A warrior with a machine gun guards your objective, and he knows you’re coming. In most first-person shooters, you’d have to sack up and charge through a door like a suicidal action hero. In Breach, you might use a grenade launcher to tear a hole in a wall or bring chunks of ceiling down on your enemy’s head.

Such procedural destruction won’t necessarily drop your jaw, but it does make Breach’s engagements feel markedly different, chiefly because it unlocks new tactical options. Sniper in a cliffside hideout? Target a supporting stilt to send his nest plummeting. Enemies exploiting a particular bridge? Blow it to hell and pray you don’t need to cross that gorge any time soon. You’ll occasionally spot chunks of debris floating in defiance of gravity, but you’ll be too busy worrying what wall might disappear next to care.

In such an unstable world, you’ll want to take advantage of any available cover. Click the right thumbstick to attach to just about anything, then move along its edge and unleash blind-fire barrages, or peek out for precision kill-shots. Now and then you’ll find a piece of wall you’re inexplicably unable to snuggle up against, but the Active Cover System lets you treat even freshly blown holes as edges from which to fire.

Except for the excellent mobile turrets and death zones of Convoy’s crawling trucks, Breach’s five modes are standard-issue kill-and-capture fare, but your operative needn’t remain static amid all the dynamic devastation. Each of the five classes starts with an effective-but-bare stock weapon, from the Rifleman’s M4A1 to the Support role’s M1014 shotgun. As you earn experience via kills, assists, and objectives, you’ll unlock access to two additional weapons for each class. Those experience points also convert to credits you can spend on parts, perks, and gadgets.

Basic weapon add-ons are an unimaginative letdown, since the majority are commonplace scopes and sights, but unique perks and gadgets add an extra strategic dimension to each loadout. It’ll take a good long time to unlock and buy much, let alone everything, but these cutting-edge goodies are worth the effort. What other game gives you a bionic ear so you can visually pinpoint the placement of enemy footsteps amid gunfire, or lets you slap sneaky M2 SLAM charges on unwary bad guys and Retrieval mode’s all-important canister?

None of this equipment is wasted in the field, either, thanks to map designs that always mix close-quarters killing floors with open spaces and long sight lines. Being limited to one loadout per class is a drag, but you’ll never feel like any role is useless for a particular mode or map. Snipers are anything but superfluous, and Gunner fire actually suppresses enemy effectiveness by crippling firing accuracy.

You won’t confuse this $15 Arcade game with a full-priced marquee shooter, but its distinct flavor and fresh gameplay make it worth cracking out whenever you want a break from the genre’s big boys.

On Xbox Live Arcade

+ Procedural destruction means every map is constantly changing; templated holes are rare.

+ Fun, effective perks and gadgets to unlock as you climb the ranks.

- One loadout per class; dull weapon bolt-ons; pressing down on the D-pad to swap weapons is awkward.

? Why don’t players drop their weapons when they die?

8.0