What is GROUND BRANCH?
From one of the developers behind the original Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games, comes a realistic thinking-man’s first-person shooter featuring in-depth character and weapon customization.
Take your time. Think ahead. Get the job done.
Premise
Play as Ground Branch, the elite paramilitary arm of the CIA’s Special Activities Center/Special Operations Group (SAC/SOG), and lead other special operations forces through challenging deniable ops all over the globe.
With deliberate, calculated and unforgiving gameplay, GROUND BRANCH is the true rebirth of the tactical realism genre of the late ’90s and early 2000s. Powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine 4, GROUND BRANCH puts the “tactical” back in “tactical shooter”—no compromises.
Realistic first-person perspective
GROUND BRANCH’s unique True First-Person System improves world immersion and awareness of your surroundings, providing zero disconnect between your view and your character’s physical presence in the environment. See your foot sticking out of cover? Better tuck it in—enemies may be able to see it (and shoot it) too, but only if their line of sight and muzzle are verifiably unobstructed. Cameras are placed at the character’s eyes and bullets originate from the weapon’s muzzle. In GROUND BRANCH, what you see is what you get.
› A minimal HUD with multiple optional elements ensures that vital information is available, but never a constant obstacle to either immersion or your field of view.
Fine-tune your character and gear
Say goodbye to pre-defined kits and fully customize your character and gear from basic appearance and outfit to in-depth vest and weapon platform customization, down to individual pouch and attachment placement. What you bring to your mission is determined only by your loadout choice, with realistic consequences: Carry too much and your character’s speed and stamina will take a hit; place a scope too forward on the rail and your sight picture will be too small; bring a long rifle into CQB and weapon collision may slow you down.
› Forget unlocks, microtransactions and loot boxes. Ground Branch operators get all the right tools for the job straight away—courtesy of the Agency.
Experience true teamwork
Whether in 8-player co-op or 8v8 adversarial game modes, GROUND BRANCH’s unforgiving gameplay makes careful and calculated teamwork essential. Gather your teammates and practice in full-featured training areas, including shooting ranges with dynamic targets and customizable killhouses. Integrated VOIP with both 3D positional voice and radio ensures full communication capabilities with no need for third-party software. Text chat and pre-recorded voice messages (commo rose-style) also available for the mic-less and the shy.
› Prefer single-player? Friendly A.I. and a full command system are also in development.
Take command of your operator
In the tactical shooter realm, movement and weapon handling are king. Take full control of your character with standing, crouching and (soon!) prone stances—each with multiple movement speeds—as well as unique weapon postures (including low- and high-ready), leaning and stepping out, free-look (head movement independent from aim), customizable and optional free-aim (dead zone), dedicated mouse sensitivity sliders for point-shooting, unmagnified and magnified aiming, with all-around highly configurable key bindings.
› You can also choose between speed reloads (drop magazine) and tactical reloads (retain current magazine) on the fly.
All features, working and planned
This is a comprehensive list of features for GROUND BRANCH.
◇ Planned/future
⬖ Partial implementation
◆ Working core
Missions
and map design
GROUND BRANCH’s unique “campaign” format will deliver smaller, more localized sets of missions based around global hotspots, with a centralized intelligence interface to monitor them and receive new mission orders over time. The choices you make along the way may affect future engagements.
Based on unique environments all over the world, the non-linear mission and map designs offer multiple entry points and open-ended outcomes.
Both friendly and enemy AI are being developed with competent and realistic behavior in mind.
Enemies are spawned at mission start, with a degree of randomization to quantity and location. No “monster closets” or magic enemy spawns based on player location or mission progress.
In addition to day and night versions—as well as weather variants—maps have small details that can change between rounds, such as doors and windows that may be open, closed or blocked, or objects that may be in different places.
Character
and inventory
Customize your character’s basic appearance as well as headgear, eyewear, shirt, pants, footwear, gloves and vest, along with colors/camos for each item. Appropriate and realistic playable female characters are also available!
Setup your vest platform of choice with individual item pouches and place them where you want them. What you visibly attach to your character is what you’ll carry into your mission.
Create and save as many character and loadout configurations you want—there is no save slot limit! Saved loadouts can be edited at any time both offline and inside server lobbies (the Ready Room).
Like in the real world, night vision goggles (NVGs) need to be flipped down before use; grenades need to be equipped, aimed and thrown; and primary weapons will hang in front of a characters’ chest as they draw another item. Equipping items takes time, and their use is visible on the characters.
Weapons and other items can be picked up or dropped on the battlefield, and magazines and gear can be shared with teammates right in the middle of the action.
Weapons
and gunplay
Setup your weapons how you choose, with numerous attachments (sights, lasers, lights, grips, muzzle devices, offset rails and even risers) that operate as they do in the real world. Where and how you place certain sights and accessories along the rails realistically affects how they function.
In addition to the traditional point-shooting and aiming down the sights (ADS) postures of most FPS games, GROUND BRANCH allows you to use low- and high-ready weapon positions for various situations where greater muzzle control, increased field of view or rest may be necessary, as extended periods of unsupported aiming will increase weapon sway over time.
Your weapon is truly inside the game world and will collide with objects in it, making length a meaningful factor in combat. The collision will also allow weapon bracing—stabilizing the weapon against surfaces for increased stability (also possible with bipods).
Choose between tactical and speed reloads (retaining or dropping the current magazine, respectively), each with their own pros and cons as well as realistic, individual animations that can be interrupted. Each magazine tracks how many rounds it contains at any given time.
Rounds originate from the muzzle of the weapon (no “cone-fire”), while bullet drop, stopping power and penetration are all simulated based on caliber/cartridge type.
Multiple handguns, submachine guns, carbines, assault and battle rifles, machine guns, DMRs, sniper rifles and explosives to choose from, with selectable ammunition type (e.g. full metal jacket, hollow point or subsonic rounds, smoke grenade color…).
Multiplayer
and mods
Ready Room: A physical multiplayer lobby where you can plan your approach, see your teammates’ loadouts, test weapon configurations on a shooting range and jointly select insertion points.
An after-action review (AAR) will follow each mission or round for debriefs.
With full—and free—dedicated server support and server-side options, where and how you host is completely up to you!
Create your own unit patches and attach them to your character’s sleeves and headgear, and enjoy full support for multiplayer ladders.
Full mod support will greatly enhance GROUND BRANCH’s longevity, allowing all kinds of additional content or conversions to be created for the game.
Movement
and damage
Stand, crouch and go prone, and choose between multiple movement speeds per stance. Your character can also realistically jump, vault and clamber onto and over obstacles, as well as lean, peek or step out of cover to maintain a reduced profile while engaging the enemy.
What and how much you take into combat matters: The encumbrance system will take the weight and bulk of items into account, affecting your movement and actions noticeably—but not drastically.
GROUND BRANCH has no regenerating health or health packs. Administer first aid to non-lethal injuries for reduced combat effectiveness or risk bleeding out.
Expect visible injuries and consequences, such as limping, reduced arm functions, and/or hits to stamina and accuracy—the location and severity of wounds will matter.
Carry teammates to safety to administer first aid—or to safely recover their ammo, gear, cargo or body if they are no longer alive.
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