Ground Branch from Blackfoot Studios

I don't see much talk about Ground Branch in this "SimHQ" forum. How come?...

Ground Branch is a tactical simulation game, even more tactical than some other games I see here hyped with flying colors.

Does it has to shine, blow smoke and whistle to attract pedestrians?

It's been discussed here before. Problem is that it's like one guy doing the thing and it is moving very slowly. Last I checked they just barely got MP working and there still wasnt functional AI.

I bought a 4 pack a while ago but there just isnt much to play with it yet. Even less to discuss about it.

I played the alpha on Steam.

To say that its awful would be a compliment.

Ground Branch sounded cool when they first started talking about it 10 years ago but it’s gotten quite moldy since then.

As per usual, I have no clue what Gunnyhighway is talking about.

IIRC, the Kickstarter failed, but they said they would go on. Takedown's KS succeeded, but we got barely more out of that.



The Jedi Master

GB came out? I had no idea. I think many gave up after the rollercoaster ride with development over 10 years or so and far too-early hype.
I'm glad to hear it if it finally came out. I know it was a dream long in the making.

edit: I don't see it on steam.

No, it's not out... Maybe Gunny should actually research before posting... it's a lost caused, no hope. IMO.

Too bad, but this is sort of the Fighter Ops of tac sims now.



The Jedi Master

It has so much potential! and it sucks so badly right now lol.

I put some time -- and money -- into this. I think the intent was always sincere but they bit off a lot more than they could chew. It never came anywhere close to fulfilling its promise and never took the leap from being a tech demo to a real game. It was supposed to be carrying the flame for "pure" Rainbow 6-style tac-shooter gameplay but it took so long to get anywhere that its moment just evaporated.

This is the first I've heard that it's actually dead; can anyone confirm?

well they aren't claiming it's dead... but lets be real here.

The project is not dead and there were some major content updates in the later half of 2016. Unfortunately, the developer's sister committed suicide recently leaving 4 or 5 kids behind. I presume this may change reality for the developer.

Putting that aside though, I agree with the general sentiment that development was extremely slow and what is currently in the alpha build is very lackluster and disappointing. So far, there is very little that is tactical or authentic about the game.

So in other words this is in roughly the same state as the contemporary Takedown that went nowhere fast?



The Jedi Master

Actually I'd say that Ground Branch is in some respects further along than Takedown. Takedown had very horrible mechanics but they built out a full set of missions which sucked because the gameplay sucked. Ground Branch is building out a really #%&*$# amazing set of mechanics but they dont have any missions really... done... at all... so its just this really amazing tech demo with no substance.

It has zero potential and direction. It's been trampled under foot by AT LEAST three better games in the past ten years.

Which three games? Have there been three genuinely tactical CQB/small unit FPSes of distinction in the last ten years? Insurgency, I suppose...what else?

R6 Siege, only random missions, but the gameplay elements are there.





The Jedi Master

Fair enough. But what's the third , I wonder?