Your phone or tablet is probably great. Indispensable, even. But if you're not using it to command near-future battles from a sniper's perch, can you really say you're using its full potential?
Combining first-person shooting with real-time tactics, Tom Clancy's ShadowBreak will help put this question to rest by casting you as an elite marksman in charge of a nimble force of military specialists. Those specialists will be your front-line attackers in a war against factions of criminals and radicals known collectively as "Shadow Nations" - and it's up to you to guide your troops to victory while keeping them covered with sniper support.
ShadowBreak's action unfolds in three-minute matches, during which you'll split your attentions between deploying troops to attack enemy bases, and moving your sniper between vantage points to defend your troops, protect your bases, and hunt your sniper opponent. Choosing from a wide selection of guns and up to four different units per match, you'll need to balance strategic thinking with quick reflexes to claim victory.
"Our hope is that the balance between these two aspects is very tight," says AJ Morales, ShadowBreak's creative diretor. "If you're a great marksman with an inferior troop loadout, you're still going to have a strong avenue to victory. If you're not as strong in your shooter prowess but have superior troops and strategy, you've still got a great shot at the win."
Building up a better squad comes down to earning reward crates through play. These keep you supplied with Cash, an in-game currency used for almost every transaction in ShadowBreak, as well as with specialized cards you can use to unlock and upgrade new guns, troops, and gear. Each gun comes with a different perk, and you can further augment your sniper with up to three Gear items, which can do things like reduce the glint from your scope in PvP matches, making you harder to spot when you're taking aim. Additionally, your sniper's appearance is customizable, letting you choose their face, gender, nationality, and outfits.
"A lot of the ingredients for success in ShadowBreak come not just from leveling up your troops, gear, and guns, but also from discovering and experimenting with different combinations of troops and equipment," says Morales. "Because you have to roll out your attack while counteracting your opponent in three minutes, you'll see situations where just destroying a single base is enough to squeak out a win at the buzzer."
Additionally, ShadowBreak will continue to evolve after launch. "We're hoping to give our players new modes, units, weapons, arenas, and more to keep them engaged and competitive for quite some time. For us, this isn't a one-and-done scenario. Our team is in this for the long haul," says Morales. Tom Clancy's ShadowBreak soft-launches today in Canada for iOS and Android devices, and will be available worldwide later this year. For more on the game, keep your eye on UbiBlog.
