The Division - Review Thread

Way higher scores than I expected or would give myself. The generic third person shooter still has plenty of legs it seems. I'm having fun with it though, and it's good that they're at least getting rewarded for learning from some of Bungie's many mistakes.
 
ferenz said:
Preface: I'm really enjoying The Division and believe I will continue to do so for quite some time.

It will average out around 7 with major review outlets.

  • The missions are very repetitive after you see the first set of them < level 10
  • The Dark Zone will frustrate PVE players who want a non-pvp endgame activity like raids in Destiny
  • The land mass feels very small and compressed with too much sami-ness
  • The world is very, very empty unless you use matchmaking...why didn't they implement seeing/interaction with other individual players in the world a la Destiny?
  • The gear is too realistic/bland to excite the people who want to get that next amazing gun....it's just another assault rifle with 100 more dps
There are lots of really great things about the game also that I don't think any reviewer will be able to deny
  • Matchmaking everywhere is fantastic
  • The combat scales very nicely from solo -> full group
  • The missions are very well designed for co-op, I might say even better than the original run of Destiny strikes
  • The combat options and mechanics are very solid...it feels like there's a lot of variety in skillset you can build and the cover shooting is maybe the best implementation I've ever played
I just don't think there's enough here to avoid the obvious Destiny comparison...fantastic engine with best-in-class combat mechanics (some people will disagree if they like run and gun) and great co-op encounters, but severely lacking in varied content. I think their announcement of all the upcoming DLC was well timed as that should keep people like me excited about playing new content continually over the next year, but I don't think it will stop major reviews from docking big points for the current content state. All in all, I think it will be a major game going forward and continue to improve with each content package release, but I don't think it will score super well with major review outlets at launch. I would be very surprised if the publisher/developer weren't already expecting ~7ish review scores with the knowledge that it won't matter because they'll fill out the content over time and players will love it regardless of review. Destiny has already proved that this is an entirely feasible way to launch a successful game of this type.
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Want to make a bet?
 
Interficium said:
This gif is really disingenuous. It shows red-bar, no-armor roaming enemies in the PVE overworld.

On any of the missions, particularly if you're not doing normal mode, or in the dark zone, the game almost never throws this variety of enemy at you; they're almost always purple and yellows with tons of armor pips.
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There are plenty of red enemies in missions, again gear and your level are incredibly important for combat.
 
Interficium said:
This gif is really disingenuous. It shows red-bar, no-armor roaming enemies in the PVE overworld.

On any of the missions, particularly if you're not doing normal mode, or in the dark zone, the game almost never throws this variety of enemy at you; they're almost always purple and yellows with tons of armor pips.
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Or, you know, it's an RPG that plays like a shooter so obviously you put more challenging enemies in harder areas.

Bulletsponge seems like a really weak complaint because the game is predicated on guns having RPG weapon progression and the enemies as well.
 
Just wanted to share my thoughts here!

Played for 24 hours, I've done side missions, main missions, grouped up with 3 other friends doing all that, got to level 14 and have a great arrangement of equipment, all a mix of blues/greens/purples. I played on PS4. I have not done any Dark Zone gameplay yet.

My impressions list:

-The game looks phenomenal, the lighting is outstanding and I strongly believe the weather cycles are some of the best in a game ever, the way things can change so quickly being indoors and then heading outdoors to a complete snow storm where you can't see 5 feet in front of you really helps with the game's atmosphere and world building.

-Grouping up with your friends is so easy, it was a little disappointing to learn that your friends on the map aren't actually in game, and so you don't cross them in the open world, but having your map populate with your friends and simply selecting to join them is very well done, voice chat is seamless and a decent quality as well

-The game is addicting, the open world and side/main mission structure has a very good flow to it that makes the game have the same flow that Grand Theft Auto and the like have. This is something that I feel is rarely talked about in reviews and such, but open world mission flow is very important and The Division does it damn well

-The UI is outstanding, everything is seamless and easy to use, I played the beta so I already knew my way around it all, but even when playing for the first time with the beta it was never an issue using the interface

-There are a ton of settings, while the promised lighting settings to improve fps never happened there is still a ton of settings that we should appreciate are implemented from being able to turn off chromatic aberration and the HUD entirely and plenty more.

-The controls are tight, I upped my aiming and camera sensitivity to 35% and found that to be perfect for me, every button is mapped perfectly and I really can't complain about the setup. The cover system is really well done, I think it is a really good evolution of cover mechanics from last generation.

-Character customization is lacking for sure, I just never could find a setup I really liked and so I just made my character into the same one from the beta which was just a regular preset, definitely disappointing but the appearance items (clothing) helps make your character your own in the end and has more customization than their facial appearance, which is a bit odd that there is so much for one but not the other, also no ability to change height, weight, or even a pair of prescription glasses is just weird ommisions

-Gameplay so far is a fun synergy of cover shooting, ability coordination with your team and flanking. As weird as this sounds this game feels like a mix of Resident Evil 4, Destiny and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. The cooperation of ability use with cooldowns is fun and planning loadouts in advance so not everyone is using the same abilities and no one has a health ability equipped which is always a necessity. Resident Evil 4 influence comes from the fact that fights evolve based on your location in the environment, the areas are always huge and so going up high to take the advantage but then retreating when overrun to a new spot is what reminds me of the always on the go gameplay of Resident Evil 4. I really enjoy it and people who just hunker down in one spot and just shoot and repeat from that spot are not fully realizing the encounter and map design as there are tons of ways and paths to take on an enemy encounter

-One negative I have had is that the game (so far) lacks any major set pieces or world events that make the missions exciting, everything is move on, wave of enemies, loot, move on, enemies etc. The mission encounter design is superb as I explained above, but having more lively battles, even if it isn't interactive, would help a lot, but that is not to say it isn't coming, the story definitely so far is the weakest link. I didn't experience any feeling of great mission excitement until the
department store mission
and the ones after that have been just as good. So things start out slow, although the story doesn't seem very focused.

Overall I am highly enjoying myself and will definitely get my money's worth from this game, there is tons to do and its a blast playing with friends. I hope the story and mission design gets better, but even if it doesn't there is an amazing game here.
 
Well deserved reviews. One of the best co-OP games I have played and The game really shines in the DZ with friends but it's also fun solo.
 
Does the loot/enemies ever become interesting or is the game as generic as it seems?

Earlier in the thread, someone said that there are no raids, but there is The Dark Zone which is some form of PVP. Is that right? Are raids coming down the line?
 
Glad it's getting good reviews. I've had great experiences alone and in co-op. It's been cool to hear everyone's unique experiences and how they've approached things.
 
Movalpolos said:
It's a valid complaint. The setting of the game is flat out boring.
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When I see what they've done with the environmental storytelling and weather effects I find the setting super interesting. Especially compared to last gen renditions of new york.
 
Movalpolos said:
It's a valid complaint. The setting of the game is flat out boring.
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I said it's samey and compressed above. It doesn't mean the environment that's here isn't impressively realized, it just means you can run from one side of the map to the other and see exactly the same textures in exactly the same lighting. I didn't say I faulted it for that, as I'm almost completely here for the gameplay which I find exceedingly satisfying, but you can't deny that this will turn off people who see it as a generic "do the same thing in the same environment thousands of times to get gear that looks the same but has different numbers" game.
 
Great reviews! Enjoying the game a lot so far. I really love the mix of Tom Clancyness and all the RPG systems of the game. I think it's refreshing to see an RPG that is not set in a fantasy or super futuristic setting. I also love my pompom beanie. More game should feature pompom beanies.
 
Crossing Eden said:
When I see what they've done with the environmental storytelling and weather effects I find the setting super interesting. Especially compared to last gen renditions of new york.
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Yeah, I havent seen any of the east side areas yet but I do think they do a decent job of dressing the environment. Much of it is what you'd expect from a city but there definitely distinctions. Like you can tell an area is dominated by the cleaners because you see lots of charred remains and active fire all over the place. The first area is a neighborhood where theres tons of christmas decorations, it looks especially cool at night when everything is lit up.
 
Cake Boss said:
The best is that after spending 45 hours with the game he finally decided to write a review for it. How the fuck do you not know of you should continue to play this game or not 5 hours in.
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He treats every game like FF13. Maybe after 20 hours it gets good.
 
I haven't been able to read this thread, but the only thing I'd like to change about this game is the lack of variety of mobs. I get that the don't want to go the zombie/alien/whatever route, but it's boring fighting re-skinned bad guys over and over. I do enjoy the game so far about 8.5 hours in - the environment is great and the game has a lot of atmosphere. And I don't have to hear Dinklebot drone on endlessly doing some of the worst voice acting ever, so that's a plus.
 
StrongBlackVine said:
Considering those missions are still limited to 4 player co-op it is hard to call that a raid. More like a strike.
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But, strikes are designed to be quick, accessible missions. Incursions are supposed to be even more difficult than challenge missions, which already take 1 hour + currently. To label an end-game only activity as being more akin to a strike is disingenuous.
 
Everything is repetitive, but there are varying degrees of repetition and some are more annoying than others. For example; Dragon Quests random battles piss me off 100x more than almost any other JRPG franchise.

Side note: 85 meta on XONE so it'll be interesting to see the huge jumps over the next week.
 
WonkyPanda said:
But, strikes are designed to be quick, accessible missions. Incursions are supposed to be even more difficult than challenge missions, which already take 1 hour + currently. To label an end-game only activity as being more akin to a strike is disingenuous.
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To be fair, as is labelling it a raid.
 
Xaero Gravity said:
That's my point. Massive hasn't referred to them as raids once, but some people insist on calling them raids. I'd love to be wrong, but I'm not expecting anywhere near the complexity most raids have. But none of us really know for sure though.
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Im not an expert at MMOs but what makes a raid so complex? What makes it so different from what Massive is calling them?
 
Purest 78 said:
At the core all games are repetitive, it depends if you enjoy what you're doing or not.
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Yep, this is my exact stance on it as well. The complaint of repetition doesn't really mean much to me when someone is describing a flaw in a game. You have to get down into the mechanics, level design, style, etc... that make the repetition good or bad. Those are what make or break it because, as you said, you're essentially doing the same thing over and over in every game.

For example, the UC4 stress test. I played it and I was doing the same thing over and over again. Jumping, climbing, shooting, swinging from a rope, summoning aid/using special weapons. That sort of stuff. The mechanics, level design and pace make all of that enjoyable as heck no matter how many times I do it though.
 
ferenz said:
but you can't deny that this will turn off people who see it as a generic "do the same thing in the same environment thousands of times to get gear that looks the same but has different numbers" game.
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Is it not that?
What exactly do you DO in the Division? What is the end goal?
 
I'm level 7 right now and the game is getting so much better for me. I'm starting to fully understand the mechanics and objectives now that I'm getting better loot and unlocking useful skills. The first 5 levels were a chore to get through and it made me real mixed on the game but now I can't wait to max out.
 
Xaero Gravity said:
That's my point. Massive hasn't referred to them as raids once, but some people insist on calling them raids. I'd love to be wrong, but I'm not expecting anywhere near the complexity most raids have. But none of us really know for sure though.
Click to expand...

Massive hasnt referred to them as a raid but it is being billed as a very challenging end game only activity that will reward high end gear sets -- which checks most of the boxes people expect from a raid. So even without knowing what exact form it will take in terms of mechanics and pace, it seems safe to say that Incursions will be this game's take on a raid.
 
Hmm... pretty good scores.

Would you guys who like it recommend it to someone only looking to play single player for the interesting campaign/story/characters, and doesn't care for multiplayer (don't even have PS+) or MMO's?
 
zeromcd73 said:
Hmm... pretty good scores.

Would you guys who like it recommend it to someone only looking to play single player for the interesting campaign/story/characters, and doesn't care for multiplayer (don't even have PS+) or MMO's?
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Personally I would say no, but it depends. How much do you enjoy something like Borderlands? It's pretty much Diablo in shooter form with great graphics/polish and solid mechanics.
 
Karak said:
I rated it a Wait for Sale in my working review. Still hammering out time on all 3 systems and doing tech checks for the final. Which is probably a 7 or 7.5 in the rating scale but who knows as I created it because numbers didn't work for me. But it was the closest title in my history where I couldn't decide between Buy and Wait for Sale. Lots of good shit in this title.
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Definitely makes sense. That's what I would recommend as well. It only needs a few things to round out the systems and content and make this something really special. But in its current state I can't fully recommend it.

I think with the underground update that may change though, I believe that's the update looking like it will introduce a random/varied dungeon set that get's progressively harder as you go. Something to really take advantage of peoples build options outside of PVP. As far as incursions it seems likely that it's more of a Heroic Dungeon (WoW) Or Strike (Destiny). Only time will tell though.
 
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