At some level, you expect FPS games to be fast and fluid. Doom The Dark Ages is the best and most recent example, but you can look as far back as the original Doom, the first Half-Life, and the first Quake, and see that the history of shooters is rooted in running and gunning. Rainbow Six, when it was originally released back in 1998, felt like something profoundly different. Slow, methodical, and punishing, in the classic Rainbow Six games, every enemy can kill you, and every closed door and corridor feels like a boss fight. From one of its creators, whose credits also include the first Ghost Recon, Ground Branch is a deeply realistic tactical shooter, and it's just been overhauled and expanded.
Originally released into early access back in 2018, FPS in the vein of classics like SWAT 4. It's developed by Blackfoot, a studio founded by former Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six artist and designer John Sonedecker, and casts you and your co-op buddies as the eponymous special forces team. Maps are close-quarters. Missions involve breaching and clearing tight interiors, using a combination of silenced guns, flashbangs, and synchronized movements. Weapons are deadly and death is swift. With a limited HUD and realistic ballistics, combat in Ground Branch is rarely a case of simply pointing and shooting.
Having already accumulated an impressive 'very positive' rating on Steam, the new update for Ground Branch introduces Blackfoot's "first " on new, more complex campaign missions. For the first time in the shooter's history, rather than other players, you can now team up with three AI squad mates to complete a level with multiple objectives. It's early days for the command system and your U soldiers may still behave a little unusually, but this is nevertheless a vital first glimpse of Ground Branch's eventual single-player mode.
"This new demo is meant as a 'vertical slice' of our projected gameplay experience," Blackfoot says, "featuring AI teammates (ittedly very basic ones at this point) that can receive various types of orders, as well as multiple objectives (including demolitions, scouting/searching and high-value target assassination) and even a simple cutscene at the end."
The new Ground Branch update also improves enemy AI and adds a variety of fresh mechanics, whereby your targets can be temporarily blinded by your mounted flashlight – but will also investigate any roving laser pointers. Enemy patrol routes are also less predictable, and there's a new spawn system so you can adjust how targets are distributed depending on whether it is day or night.
You can also check the amount of ammunition left in your magazine with more precision. Holding the 'reload' key will keep your magazine in your character's hand while you see how many rounds you have left. After that, if you tap the key once, you will return the magazine into your weapon, and if you hold the key, you will throw it away. There is also a new map, Ranch, which can be played in Ground Branch's conventional co-op mode. If you want to give it a shot, you can pick up Ground Branch right here.
Otherwise, try some of the best co-op games on PC.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We've also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with of the team and fellow readers.