Behold, Breachers! Boasting bountiful ballistic bouts, bombastic booms, and breathtaking brilliance, this bodacious VR bonanza beckons. Brace yourself, for our bombastic Breachers review!
In case you can’t tell already, we love Breachers, now let me explain why and maybe you can decide if it’s for you!
Breachers is a first-person team-based five-a-side tactical shooter where players alternate between enforcer and revolter roles in high-stakes close-quarters combat scenarios. While most reviewers, including ourselves, have mentioned that it’s like Rainbow Six: Seige, experiencing it in VR with a good team really is something else. It also happens to be both cross-play and cross-buy, so you get a twofer, and it should be easier to find multiplayer games to join!
It’s fair to say that you’ll be very impressed when you run Breachers, because, honestly – it’s one of the best-looking games we’ve seen on Quest, and certainly the best-looking multiplayer shooter to have graced the system.
Locked & Loaded
The gameplay in Breachers is exceptional, offering a smooth and responsive experience with easy, intuitive, controls. Matches are divided into several rounds, with players switching roles as enforcers and revolters. As enforcers, your primary goal is to infiltrate a location, eliminate any opposition, and disarm bombs using an EMP that one of you is equipped with. As revolters, your objective is to defend the location and prevent the enforcers from disarming the bombs. This alternating gameplay format keeps the experience engaging, forcing players to work together as they try out different strategies and tactics.
Players have access to an arsenal of unique gadgets depending on their role. Enforcers have drones, breaching foam, and cloaking devices, among others, to surprise and outmaneuver their opponents. Revolters, on the other hand, can utilize door blockers, trip mines, and static field emitters to fortify their position. Huge kudos to the game’s fantastic level designs. The maps are some of the best looking and best designed we’ve ever seen, not only looking beautiful but virtually eliminating camping positions by making almost every spot on the maps accessible from multiple angles.
High-Caliber
Did I mention Breachers is beautiful? It is. Every little bit of Breachers shows off incredible polish, starting with the beautifully rendered rooftop that welcomes you to the game, and right up to the menus, the maps, the textures, and the weapons. Everything looks and feels fantastic, easily setting a new benchmark for graphics on a standalone headset. The game’s excellent weapon models are complemented by a vast range of customization options, including weapon specs, scopes, holographic dots, laser sights, and extended magazines. All this comes together to create an immersive and engaging gameplay experience.
At launch, the game features four maps, three of which are tailored for the main Bomb Defusal mode, while the fourth map offers a team deathmatch mode. These maps provide a diverse range of environments and challenges, allowing players to hone their skills and adapt their strategies to different scenarios. The Bomb-Defusal maps in particular are stunning, featuring the best water I’ve ever seen on Quest, wonderful skyscraper vistas, and detailed indoor environments.
Listening to Footsteps
I cannot overstate this, but Breacher’s audio design is brilliant, employing spatial audio to keep you on your virtual toes. Everything from footsteps to gunfire is given the attention it deserves, meaning you’ll be crouching to avoid making noise, listening intently to determine where your enemies are, and coordinating with your team accordingly. Breachers encourages you to listen carefully, and it always pays you off for it.
I mentioned the weapon customization options before, but they really are truly impressive, offering players a plethora of ways to modify their load-outs and – perhaps more impressively, making those options very accessible. While in the Buy Phase that precedes every round, players can use their in-game credits to equip and accessorize their arsenal to suit their playstyle and tactical preferences. You just look at your weapon, you see options you can add to it, and you click them to purchase and equip. Other game devs really should pay attention, this is how you offer variety without sacrificing accessibility.
Aiming for Perfection
I’ve played a lot of Breachers, and apart from suffering high ping because I’m nowhere near any of the servers, I encountered no issues with matchmaking, team communication, or in-game mechanics. Triangle Factory, who had previously released the excellent Hyperdash, clearly know exactly what they’re doing. Their dedication to delivering a seamless and enjoyable VR experience is plain to see and is very much appreciated.
With its robust multiplayer mode, offline bot practice options, and a decent selection of great maps, Breachers is primed for a long-lasting presence in the VR gaming community. Triangle Factory have already announced the first update will add support for rankings and bHaptics, while the second update will include a new game mode, and the third will add a new map.
Given what they’re already delivered, we have no reason to suspect any of these will be less than stellar. We expect Breachers to continue to evolve and expand, and given how great it already is, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
Yippee-Ki-Yay!
With incredible graphics, superb polish, frictionless gameplay, superb sound design, an excellent inventory system, and a huge variety of weapons and gadgets, Breachers knocks it out of the park. It comes out swinging and is already, at launch, one of the best games we’ve ever played on Quest. It’s impossible NOT to recommend Breachers unless you hate shooters or just aren’t interested in multiplayer gaming. Even then, I’d suggest you give it a try. It really is that good.
