The division scored 8/10 on gamespot

So you want me to buy a game i will not enjoy just so i could critic it? I told you, its an Ubi game, you don't need to spend much time to know exactly what you're getting into. The exploration in this game is walking empty streets, see a group of enemies every 5 minutes guarding a chest(s), grab a useless item in it and move on. The exploration isn't good or even decent. Its bad. I think their goal was to make the loot as flat and boring as they could possibly do (the same thing applies to the abilities but may be the fault of the Tom Clancy name on the box). The division's loot and exploration is exactly what i've expected from Deep Down, abysmal.

In quality titles you don't even notice the grind because the world, quests, enemies, environment, atmosphere is great (BL2 and Diable3 as an example). In shitty games like Destiny and The Division the grind is extremely noticeable because their world is an uninspired POS.

that's incredibly reductive. Its easy to dismiss any game if you only look at the basic design structure. The environments in The Division are incredible and by far the game's biggest strength. it has BL2 beat by a mile in that department and you don't get a great sense of this in the beta/demo.

The Division is carried by its visual design and atmosphere. The mechanics that surround it are unremarkable, you are right, but fighting generic enemies while grinding for loot becomes enthralling when it starts snowing and the entire look of the game changes around you while you are fighting. The story missions are varied, well paced and take you to some very neat locations, something you wouldn't get from end-game twitch streams or again the beta. The combat also gains a good amount of depth as you progress as encounters can be fairly challenging and you need to either use cover and your abilities smartly if playing alone or coordinating with team mates to draw/return fire and use abilities. Yea its ridiculous the difficulty comes from enemies who can absorb 1000 bullets but it makes for challenging and exciting gameplay nevertheless.

I personally consider atmosphere and immersion to be some of if not the most important aspects of open world games and The Division is better in that department than any other loot-shooter out there. So no, your opinion on the full game is not as valid or well informed as you seem to think it is.

Do you really expect everyone to buy this game (at full price, no less) even if they didn't like the beta, blindly?

@mems_1224: Oh come on dude! He played the demo and watched twitch.

Excellent points.

Picked it up and i'll probably start tomorrow. Pretty good score... Deponia and Stardew Valley will probably have my attention the most.

Exactly what i've been saying for a while. Each time i say something i dislike about a game, i always get the "lol do you even own the game/console, bruh"... Games are $92CAD from where my ass is at. I ain't buying some generic loot shooter that is worth almost $100 just so i could tell those people that YES, i own the game. But there's better lol. When you do buy a game you critic for its weak points (Destiny in my case), those same people will tell you "if you dislike it so much, why did you buy it"... So if you don't have it, you're not allowed to say anything negative. When you do own the game, its "LOL you're dumb for buying a game you dislike". So wtf do you want!?!?!!?

I never said you should buy it. Im saying your complaints are stupid. You could use that same mindset over every game. You know what you're getting into after 5 minutes with a From Software game. Boring grinding, repeating the same areas over and over, no story, bad gear, etc.

We get it, you don't like Ubisoft. Why are you still talking about the game then? I haven't noticed any grinding in The Division. Too busy exploring the world and having fun with the gameplay. The worlds in BL2 and Diablo are garbage. Those games are all about mindlessly grinding through the same enemies and areas to get gear with higher numbers. The same complaints you have about the Division. I couldn't even tell you what the stupid story in either game was about or remember a single memorable area. The world building in The Division is actually pretty good and there are tons of memorable areas. Even the pointless collectibles all have some sort of interesting bit of story to add to the lore.

The Division has some of the prettiest fog I've seen in a game and Im playing the xbone version. That game has some gorgeous looking areas, especially the main story missions.

@silversix_: True. There will always be those who come at things from both sides, and you can't please everyone.

The way I look at this game is I'd probably enjoy most of it, but I hated the Dark Zone. Given that, I think the game might be worth around $20-$30 to me personally. Just not enough content for single players to justify spending $60 imo.

@mems_1224: Its just volumetric fog, you can have the same in Fallout 4, an ugly ass game.

Its not hard to make a game look like a N64 game. Thats not what I was talking about. GG

This was my issue after the beta. Kept me from buying it. It was fun with friends but just the gameplay seemed shallow. Maybe if it had been more tactical and less spongy and if the AI actually posed a threat. I do not feel like unloading a clip into each enemy..

A fair score overall, I Agree with many of his points except maybe the lack of crouching, doesn't bother me since it is a cover-based shooter, and those mechanics are very well done in this game, simple but effective.

The game has its flaws, but by and large it does so many things well it really surprised me. MAtchmaking is very well done in this game, in fact even though there is an opportunity to matchmake almost anywhere you want, the game does not shove this in your face and you could play solo and have lots of fun there too....but you will feel tempted to matchmake since the option is so well implemented, almost every main mission I played so far has its own matchmaking playlist.

The environments are simply amazing, and I'm really digging the ambient soundtrack as well.

Good score, I'm having fun thus far.

Fallout 4 looks like an N64 game. The Division looks like Watch Dogs. Neither are impressive.

thanks for saving me the trouble

@silversix_Your initial post I responded to implied your opinion was better/more informed than the reviewer that spent 50 hours with the game, after playing the beta and watching some twitch streams. That rubbed me the wrong way. Not buying the game isn't the issue.

Look at it this way, i feel a normal reaction to a game getting good review scores after not enjoying the beta might be "oh, maybe it gets better and the beta wasn't a good representation of the final product." not, "WOW, that reviewer is clearly an idiot because i didn't like the few hours I spent with the beta."

@silversix_: I find it hilarious that you whine about the division and halo 5 being bad games because they have "bad graphics" and then jerk off to Fallout 4 and souls games

anyone else suffer from slow loading textures on the PS4?

any new area I walk into, it takes a good 3-5 seconds for the textures to fully load, it really stands out and can be annoying

I'm pretty sure it's probably an insult at this point to compare someone's game to Destiny in any other way than sales.

wut? Souls series been ugly since forever, you can't change their fuglyness because its FROM. Fallout 4 looks like shit, me liking the game is not saying the graphics are amazing rofl. Halo 5 looks bad for any kind of standards. The Division on the other hand looked like the graphics king and that's not what came out.

ill wait for the complete edition like I did with destiny.

@silversix_: so what you're saying is that bad graphics don't bother you in games you like?

oh but it bothers me a f*ckton. Can't do shit about em but complain which i did about fallout and will always do about the Souls series. If enough people complain about the Souls series looking like something that came out in 2009, MAYBE one day they will upgrade their engine. I did not complain enough about F4, tho. Thanks for mods.

lol the silversix salt.

Anyway I beat all the missions, hit thirty, played darkzone for a while, and really the more I think about it the more it's just a huge 'meh' to me.

Things I liked.

-The art and graphics are really nice. The assets aren't god-tier or anything but for an open world game it looks really good. Especially noteworthy are reflections, lighting, and generally the amount of items cluttering the environments. Every scene is so busy with garbage and snow and papers, it really sets the mood. The snow storms in this game are some of the best I've seen in a game. It runs really clean too, I max it (no depth of field or aberration though) around 1080p 70fps average on my 980ti, though it does very occasionally dip into the 50's, sometimes for no real reason. I assume it's because I haven't installed the drivers yet but I've heard some bad things about the latest set.

-Sound is pretty good. Voice acting is solid, guns and background effects like echoing shots and sirens sound really nice. Enemies are really chatty and have a lot of different lines.

-Lots of guns and options. Probably 5-10 of every type of gun, and 4-5 mods for each. Guns do repeat as you level which is lame, I was hoping maybe you'd get bizarre advanced weapons by the end. Nothing like xcom but maybe a bit of a modern future take on warfare. That only comes up in skills though. RPG stats and skills aren't anything to write home about but they get the job done, there's enough there that a party of 4 can each bring different and interesting builds.

-Gear looks good. There's a lot of types and colors of clothes and equipment you can wear which is nice.

-Core of the gunplay feels nice. Lot of meat and impact to certain weapons, and you can stick scopes on most anything. Ammo and grenade options are great.

-Organic drop in/out multiplayer feels really good. Matchmaking works well and the voice-ip is solid. I like that it sneaks in loads to safehouses and the darkzone and you're always connected but don't have to play together ala dark souls.

-The Dark Zone is a cool concept. It doesn't feel 100% fleshed out but I like the idea that you might have to fight other players who want your goodies, or alternatively you can all work together.

Things I didn't like.

-Mission design is boring as sin. Fight wave of mobs until a spot, press f. Now holdout against waves of enemies that are mad you pressed f. Do this FOREVER AND EVER. Side missions aren't really any better, they all just repeat 5 or 6 designs, all of which revolve around reaching a point past enemies and pressing f. Enemies do change their types and attacks often, but boss fights ultimately amount to a fatty chasing you around and you being unable to take a couple shots, which brings me to my next point...

-Enemy health pools on the high end are stupid. Like crazy stupid. I get that it's an RPG and there's some suspension of disbelief, but it's not even about that. Sometimes in the hardest difficulty it takes hundreds upon hundreds of rounds to the face from all 4 party members to take the enemy forces down after a dozen or so minutes. These aren't elaborate 3 phase boss fights with complex mechanics here, it's just some basic shootouts that lasts for all eternity and it wears seriously thin, especially if you die and have to restart.

-Balance issues. Outside of enemy hp, it's pretty clear that it's intended for multiplayer at all times. Missions even in the open world are way too easy to get overwhelmed or destroyed by when you're soloing, even with good gear. Enemies with shotguns who take way to long to die bum rush and 1 shot you which is total ass. Enemy grenadiers toss grenades 500 at a time to eternally force you out of cover. One boss hacks your turrets without fail, completely invalidating that skill for the entire fight. Why did anyone think that was a good idea?

-Story is a HUGE letdown. After a strong opening I was expecting a very story focused campaign. Instead, everything past getting your base started is half-assed or sidelined to notes and phone conversations. The silent protagonist is out of place. There's a bizarre disconnect between missions and your story, where getting to the right level and doing the mission just means you go in and that part of the story kicks off with no rhyme or reason or buildup or anything. Cutscene dialogues with your base helpers are completely pointless and go nowhere. And the game ends on a fucking cliffhanger that I'm sure they'll finish in a fucking DLC ass-pack.

-Control issues. It simply controls nowhere near the tightness of other cover TPS like Gears of War. Moving in and out of cover can be a pain sometimes, with some unresponsiveness, and some cover that doesn't work right and you can't stick to. The 1 button quick moving Assassin's Creed-ish mechanic doesn't work too well and ends up with you getting stuck on stuff you'd think you could climb down from. The interface is console assotry, with mouse and keyboard clearly the inferior choice for navigating menus. And the radial icon for selecting buffs, ammo, and grenades, with a mouse, is pure cancer.

-Bugs. Nothing gamebreaking or crashing but I did fall through the world several times which is lame. Some loading issues where building exteriors half-load and look cardboard or invisible, cover system being iffy, a graphics bug that was probably is because I didn't update drivers.

-Character customization sucks straight up. 8 faces per gender and only some basic options for hair and accessories, and you can never change it once you finish. That is lame as hell, especially just coming off XCOM 2 which somehow manages more and better options, for disposable suicide troops, and on a far smaller budget.

Verdict

Ultimately I had fun with it, and there's certainly a lot here to like, but there's just too much that frustrated me that now that I'm 30, I have no desire to continue with the game's laughable endgame, which is just to repeat missions on a daily cycle for better equipment. But except for more damage and control, your level 30 uberweapon plays no differently than your other versions, and hardmodes are exactly the same just with more enemy hp. So why would I give a shit?

It's maybe a 6 to me. 4 or 5 while soloing content. If you have friends to play with it might be a 7, but in general it's a lot more fun with other players.

Considering both games almost match their metacritic scores, seems about right.

The Division is UK's biggest ever Q1 launch

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-03-14-the-division-is-uks-biggest-ever-q1-launch

Exactly this. I loved Destiny but Division does it better at the grinding gear stuff.

I was actually shocked at the score. I thought it would get a 6 like Destiny did because of the repetitive side missions.

Been playing with Wasdie and about 3 hours in.

I've had an okay time, mostly just shooting the shit with Wasdie to get through stuff, and yeah it does look pretty (though I toned things down to get 1080p at locked 60 faps on my 970), but and I'll skip the usual loot game complaints (because loot games), but the setting being as strict about maintaining a level of plausibility means that the loot is a series of find the greatest Ak47 of all time, and that's just not as interesting as say, and trust me I detest this game (didn't play The Taken King): Destiny, where at least it being space guns meant that you would get some cool shit.

Otherwise the moment to moment gameplay is fine. It's not particularly interesting, it's not particularly broken. It's some vanilla cover shooter stuff. I just opened up my security, medical, and that other wing. I'm interested to see how building your base of operations plays into your character builds.

@with_teeth26: you think immersion has the most impact on a game? Funny considering you can remove immersion entirely and still have a game, however, you cannot remove gameplay entirely and still have a game hence why gameplay is exponentially more important. It's not reductive, it's logic and your statement is weak rhetoric.

@primorandomguy: Does you trust any reveiw from anyone ? Do you think watching on like youtube etc good enough? (Not a sarcaz question)

If you do respect any ? Which site ? Or reviewers

@Livecommander: Nah it's nothing against this site or reviewers. In fact I give review scores a lot of weight when it comes to my purchases, I just don't trust reviewers with Ubisoft games. Especially after Watch Dogs and Far Cry 4 reviews. They got so stale.

@primorandomguy:

I feel ya.

Thing about this site is you dont know when a 8 is was what more accurately would have been a 7.6 or a 8.4

Pretty watch dogs was more towards a 7.7 lol which is only consider the beast hype it had.

you are twisting my words and missing the crux of my argument. I said immersion is the most important aspect for open world games,and that such a game with good immersion/atmosphere can get away with average gameplay mechanics and still be considered great by many. Not saying that you don't need any gameplay.

That is why so many people (myself included) prefer playing something like Fallout or Skyrim to MGS V. MGS V's mechanics are lightyears ahead of Fallout or Skyrims, but the world is insanely dull and atmosphere/immersion suffers as a result.

obviously some gamers are more mechanically oriented and will give more importance to gameplay, and these people would probably prefer MGS V. but you can't isolate one aspect of a game and judge the entire game based on that.

Sorry about deleting the rest of your post, but simply bolding this part, deleted this part because **** gamespot.

Anyway I think that's where his actual beef is in just your wording, semantics and all, but centrally that it's most important, and even that a genre changes. That and I'm now I'm going to bitch that mechanics=/=gameplay. Mechanics are one part of said gameplay, but that's neither here nor there. Otherwise I really don't understand why this discussion needed to go any further than silversix hasn't even played the game.

it was fun watching him squirm and I had time to kill.

You are right I probably shouldn't use gameplay and mechanics interchangeably but I think the gist of what I'm saying should still come through

Yeah fair enough, I only brought it up, because I would argue your description speaks volumes to how the gameplay is improved thanks to the immersion: the snow, the pacing, how the story missions mix it up, the overall feel of playing it.

Ubisoft is a special brand of shit that is not worthy of a single defense when they do anything incorrectly, but too easily games are reduced to what they do superficially, and in general people still break down games in a piece by piece by piece thing. The composition formed by the parts is what really makes it all work. In this instance or an instance like Rainbow Six Siege, the composition isn't shit. There seems to be a better thought out structure to the game than the usual brand of checklist fodder in AssCreed, not to say The Division doesn't give a checklist vibe either, but the different wings, the way the perks and talents work, the mods on top of mods do seem to indicate some systems on top of systems styled gameplay.

Even if it's a loot game.

@Livecommander: I'd give it a 6. Far cry 4 same score. I'm just tired of open world Ubisoft games, but it seems like the Division may be decent, I'm hearing a lot of good things.

Its actually a really good example. It does it better then any other loot based shooter including borderlands and destiny. The drop rates are good, getting to max level isn't a major chore, we are getting free content updates (you can already see an incursion on the map) you can hit 30 w/o having to do everything. They are adding in player trading (something destiny didn't allow for some reason) There are enough builds to have a good squad using them right. The dark zone is well done, and I don't mind it in place of a traditional PvP which wouldn't work in this game, (and didn't work in destiny)

Alright , Jeff gave it 4/5.

http://www.giantbomb.com/reviews/tom-clancys-the-division-review/1900-738/

The Division is great, hands down.

The side content is too repetitive, but The Division's main content and exciting multiplayer component stand out and make this thing worth seeing, provided you've got some like-minded friends around.