on the older stuff in the works. You bet your boots I’m going to be watching this thing closely. I don’t love the Ghost Recon franchise. I find them kind of fussy and not as overall satisfying as say a Splinter Cell or Rainbow Six. That said, this looks too insane to truly ignore. Maybe we can squad up, and I’ll find it pretty engaging like I did The Division!
Until then, roughnecks, I’ll be seeing you.
