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[GalacticToast]

Ehh. It's okay. I feel like it's going to be extremely repetitive with a less than stellar end game. Game play is serviceable, but nothing fantastic. Dialogue is standard Ubisoft and the story is nothing special so far. It can be decent fun with friends though.

 

[AncientDiety]

Down to 91. Wonder what IGN will give it.

 

[TheSpecialOne]

Off to a great start from meaningless outlets.

I'm very sure that this game won't have a 90 metacritic once most of the reviews from reputable sites are out. This game reminds me of Destiny in that it's going to take some time for people to come to the realization that it's not a good game. It's technically competent but it is probably one of the most generic boring games released to date. It truly doesn't shine in any category.

 

[FX-GMC]

I'm very sure that this game won't have a 90 metacritic once most of the reviews from reputable sites are out. This game reminds me of Destiny in that it's going to take some time for people to come to the realization that it's not a good game. It's technically competent but it is probably one of the most generic boring games released to date. It truly doesn't shine in any category.

Well 24h playtime hasn't done it. I'll get back to you on just how bad it really is once I have a full weeks worth of time into it.

Spoiler

I rarely put more than 20 hours into games that I like or think are "good games".

 

[Aztechnology]

Well maybe not alot. But if they get their moneys worth out now...thats not actually a bad thing really when you think about it. Though there are season pass stuff

Right but the foundation for the game is based around leveling and min maxing your gear for specific builds. This implies there's a higher level late game element intended for serious challenges that keep people coming back. If not raids then something a la Diablos rifts and difficulty levels with enemy modifiers that change the encounters drastically. Division (and my 20 or so hours of play time) strikes me as a game with a foot in both the loot based ARPG system and the MMO system. It doesn't seem to do either markedly well and that's concerning to me.

 

[digitalrelic]

I'm very sure that this game won't have a 90 metacritic once most of the reviews from reputable sites are out. This game reminds me of Destiny in that it's going to take some time for people to come to the realization that it's not a good game. It's technically competent but it is probably one of the most generic boring games released to date. It truly doesn't shine in any category.

I guess not everyone can be so enlightened as you to realize that the game isn't good... Or maybe people actually legitimately enjoy it and appreciate it for ways that you've failed to grasp.

 

[Gurish]

Well one of the major issues here is the devs themselves have countless times. So its not too hard to imagine gamers doing it.




Seems like a bit higher to me. But it also depends on which you use metacritic or Opencritic

MC and OC averages are usually pretty close, It's hard to believe it can maintain the current 90 avg, usually it goes down after more reviews are added.

 

[Karak]

Right but the foundation for the game is based around leveling and min maxing your gear for specific builds. This implies there's a higher level late game element intended for serious challenges that keep people coming back. If not raids then something a la Diablos rifts and difficulty levels with enemy modifiers that change the encounters drastically. Division (and my 20 or so hours of play time) strikes me as a game with a foot in both the loot based ARPG system and the MMO system. It doesn't seem to do either markedly well and that's concerning to me.

Right and its not to others. Which is why I said its not really a bad thing.

MC and OC averages are usually pretty close, It's hard to believe it can maintain the current 90 avg, usually it goes down after more reviews are added.

Right. I thought the person wrote 85 or something. Will have to go back and look. Though thats possible too. Not saying its not.

 

[Ryuuga]

Just one question. How big is the top shelf?

I guess that'd be relative to the amount of games on each shelf overall. Though it's not a number such as it is raising above a standard.

 

[jesu]

Ehh. It's okay. I feel like it's going to be extremely repetitive with a less than stellar end game. Game play is serviceable, but nothing fantastic. Dialogue is standard Ubisoft and the story is nothing special so far. It can be decent fun with friends though.

The dialogue from the JTF officers that give you missions is fantastic, nothing like your normal Ubi game and a cut above most other games.

The guy with allergies, the ex-actor, the new age dude, the optimistic woman, the pessimistic woman.
They all make me laugh.

 

[tesqui]

The free roaming side stuff I solo and that's fine albeit repetitive. The missions are real fun despite matching with randoms. It's been fun, and very tense at times. As long as your helping out your team by deploying turrets or healing. I've found that pretty much everyone I've run into cooperates.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I'm having a good time with Division so far, just made Level/Rank 15 yesterday! Don't see it going south up to Level/Rank 30, just hope there's enough compelling things to do once I get there to last me until at least Dark Souls III next month -- then I'll just hop back for updates and expansions from then on after I wrap DS3.

Honestly, this game was one of the first games to be previewed going into this gen that made me really excited for this gen. Having a high-detailed, open-world environment that you could play with buddies and a good modern-day-ish emotional hook (I still LOVE that cinematic trailer for this game that IIRC released at E3 last year) seemed like kind of a next-gen dream. I learned to live with the graphical downgrades as the gen just rolled out, and for a long time I started to get disillusioned about this game because it felt like the hype was dying and Ubisoft wasn't really keeping us posted on progress...

But so glad my first few days are completely counter to all my doubts. Really enjoying this. Hope the post-release content keeps it interesting and fresh for months to come.

 

[Ushay]

The king of MMO style games has arrived.

 

[Karak]

Down to 91. Wonder what IGN will give it.

5/10 Too much Alex

 

[funkystudent]

Reviewing this kind of game in 3 days is LOL worthy but OK. Sure.

 

[Mman235]

I wasn't sure on the combat gameplay at first but now I've got better weapons I've customised and more interesting abilities it's grown on me a lot. I feel the Destiny comparisons don't work in that regard (at least from shallow early game comparisons) because, from what I've played so far, Destiny's general curve was more condensed; until special endgame stuff most of Destiny's weapon upgrades (within individual categories) were focused around damage with only minor extra abilities or general stat shifts. I don't know if it'll hold up the whole game, but so far The Division seems to have more of an RPG basis where a lot of the later stuff is flat out better than the earlier stuff (in areas beyond DPS) and more satisfying to use as a result.

 

[jesu]

Looks like it is going to take me about 40 hours to reach level 30 and the end of the game and I'm loving every minute, just playing solo.
So it's an 85+ game to me.
The DZ so far has been great too so that can add some extra life to the game.

I've not bought the season pass yet because I'm waiting to see how single player friendly the expansions are but I'm expecting to buy them all the way things are going.

 

[diaspora]

What happened to those red flags?

 

[Pop]

Every game is repetitive. That excuse doesn't fly.

 

[dcelw540]

Reviewing this kind of game in 3 days is LOL worthy but OK. Sure.

I know, it's like an mmo but you put less then three days to review it

 

[taco543]

 

[wild wild rice]

Every game is repetitive. That excuse doesn't fly.

Whether a game feels repetitive or not is a valid subjective opinion.

 

[Aztechnology]

Right and its not to others. Which is why I said its not really a bad thing.

I guess it boils down to whether this should be addressed on a intended design level or at an "experience" level. I feel like when you have a targeted audience, as is clear with this game (Look at the marketing) that those features are sort of required to be present, especially given the precedent set by others titles in a similar vein, That's just my personal opinion though.

 

[Pop]

Whether a game feels repetitive or not is a valid subjective opinion.

There is no feels here. Its a fact.

 

[Karak]

I guess it boils down to whether this should be addressed on a intended design level or at an "experience" level. I feel like when you have a targeted audience, as is clear with this game (Look at the marketing) that those features are sort of required to be present, especially given the precedent set by others titles in a similar vein, That's just my personal opinion though.

I can totally see that.

 

[JBwB]

Every game is repetitive. That excuse doesn't fly.

Some more so than others.

 

[wild wild rice]

There is no feels here. Its a fact.

Some are more repetitive than others, shades of grey exist, etc.

 

[Aztechnology]

There is no feels here. Its a fact.

Absolutely not. Most games are based on repetition by design. The difference is how that is experienced and if there's enough variety to keep it from stagnating. This is why Diablo is such a good comparison game for this. The difference is Diablo has a more robust loot system, difficulty levels go beyond normal/hard and unique enemy modifiers keep the experience fresh and intriguing much longer. The question remains, is the Dark Zone in its current state sufficient to create the variety necessary to provide an equivalent experience. My gut tells me no. While adding the player element is cool, in the long term it's not a replacement for absent systems and mechanics.

 

[Compsiox]

curious to see what will keep people coming back to this in the coming weeks, although it does sound like people are getting their moneys worth for now

Even if it doesn't have long term replayability the time I've spent with it has made it worth the money, not to mention the amazing fun I'm having.

 

[texhnolyze]

So much for the confident 70s metacritic predictions from gaf.


Well deserved, Massive.

 

[Any Questions]

waiting on the biogamer girl review so I can accurately compare this with the original Destiny launch.

BGG for life

 

[Interficium]

There's a lot of posters on Gaf who hate Destiny so much (closet Xbox warriors with weird senses of "Bungie betrayed us!") that actually drives them to irrationally praise The Division.

 

[blame space]

Interesting post interficium. I'm learning a lot.

 

[Aztechnology]

I can totally see that.

I'm definitely looking forward to your review. Not that I expect you to be negative about it, but simply given that your past reviews address the different kinds of players that will undoubtedly dive into any given game. It's why I'm not a fan of a simple review score model. While the game may be a 8/10 for someone coming from a background where they see PVP as the most important experience. it may be a 4/10 from someone who was hoping to find robust end game content in terms of PVE. Therefore a score can be extremely misleading, when a simple recommendation based review system e.g Yes, yes if, no, no if is far superior and more beneficial to users based on their preferences.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

There's a lot of posters on Gaf who hate Destiny so much (closet Xbox warriors with weird senses of "Bungie betrayed us!") that actually drives them to irrationally praise The Division.

What the fuck? Sounds like you take this system war shit way too seriously if you're willing to post garbage like this.

 

[digitalrelic]

There's a lot of posters on Gaf who hate Destiny so much (closet Xbox warriors with weird senses of "Bungie betrayed us!") that actually drives them to irrationally praise The Division.

Lol what!?

 

[Rodelero]

I expect the reviews from a lot of the bigger publications will drop this toward maybe 83-4, but I have to admit I am amazed its reviewing this well so far (it is worth noting that some of those reviews came in incredibly early, which reeks of publications trying

My experience of the beta, and what I've seen from Giant Bomb's Quick Look and Jim Sterling's pre-review video suggest the game has some pretty significant issues. The enemy variety is incredibly lacking, and the AI is so weak compared to what you see in contemporary shooters (perhaps the open world and co-op taking its toll), the difficulty almost entirely comes from how much health the enemies are given, and the gun play is really so-so. These are close to fatal flaws in my eyes, and I'm a little surprised at how lenient some of these reviewers have been on those areas. I know that a 10/10 doesn't mean perfect, but it does feel inappropriate for a game that is so far off the pace in the most important area.

A really good co-op shooter with good RPG mechanics sounds awesome to me, which is why I was excited by Destiny and excited by The Division, but each seems to screw up one of the two areas so heavily that I don't feel particularly hungry for either.

 

[Interficium]

What the fuck? Sounds like you take this system war shit way too seriously.

I don't. Others do.

I just find it ironic that the same content-complainer posters in every thread for the last two years are now giving a pass to this game when the endgame and overall level of content is about on par with y1 Destiny, with a few asscreed-style collection aspects added.

 

[heringer]

Some people are complaining of bullet sponginess. I think I'll wait for more reviews, I hate that in shooters.

 

[El_Chino]

There's a lot of posters on Gaf who hate Destiny so much (closet Xbox warriors with weird senses of "Bungie betrayed us!") that actually drives them to irrationally praise The Division.

 

[antitrop]

Some people are complaining of bullet sponginess. I think I'll wait for more reviews, I hate that in shooters.

Enemies are spongy as fuck at the beginning, when all your loot is shit, but as you become more powerful it actually starts to feel like a Tom Clancy game, i.e., people die in 1 headshot in areas that aren't above your character level.

I'm Level 17 now and I can kill pretty much anyone with 1 headshot from a Marksman Rifle or 2-3 headshots from an Assault Rifle that isn't equal level.

It's going to ebb and flow depending your gear quality and what area of the game you're running around in at the time, but it's not like the game stays completely as spongy as it is in the first ~5 hours or so.

It's a typical RPG progression, but a very atypical shooter progression. I saw someone else say "How come no one complains about 'sword-sponges' in fantasy RPGs?" and I think that was a pretty good point.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

I don't. Others do.

I just find it ironic that the same content-complainer posters in every thread for the last two years are now giving a pass to this game when the endgame is about on par with y1 Destiny.

I very much doubt that has to do with the whole "Bungie betrayed us" thing, but keep fighting the good fight.

 

[Gunslinger]

What did division do right that destiny didn't do? Cause I remember destiny getting panned by both critics and users.

 

[3rdamention]

Down to 91. Wonder what IGN will give it.

There are like three scores for the Xbox version of the game as well, those will have an effect on the Meta, at least for that specific version...

 

[texhnolyze]

What did division do right that destiny didn't do? Cause I remember destiny getting panned by both critics and users.

Matchmaking.

 

[antitrop]

What did division do right that destiny didn't do? Cause I remember destiny getting panned by both critics and users.

Content and matchmaking are the two big ones.

 

[Interficium]

I very much doubt that has to do with the whole "Bungie betrayed us" thing, but keep fighting the good fight.

You seem to be latching onto that statement, so I'll admit that it's just a theory. What do you think it has to do with, in your opinion?

 

[Netherscourge]

What did division do right that destiny didn't do? Cause I remember destiny getting panned by both critics and users.

Can you trade with players in Destiny? Does Destiny make you drop your lootable items if you are tagged as a Rogue and die?

I honestly don't know. I'm still researching this game. Watching Twitch streams to see how it is.

This game seems much more social than Destiny, but I'm still checking it out.

 

[Goldmund]

Every game is repetitive. That excuse doesn't fly.

Same thing goes for music. What's the difference between Beethoven's 5th and repeatedly hitting G4 on a piano for 40 minutes? I feel overly critical and pretentious just thinking about it.

 

[Gunslinger]

Can you trade with players in Destiny? Does Destiny make you drop your lootable items if you are tagged as a Rogue and die?

I honestly don't know. I'm still researching this game. Watching Twitch streams to see how it is.

This game seems much more social than Destiny, but I'm still checking it out.

Can you trade in division? Cause me and my cousin were playing today and I wanted to trade gear with him but didn't know how to.