Thoughts on the Division?

[Bob_McMillan]

Well, The Division somehow is getting good reviews from both reviewers (albeit from smaller gaming websites) and the players themselves. This, of course, is based off Metacritic.

I was sensing an "even worse than Destiny" vibe from this thing. Everyone in the YouTube comment section hates it (although they hate everything else too). YouTubers' don't seem too happy with it either, even those who traditionally stay positive on games. Or, well, are paid to stay positive. Most complaints range from shitty gunplay to poorly implemented PvP to just general boring-ness.

The positives I have heard are that the graphics and environment are great. And... uh, yeah that's it.

If it isnt evident, I really have a hard time understanding why people are enjoying this game so much.

So, has anyone played the game? Do you think its good, or is it as boring as it looks?

 

[Zhukov]

I tried it during the beta and was rapidly bored.

The gameplay is bare minimum third person, cover-based shooter. That's not the worst thing a game can be, but it's been done so very many times before and The Division offers absolutely fucking nothing to make it stand out. No frills at all, just the barest of bones. It's like a developer releasing Tetris and expecting me to get excited for some reason.

Oh, and it uses an old fashioned lock-on cover system which has become a negative in my book ever since Tomb Raider and The Last of Us rendered such systems obsolete.

What I saw of the story was standard video game-tier garbage. Not worth wasting the pixels to talk about it further.

The dark zone (think baby's first Day Z with all the edges sanded off) held the most promise, but there wasn't anything to do there. You just grind for randomized loot. The game strongly discourages conflict between players, intentionally or otherwise. Attacking other players marks you as fair game to anyone, and they'll all come looking for you out of boredom if nothing else. Killing the people who come looking for you just extends the duration of your marked status. So the best course of action turns out to be killing a few idiots then running off to a remote corner of the map and hoping nobody stumbles across you while you wait out the timer. Thrilling!

I started playing within a couple of hours of the beta launching and at first it was a slaughterhouse as people gunned each other down just because they could. But within another couple of hours people had learned that it was more beneficial to just ignore each other. Then it turned into farming the NPC spawns for loot. In order to make your small boring numbers into big boring numbers.

Apparently it's selling like crazy, but I'll be damned if I know why. Didn't even hold my attention for the duration of the beta weekend.

The graphics were kinda pretty I guess. I expect that anyone who hasn't seen a city in a video game before will have their minds comprehensively blown.

 

[IceForce]

I haven't played it, but from what I've seen it looks far too bullet-spongy for my liking.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

I'm sort of interested, but everyone says it's only fun with other people and I don't have anyone to co-op with, so it seems a bit of waste. Plus I'm dubious about the endgame situation. It's pretty much a "wait and see" proposition as far as I am concerned.

 

[Sassafrass]

I'm enjoying it myself.

The gunplay is enjoyable enough, the story is at least interesting and the loot is pretty fun to grind for. It's nowhere near GotY level, but for ?28 I'm happy enough with what I've got out of it since launch and over my 27 hours or so of playtime. That said, if you're unsure on the game, I'll warn you, it is a grind at times.

Haven't really touched on the DZ yet though. Might jump into it tonight with a friend, see if it's any different to my solo escapades in the betas.

 

[Saelune]

I have trouble understanding the hate for it. I sense bandwagon hating honestly. Maybe because people are expecting Destiny? I don't think this game is trying to be that. Sure its a co-op preferred shooter with RPG stuff, but I don't think it intends on being a 10-year lifespan game (that is already making a sequel despite that).

Sure I can understand that its not for everyone, but I think a meh and move on response is more appropriate for those who don't like it.

 

[happyninja42]

Beta was ok, I was annoyed at the lack of actual badguys in the streets. I mean, the opening cinematic makes it sound like it's rampant chaos in the streets! People fighting everywhere! The Division forces being overrun! We need YOU *random player 27* to save the day! If you can't make a difference, the entire CITY IS LOST!!....and then you actually go out into the streets, and it's like, nobody around...at all, for entire city blocks. Just, quiet streets....for block and blocks and oh! badguys!...oh, no wait...it's just 2 thugs looting a corpse, and they die in like 20 seconds.....oh well. So much for tension and "mass hysteria in the streets!"

 

[stroopwafel]

Apparently it's selling like crazy, but I'll be damned if I know why.

The power of advertising.

I agree the game does atleast look pretty sweet though. However way too long and grindy for my taste and the mandatory 'always online' multiplayer kinda puts me off as well. There also seems to be a very limited amount of enemy variety and ugh..I hate bullet sponges. That first trailer for The Division years ago looked amazing and I had hoped for something more than an average third person shooter that is only fun in co-op.

 

[Bodhi Geraci]

Okay, so this might be because I'm not your typical "hardcore" "gamer", I'm someone who solley plays competitive games since 2010, I played cod4 promod for over 5k hours, got burnt out when the scene died, attended lans, tournaments, etc. then I switched over to LoL, reached diamond, quit because I realised the game enraged me more than enjoyment. Then I started playing CS:GO (I did play cs in the past) after about 900 hours and reaching Global, joining a team and playing Faceit/ESEA I sort of "quit" a month back from playing 3 hours a day to 3 hours every 2 weeks....

I went into playing this game with 0 expectations, literally, I read half an article the day it came out, and got it gifted to me out of nowhere from my SO, been playing it for the past 3 days and god damn, for me it's such a nice change of pace I love it, people complaining (especially on youtube) that enemies taking 3 megs to die is stupid in a shooter, are stupid themselves, it's an MMoRPG, and for that reason I love it, it's not an action adventure shooter, it's a loot based game, leveling is fun, the game mechanics are imo pretty solid, the story even is damn good for a ubisoft game, I'm only lvl 10 after about 20 hours and that's because I literally explore the shit out of this game. I ventured into the dark zone only once to get my shit pushed in, so I can't really comment on the end-game, I heard the Phoenix Points nerf was pretty bad, and reddit / the playerbase is pretty torn whether the DZ should be more PvP or stay the way it is, I, again, can't really comment on this, but what I can say, is that I would definitely give this game a solid 8,8/10.

Also my gtx 780 is crushing this game at 1080p, on the preset medium graphical settings and unlocked v-sync I'm getting 70-90 fps (albeit, with screen tearing, so I do recommend playing on v-sync auto) I play on custom ultra/medium settings with a solid constant 60fps.

If you're in for a good chance of pace from CS, CoD, GTA or whatever your poison is, I'd say get it. If you're not too keen on grinding/looting/and bullet sponging enemies; this game definitely isn't for you. I have to say though, I would fall into the latter category, and probably wouldn't have bought this game, so I couldn't be happier I got this gifted to me because after having played it, I would definitely drop 60 bucks to buy this.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Something Amyss]

I have trouble understanding the hate for it. I sense bandwagon hating honestly. Maybe because people are expecting Destiny? I don't think this game is trying to be that. Sure its a co-op preferred shooter with RPG stuff, but I don't think it intends on being a 10-year lifespan game (that is already making a sequel despite that).

Sure I can understand that its not for everyone, but I think a meh and move on response is more appropriate for those who don't like it.

This is the internet. Where mild disagreement counts as "wrecking" someone. You're bound to see people "hating" it because they're not 100% in love.

On Toppic: It's a game I can play with my friends once or twice a week. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, but it scratches that very specific itch.

 

[EternallyBored]

Beta was ok, I was annoyed at the lack of actual badguys in the streets. I mean, the opening cinematic makes it sound like it's rampant chaos in the streets! People fighting everywhere! The Division forces being overrun! We need YOU *random player 27* to save the day! If you can't make a difference, the entire CITY IS LOST!!....and then you actually go out into the streets, and it's like, nobody around...at all, for entire city blocks. Just, quiet streets....for block and blocks and oh! badguys!...oh, no wait...it's just 2 thugs looting a corpse, and they die in like 20 seconds.....oh well. So much for tension and "mass hysteria in the streets!"

The enemy density ramps up in later areas and the dark zone. The last couple of areas are teeming with Rikers and LMB, enough that I can't go more than a mi ute without running into a patrol or checkpoint. The PvP 30 dark zone is also teeming with landmarks and roaming patrols, spent time farming DZ rank last night, and was getting into fights in rapid succession, to the point I had to make multiple runs to safehouses just because I was running out of ammo so fast. Also the various groups on patrol were often running into each other and fighting each other and us. Managed to get embroiled in a ten minute gun battle between our four man group and three of the factions fighting each other and us at the same time.

I do wish you could run into factions fighting each other more often outside the dark zone, as the main city seems to be mostly one faction per zone, I've run into the JTF fighting enemies, but the JTF all use the same weapon and have no abilities so they tend to get their ass kicked by every faction except the rioters.

The game itself I've been enjoying, it's been filling the void that Borderlands left and destiny failed to fill. Game is absolutely good looking and the object density is fantastic, the gunplay is solid and heavily favors bullet sponge enemies, not nearly as bad as some of the Destiny bosses though where you need to spend a solid ten minutes shooting them to kill them, the bosses are tanks, but you can focus fire them down fast once their adds are gone.

Now, whether the game can hold people's attention will be its real test, it's pitifully easy to reach the level cap, so much like destiny, the game survives on its end game content and loot grind. Enemies up to end game are pretty much just more armored versions of regular enemies, and while the final faction makes things interesting with using a lot of your own player skills, it's not enough variety to hold up future content, people aren't going to be as excited for new content if they can't find a way to give us more variety. There is some potential in vehicles, the fight against the helicopter and screenshots of a tank battle in the upcoming content give me some hope. They are also hinting at a new faction in the DLC, but if it's who they set up in the final missions then they need to mix it up a bit as the LMB in the base game kind of already fills that role.

The dark zone is fun but it needs some rebalancing, there's basically no reason to purposely go rogue as it heavily punishes you for dying as a rogue, and high end loot is all much more easily crafted than stolen from other players, I don't want it to be free for all PvP, but as it is there is little reason to fear other players in the DZ. The loot is almost the opposite of destiny, where you were farming engrams at launch all for the rare chance at purples and the occasional exotic piece, you can be decked out in full purple gear within a couple of hours of reaching max level in the division. They nerfed the drop rate on the highest end stuff, but even then it's not hard to start collecting the highest level items within a day or two of hitting the cap, which means you end up spending less time actually caring about the best loot and more time just trying to squeeze the best stats out of each piece.

I'm having fun with it, but the games longevity is going to depend on how good their DLC is.

 

[CritialGaming]

The Division really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I always worry about a game that couldn't even be bothered to play test long enough to see a big fucking problem with the very first thing in the game. (Laptop) Then before the game even comes out they start spitting out what is coming in the next THREE expansion DLC's. THREE!? Why didn't you just put that shit in the game?

So what it looks like is they cut a bunch of content and things that could make the gameplay loop interesting only to sell it as DLC. Which is a trend we are seeing more and more and it fucking sucks.

As it stands now, the Division is a boring 3rd person shooter. The mechanics are janky, the shooting is just okay, and the story can be blown through without a care. 3rd person cover-based shooting is a bad mechanic to expect people to sink hundreds of hours into, especially with a loot system that is incredibly dull and uninteresting. There just isnt enough fun in finding a shotgun that does 1 more point of damage, or an assault rifle that has 2 extra bullets in the clip.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

The Division really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I always worry about a game that couldn't even be bothered to play test long enough to see a big fucking problem with the very first thing in the game. (Laptop) Then before the game even comes out they start spitting out what is coming in the next THREE expansion DLC's. THREE!? Why didn't you just put that shit in the game?

So what it looks like is they cut a bunch of content and things that could make the gameplay loop interesting only to sell it as DLC. Which is a trend we are seeing more and more and it fucking sucks.

As it stands now, the Division is a boring 3rd person shooter. The mechanics are janky, the shooting is just okay, and the story can be blown through without a care. 3rd person cover-based shooting is a bad mechanic to expect people to sink hundreds of hours into, especially with a loot system that is incredibly dull and uninteresting. There just isnt enough fun in finding a shotgun that does 1 more point of damage, or an assault rifle that has 2 extra bullets in the clip.

Because then they'd have to delay the game for another year since the expansions aren't finished? The game has enough content for the moment.

Your logic is flawed, you assume that the DLC they are releasing is somehow already done and now they're selling them in pieces at later dates.

It's clear that you haven't played the game or you just haven't paid any attention to it what so ever.

 

[Nazulu]

I've played a little since my brother likes it, and it's incredibly average. From my experience everything moves just fine, no control issues, looks nice in a detailed graphics way (boring in design and style) and it's easy to adjust to. Oh, and there's a story I think.

Doesn't offend me though. Different name and different game to COD (in small ways), but I'm sure that will change very soon when Ubisoft pulls a Ubisoft and decides to milk and abuse that cow at the same time.

 

[CritialGaming]

The Division really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I always worry about a game that couldn't even be bothered to play test long enough to see a big fucking problem with the very first thing in the game. (Laptop) Then before the game even comes out they start spitting out what is coming in the next THREE expansion DLC's. THREE!? Why didn't you just put that shit in the game?

So what it looks like is they cut a bunch of content and things that could make the gameplay loop interesting only to sell it as DLC. Which is a trend we are seeing more and more and it fucking sucks.

As it stands now, the Division is a boring 3rd person shooter. The mechanics are janky, the shooting is just okay, and the story can be blown through without a care. 3rd person cover-based shooting is a bad mechanic to expect people to sink hundreds of hours into, especially with a loot system that is incredibly dull and uninteresting. There just isnt enough fun in finding a shotgun that does 1 more point of damage, or an assault rifle that has 2 extra bullets in the clip.

Because then they'd have to delay the game for another year since the expansions aren't finished? The game has enough content for the moment.

Your logic is flawed, you assume that the DLC they are releasing is somehow already done and now they're selling them in pieces at later dates.

It's clear that you haven't played the game or you just haven't paid any attention to it what so ever.

Played it, hated it, refunded it. Didn't play super far, true, and maybe it gets better 6 or 7 hours in. But I ain't got that kind of time to be completely bored. I am sorry for bashing a game you clearly like. But if you like it, than great, enjoy it and have yourself a fun time. But those are my thoughts on the game and my thoughts on the upcoming DLC.

Furthermore why do you think it is okay for games to have DLC or expansions already coming down the pipes before the main game is even released? MMO's don't do that shit, and they are the kings of expansions. But you never hear about an expansion until the base game has been out for at least a year.

When a game can tell me the setting, the story, the enemies, and show me gameplay for future shit before the base game comes out. That is called cut content. Especially after I get the base game and hate it.

Destiny had the same problem. The loot system stunk, the content was wank, and the story was barebones. Then a couple expansions come out and all of a sudden, the games feels more complete, the loot system is more polished and fair, the content got better, the story still sucked but at least there was more of it so that's kinda good.

I don't like these MMO-lite games, because it feels to me like they wanted to make an MMO but didn't want to put the time and effort into making a complete experience.

If Destiny took another year to come out, but came out with all the xpacs. The reception of that game would have been a much different and overall better feedback loop. And The Division feels the same way. Now I'm not saying that the experience can't be good as the game stands right now. But for ME, ONLY ME, the game is shallow, the shooting is mediocre at best, and the loot system is flat.

I don't like it.

But if you do, that's okay too.

 

[PartyUpLive]

I decided to wait on it. Probably after a good deal hits. I see it as a game that a lot of people buy because of the hype, then a couple of weeks later, they say list a ton of negatives for it. Me personally, I played the beta and it was cool. As someone that LOVES co-op/Horde mode games, I thought I would fall in love with it. I only liked it. But I can see it being an issue if you don't have friends who play online. Mostly all of my friends are on XBL so I have to make new friends on PSN. Not a big deal though.

The A.I. turned me off a little. When the enemies run out of cover and just let you shoot them up, and don't act nearly as realistic as someone in that situation would, it takes away from the experience.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

The A.I. turned me off a little. When the enemies run out of cover and just let you shoot them up, and don't act nearly as realistic as someone in that situation would, it takes away from the experience.

It's hard to comment on the A.I. in its entirety, most of the time it's inconsistent. But when I really think about it, it seems to follow a pattern with factions, and also difficulty levels.

The Rioters you first fight tend to behave like retards a lot of the time, randomly running out of cover and standing around. Variety is hard to come by with them.

The Cleaners aren't too much brighter, but are considerably more aggressive, going in to light you up with their flamethrowers. They also have more variety in unit types. Their boss unit is probably the biggest son of a ***** to deal with too.

Rikers are when things start to get consistently scarier. They seem to be more aggressive across the board, they scatter and take cover frequently and cover a lot of ground, and also fight with greater troop variety.

And then there's the final faction, the LMB. Perhaps the most dangerous of the bunch. Their AI is incredibly aggressive, they have huge variety in their squads and use a lot of abilities which mirror your own, they flank and push hard, react quickly, and almost always are in cover.

There's definitely a difference and sort of an escalation going on as you fight the different factions. Sometimes the AI may not be impressive, and sometimes they're relentless and elusive.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

The Division really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I always worry about a game that couldn't even be bothered to play test long enough to see a big fucking problem with the very first thing in the game. (Laptop) Then before the game even comes out they start spitting out what is coming in the next THREE expansion DLC's. THREE!? Why didn't you just put that shit in the game?

So what it looks like is they cut a bunch of content and things that could make the gameplay loop interesting only to sell it as DLC. Which is a trend we are seeing more and more and it fucking sucks.

As it stands now, the Division is a boring 3rd person shooter. The mechanics are janky, the shooting is just okay, and the story can be blown through without a care. 3rd person cover-based shooting is a bad mechanic to expect people to sink hundreds of hours into, especially with a loot system that is incredibly dull and uninteresting. There just isnt enough fun in finding a shotgun that does 1 more point of damage, or an assault rifle that has 2 extra bullets in the clip.

Because then they'd have to delay the game for another year since the expansions aren't finished? The game has enough content for the moment.

Your logic is flawed, you assume that the DLC they are releasing is somehow already done and now they're selling them in pieces at later dates.

It's clear that you haven't played the game or you just haven't paid any attention to it what so ever.

Played it, hated it, refunded it. Didn't play super far, true, and maybe it gets better 6 or 7 hours in. But I ain't got that kind of time to be completely bored. I am sorry for bashing a game you clearly like. But if you like it, than great, enjoy it and have yourself a fun time. But those are my thoughts on the game and my thoughts on the upcoming DLC.

Furthermore why do you think it is okay for games to have DLC or expansions already coming down the pipes before the main game is even released? MMO's don't do that shit, and they are the kings of expansions. But you never hear about an expansion until the base game has been out for at least a year.

When a game can tell me the setting, the story, the enemies, and show me gameplay for future shit before the base game comes out. That is called cut content. Especially after I get the base game and hate it.

Destiny had the same problem. The loot system stunk, the content was wank, and the story was barebones. Then a couple expansions come out and all of a sudden, the games feels more complete, the loot system is more polished and fair, the content got better, the story still sucked but at least there was more of it so that's kinda good.

I don't like these MMO-lite games, because it feels to me like they wanted to make an MMO but didn't want to put the time and effort into making a complete experience.

If Destiny took another year to come out, but came out with all the xpacs. The reception of that game would have been a much different and overall better feedback loop. And The Division feels the same way. Now I'm not saying that the experience can't be good as the game stands right now. But for ME, ONLY ME, the game is shallow, the shooting is mediocre at best, and the loot system is flat.

I don't like it.

But if you do, that's okay too.

I'm fine with people not liking games that I like but not when it's nothing but blind hatred and nonsense.

Why isn't it OK for developers to have plans for future content for their game? I also wouldn't call The Division an MMO, it's even less of an MMO compared to Destiny, it's more like an TPSRPG with MMO elements. Cut content means that the content already exists, but it doesn't, just because you saw a 10 second preview of it doesn't mean it's done.

The gameplay could easily just be from the base game and just made to look like what's coming. It just means that they have this year figured out and I don't mind more content for my games. Not to mention they're going to release 2 free content updates in april/may, why would they cut free content from the game?

I got Destiny at launch day and I agree that the game never felt complete until The Taken King came out, though I don't agree that The Division is suffering the same fate because The Division does not feel unfinished, I don't feel like I need two seperate 20$ expansions and then another 40$ expansion to make it feel complete.

The game is already getting better reviews than Destiny from both critics and players, so they must be doing something better.

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

Story is garbage. Not necessarily the premise, but I cannot remember a single character I've run into. They have been nothing but quest dumpers.

Gun-play is solid, but forgettable. It's standard third person shooter stuff with little strategy other than flanking and using cover.
Not something I expect from something with Tom Clancy's named slapped on it.

Graphics look really good, not much to complain about there. Heck, they sometimes look downright gorgeous due to some fantastic lighting.

The actual quests are abhorrently repetitive. You will be doing the same quests over and over again, not blatantly, but they exhibit the same qualities. Like with any game, playing with people you know alleviates this issue but only minimally. There's also no room for screwing around. If you were hoping to create your own fun, given that this is an "open world" game, don't get too excited. You might find the occasional glitch here or there that is good for a laugh, but this isn't anywhere near sandbox levels of gameplay. You will do what the developers wanted you to, or nothing at all.

The Dark Zone is interesting, but really just feels like one of those early access survival games where all you do is look for loot and shoot people, sans the survival elements (food, water, comfort, etc.)

Replay value is minimal at best. Unless you're really obsessive about increasing numbers, there's little reason to keep playing after you beat the main story. Side quests maybe? Luckily the main story does seem quite lengthy. I've played about 13 hours and it says I'm only 50% through the campaign, but I have also been doing side quests when I'm nearby to them.

And that's my generalized take on the game so far. I'm quite tired right now. I'd be surprised if I read back what I typed to myself and it makes any sense.