Every now and then a game takes you to a place where nostalgia roams free. One of those games for me is Ground Branch.
In 1998 I was stationed in Hawaii, on wheeler Army Airfield home of the 25TH Combat Aviation Brigade “wings of Lighting” OR "Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division” when I was there.
It was during this time when I went down the hall to a buddies room and discovered him playing a new game. We often played games together on his PlayStation, usually Tomb Raider or Gran Turismo, but this time he was on PC. Talking to himself, or So I thought.
I watched him play this game and within a few minutes I knew, I had to have it.
This game introduced me to the world of military style extraction team play. That game was Rainbow Six.
Rainbow six was the first game I played that had coordinated team play, and with the use of Roger Wilco, one of the first VOIP available, teammates were able to work together in an effect to take down the terrorist and rescue the hostages.
So what does all this have to do with Ground branch?
BlackFoot Studios the makers of Ground Branch was founded by John Sonedecker, was One of the lead artists in the original Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series.
Ground branch feels a lot like the early days of Rainbow Six.
Get your team together, infiltrate. And eliminate terrorist while retrieving Intel. No flashy graphics, or gimmicky characters found in modern day rainbow six siege.
You start off in what I would describe as a staging area, with lockers, firing range, and a map room complete with Intel on the mission. Here you will find a message board that Clans can place information for new players to read about them.
Below you can see the GamingHounds.com Server Message.
Be warned though, Many Clan Servers have Strick rules on colors and items you're allowed to use when playing on their Server. Fear Not, GamingHounds.com Clan Server has no such rules.
Approach the locker and begin customizing your loadout. There's are several options to choose from between weapon type, to colors, or camo patterns. the locker will have players names on them, as seen below. A nice little touch.
Nothing says Sexy Like Darious in his Boonie Hat!!
After you've spent a good half hour tinkering with the loadout, its time to hit the range nearby and test out those guns. This is where you can see how your equipment feels.
Once you find everything suits your liking, its time to get on your first mission. Take a good look at the mission board and pick a starting spot. Hit the mission room and you and your teammates can setup your approach and tactics.
Ground branch is a solid Tactical shooter, its certainly worth the money if your looking for something to play against your friends, or you enjoy a little terrorist hunt. The Ai isn't the brightest, but it gets the job done.
Here's a clip of me getting wasted. :)
I hope you enjoyed this Article, if you would like to hangout with me and the GamingHounds, you can join our Discord here and visit us on our forums at Gaminghounds.com.
