The Division - Review Thread

Opencritic - 79

Metacritic - 80

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IGN - 6.7/10
Ultimately, The Division’s overly busy, conflicted design philosophies drown its best ingredients in a bland slurry that never quite comes together into a cohesive dish.

PC Gamer - 68/100
Beneath all the excess is a challenging and strategic eight hour co-op cover shooter that deserves an audience, but it’s occluded by a thick, noxious loot haze.

Polygon - 7/10
Many games trying to mix MMO systems with combat-oriented design get mired in a constant number chase that makes enemies feel like too much of a damage investment, rather than satisfying challenges to overcome. But The Division gets shooting and encounters right in ways plenty of other games have tried and failed, building a basis for a truly social tactical shooter. I just couldn't help but bump my head against a ceiling that felt built for an MMO mindset at odds with what The Division does well.

Gamespot - 8.0/10
Despite oddly overpowered enemies and repetitive level grinding, The Division succeeds thanks to its rich world, strong campaign, and impressive online functionality.

The Jimquisition - 6.5/10
I would’ve loved to have seen it if it were more inspired, ambitious, or offered much else outside of stat upgrades for the sake of finding more stat upgrades. As it stands, The Division is a run-of-the-mill MMO-lite cover shooter and it’s absolutely okay.

Digitalspy - 5/5
There's no getting away from the fact The Division is the best open-world that Ubisoft has ever created, while the gameplay is consistently entertaining and cohesive. The deep RPG elements and tactical gunplay just add to that. Plus, the fact you can get so much enjoyment out of being a solo player, with that experience heightened by buddying up, is quite a feat.

IGN Italy - 9.0/10
The Division is a wonderful mix of genres and styles, resulting in a beautiful, fascinating and addictive game.

GamingBolt - 8/10
Tom Clancy’s The Division may not reinvent the wheel but it provides something we’ve been clamouring for – an involving, immersive, rewarding MMO shooter that raises our expectations for what the genre could achieve, despite its blemishes and somewhat repetitive mission design.

Examiner - 5/5
Despite the cynics who might try to marginalize what this game truly is, it's something you must experience, whether that is with friends or on your own. The Division shows you can have both an incredible online multiplayer experience, while staying true to the roots of an immersive campaign. The Division is a magnificent revelation and one that was well worth the wait.

GameCrate - 8.25/10
I wouldn’t go so far as to say The Division is the online shooter experience that will usher the genre into a new golden age, but it is a worthy alternative for those who are looking for a more methodical and immersive experience than what games like Destiny can offer.

CheatCodeCentral - 4.6/5
You'll be like me soon enough: fighting off sleep as you recount recent battles with your friends and think about which branch of your base you'd like to upgrade next. It's an addiction as contagious as the fictional virus sweeping through The Division's New York. The wait was worth it, so get out there and gear up, agent. I'll meet you in Brooklyn.

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Off to a fantastic start from professional critics thus far. I'd imagine it's very likely that it drops as more reviews come in though. I will say that from my experience, it's been an excellent game. I can't stop thinking about it and can't wait to get home and play. That's usually a good sign.
 

MrNelson

Banned
Higher than I expected so far.

I'm really enjoying it, more so than I did Destiny around launch. Hopefully the post-launch content delivers better than Destiny too.
 

Nokterian

Member
Well deserved and it fixes my diablo loot hunting in the division..love love the game the whole atmosphere,music,rpg suck my right in.
 

Mattenth

Member
Great start, but also a little nervous about post-launch content. Ubisoft Massive has made a great game, but sometimes you get different business units and whatnot planning out the post-launch details.

The Xbox One timed exclusivity is already a huge damper... I don't think they'll be able to afford too many more slip-ups if they want to have a long tail game.
 
Higher scores than expected.

Cuco don't link this thread to our group PSN thread. 2 months until the bet is over right? Just wait.
 

Muffdraul

Member
I installed it last night and played the first two missions and two side missions. Then I went back to Zelda TP HD. I'll be hurrying through that ASAP so I can get back to The Division.
 

Certinty

Member
Not surprised repetitive missions were mentioned, right now for me it's like I'm doing the exact same thing every mission but in a different location. Saying that though it's still a great game and fun with friends.
 
Not surprised repetitive missions were mentioned, right now for me it's like I'm doing the exact same thing every mission but in a different location. Saying that though it's still a great game and fun with friends.

Same here, though I am still early. Hoping it changes
 
The beta was decent fun, but I didn't see anything spectacular in it. Is there much more of the base experience in the full game that one might not see having played the beta?
 

E-flux

Member
I was expecting it to review a lot worse after seeing a lot of negative impressions from streamers and those silly steam reviews.

The beta was decent fun, but I didn't see anything spectacular in it. Is there much more of the base experience in the full game that one might not see having played the beta?

What you did in the beta is what you do in the base game, if you didn't enjoy that you probably won't enjoy the full game. It's basically just bigger with a bit more variation and world building.
 
Playing with friends is really fun. I think the only thing that went against my expectations is that I expected to encounter other players in the non-DZ open world area. In some ways it feels like an open world Guild Wars 1, but that's not so bad.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I'm expecting this to go down quite a bit as more singleplayer centric reviewers weigh in.

If it doesn't I'll be quite surprised since it seems like the type of game that'd go over great with MP centric players and poorly with at least a notable proportion of reviewers.
 

SystemBug

Member
I'm expecting this to go down quite a bit as more singleplayer centric reviewers weigh in.

If it doesn't I'll be quite surprised since it seems like the type of game that'd go over great with MP centric players and poorly with at least a notable proportion of reviewers.

which is weird because the game is clearly meant to be played with people
 

dugdug

Banned
I'm guessing there's a moment where it gets amazing or something? I'm level 9 right now and, so far, it's definitely a perfectly OK, generic-ass, shoot-the-man, AAA game.
 

see5harp

Member
While I haven't played anything aside from the hour long intro, it's already starting to feel like this is much better than I expected.
 

ReaperXL7

Member
Regardless of how the reviews in general turn out my opinion is that the game is pretty incredible. It's not perfect but I have wanted an open world modern day spy/secret agent rpg for a long time and this has filled that role very well. It hasn't seemed to matter if I have played co-op or solo I have enjoyed my time with this to a degree I have not with a game in awhile and as long as Ubisoft pushes meaningful support out to the game I'll be sticking with it for a good long time.

I know shooter fans are not thrilled with the combat but I'm glad that Massive stuck to their guns about it being an RPG first and didn't make it a twitch shooter because I definitely believe that would have lessened my enjoyment of the game. I know Ubi gets a lot of flak on Gaf but they and Massive have done good with the Division.
 

bounchfx

Member
rad! great impressions. personally I'm gonna wait a month and see what the consensus is then, once people have time to get further and really explore dark zone. I just worry it will become a one sided zzzz fest
 

SRTtoZ

Member
Not perfect by any means but a really good game none the less. I've been giving Ubisoft shit as of late but this is a game thats really fun solo or with a few friends. Oh and if you have no friends, you can literally matchmake from anywhere and find some people in a few seconds.
 
I'm guessing there's a moment where it gets amazing or something? I'm level 9 right now and, so far, it's definitely a perfectly OK, generic-ass, shoot-the-man, AAA game.

Haven't played it, but this is exactly what I imagine it is from watching gameplay. But why wouldn't that review well?
 
Yet the Steam rating is mixed at 68% thanks to a bunch of idiots with negative reviews at 0.1 hours of playtime whining because the servers went down for a bit on launch day. I'm really glad this game is getting positive reviews, it's amazing.
 

H4r4kiri

Member
I'm guessing there's a moment where it gets amazing or something? I'm level 9 right now and, so far, it's definitely a perfectly OK, generic-ass, shoot-the-man, AAA game.

I did not play it yet, but I really think it is just this. Plus repetitive and boring Story and Missions. I will never forget the Reviews and Hype about Destiny and how my own experience was after 30 hours.
 

Yukinari

Member
Im gonna need to read up on some spoilers for this game right away cause aside from the unique element of the Dark Zone this game looks generic as fuck.

I dont see what this does different from other 3rd person shooters? The AI certainly isnt better.
 
I was expecting it to review a lot worse after seeing a lot of negative impressions from streamers and those silly steam reviews.



What you did in the beta is what you do in the base game, if you didn't enjoy that you probably won't enjoy the full game. It's basically just bigger with a bit more variation and world building.
Okay, cool thanks. I enjoyed it a fair amount playing with a friend, but was pretty certain it wouldn't hold my attention. Still nice to see another new IP do well.
 

Mindlog

Member
I enjoyed my time with the Beta, but I'm surprised so many of those early outlets are as high on the game as they are.
 
Wow. My experience with the beta was pretty bland cover shooting with generic enemies and mission design. How much have the core game mechanics improved? Does mission structure commonly get more involved from 'go here, protect this' or 'go here, shoot guys in hoodies'?
I'm a pretty big Destiny fan, but largely because of the unique abilities, exotic weapons, and larger than life boss encounters. Does the Division deliver or exceed any of those points?
 
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