Fresh from shifting a mighty impressive 15 million copies of Wildlands, Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series is back. The Ghost Recon Breakpoint closed beta test is running this weekend, open to those who pre-order the game as well a select few who've been sent invites. It's our best opportunity yet to get hands on with GR: Breakpoint and see how both the game and its performance are shaking up in the run-up to its October 4th launch.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Graphics Settings

Ghost Recon Breakpoint comes with a fairly exhaustive range of graphics settings to mess around. You'll probably be wanting to as well because there are huge visual differences to be found between each of Breakpoint's graphics presets alongside a sharp drop in performance for those who want the game to look its absolute best.

Most of these graphics and video settings business as usual, although background framelock is one which stood out to us as it's unusual to see. Framelock is exactly that, allowing users to determine the frame rate they want GR: Breakpoint to be fixed at. Background framelock determines a frame rate limit for when you've got Breakpoint running in the background rather than actively playing it in the foreground. It sounds quite unusual and niche but this is actually a decent way to throttle your GPUs workload if you're not actually playing the game. 

Video Options

• Window Mode
• Aspect Ratio
• Resolution
• Vsync
• Refresh Rate
• Resolution Scaling
• HDR
• Temporal Injection
• Anti-Aliasing
• Foreground Framelock
• Framerate Limit
• Background Framelock
• Background Framerate Limit
• Extended FOV
• Image Calibration

Advanced Graphics Settings

• Preset
• Ambient Occlusion
• Level of Detail
• Texture Quality
• Anisotropic Filtering
• Screen Space Shadows
• Terrain Quality
• Grass Quality
• Screen Space Reflections
• Sun Shadows
• Motion Blur
• Bloom
• Subsurface Scattering
• Lens Flare
• Long Range Shadows
• Volumetric Fog
• Sharpening
• Sharpening Intensity

Ghost Recon Breakpoint System Requirements

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Minimum System Requirements - 1080p / Low

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz
• RAM: 8 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 2GB Video Memory
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 2GB or AMD Radeon R9 280X 2GB
• HDD: TBA Available Hard Drive Storage
• DX: DirectX 11

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Recommended System Requirements 1080p / High

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 3.2 GHz
• RAM: 8 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 6 GB Video Memory
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB
• HDD: TBA Available Hard Drive Storage
• DX: DirectX 11

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Ultra System Requirements 1080p / Ultra

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3.4 GHz
• RAM: 16 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 8 GB Video Memory
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
• HDD: TBA Available Hard Drive Storage
• DX: DirectX 11

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Ultra 2K System Requirements 1440p / Ultra

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3.4 GHz
• RAM: 16 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 8 GB Video Memory
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
• HDD: TBA Available Hard Drive Storage
• DX: DirectX 11

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Elite 4K System Requirements 4K / Ultra

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz
• RAM: 16 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 8 GB Video Memory
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 or AMD Radeon VII
• HDD: TBA Available Hard Drive Storage
• DX: DirectX 11

GR: Breakpoint Beta Test Benchmarks

Ghost Recon Breakpoint benchmarks and frames per second analysis performed on GeForce RTX 2060 6GB | Intel i7-5820K @4.2GHz | 16GB DDR4

For our (brief, for now) Ghost Recon Breakpoint benchmarks, we used the large open area found in the beta, looked for some action, then record at average frame rates. We ran the test at three different resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K) and across all six graphics presets. We have then provided FPS based on this.

We'll have more benchmarks with you in due course, once Ghost Recon Breakpoint actually launches in October. A month is a long time in terms of potential performance optimisation so we could well see some improvement between now and then.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint PNY XLR8 GeForce RTX 2060 6GB Benchmarks @ 1080p, 1440p & 4K

(Click to expand) 

Ghost Recon Wildlands was widely renowned for running about as well as a one-legged turd on a hot day. It was and still is a gorgeous looking game though, with some truly vast draw distances which could bring both GPUs and CPUs crumbling to their knees. Ghost Recon Breakpoint doesn't quite suffer the same problem, at least in this early area of the game. 

The GeForce RTX 2060 can pull in pretty reasonable frame rates across the board, even if a locked 60fps does prove elusive. All of these benchmarks runs were very playable though, bar 4K/Ultimate. Even 4K/Ultra at 36 fps offered a decently stable frame rate and it didn't feel as if it was causing me to miss shots. That said, a steady, higher frame rate is of course prefered, and I found settling on 1440p/Very High was my preferred option.

Breakpoint's 'Ultimate' graphics setting is exactly that, causing a fairly massive performance hint that definitely isn't worth the jump up from Ultra. One for the future, no doubt, but certainly far too demanding for GeForce RTX 2060 owners to justify at any resolution.

More benchmarks to follow in October.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint First Impressions

I think many of us have had to come to terms with the Ghost Recon franchise heading off in a very different direction to the one it began. It used to be about finely honed precision, belly-crawling through the woods, knowing just a single misplaced shot could spell disaster. The shift towards arcade-style shenanigans began with Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and it's only become more arcade-y as time has gone on.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is somehow even more of a run and gun fest than Wildlands, at least based in my early impressions. You have no AI squad whatsoever but you can team up with online buddies. Enemies are pretty stupid and pinging off headshots is a matter of ease.

Compared to Wildlands, Ubisoft has also really leaned into The Division/Destiny-type MMO lite element. There's a social hub in the map from which you can pick up quests and head out, while your characters also have a gear score related to the tons of colour-coded loot you can pick up. It literally feels like The Division 2 in the woods at times and is the end result of Ubisoft smashing together just about tried and trusted aspect of its biggest franchises. There's a little bit of Assassin's Creed in the hunt for hidden treasure chests, plenty of The Division in the loot grind, and some Far Cry in terms of the setting and the carnage. 

It's really early days just yet but, as a game, Ghost Recon Breakpoint appears to be doing frighteningly little that could qualify as 'new'. But, it seems fun another for some chaotic co-op shenanigans. Nothing more, nothing less. Perhaps the final game will hold some greater depth so we'll have to withhold any concrete opinions until Breakpoint's October 4th launch.

For those who've jumped in and had a go, what have you thought of the Ghost Recon Breakpoint closed beta? And how is performance on your rig? Let us know below!