Tom Clancy's "The Division" Initial Impressions

[Guest RET.1SG.Draven=US=]

Tom Clancy’s “The Division” BETA

First Impressions

 

With any new title, there is (and always will be) a slight learning curve. However steep it may appear, Tom Clancy’s “The Division” BETA has such an User Interface, but nothing that isn’t lacking in ingenuity and intelligence – it appears as if each function is in its precise, pre-ordained place where its meant to be.

 

It’s as if Destiny had a child with Siege and a love affair of BF4 mixed in. I feel like I should be hiding from fire, but instead I find myself trading the concentration of bullets between myself and the poor saps who just happened to be my partners. But it all works. And in the several hours I have already spent meddling around in the newest TC classic, I never once had my loot stolen – I never once even died, and that was on the hardest difficulty setting for each encounter. This is a 3P RPG/Shooter with elements of the “open world” theme, mixed in with the unsettling apocalyptic theme we are all-too-familiar with.

 

So what part is Destiny, one might ask? Simple – the RPG aspect, of course. The open-world feeling. The never-ending pursuit of “loot” items (or quest items, depending on which game we are playing).

Siege? Strategy. Close-quarters, in-your-face combat. Sticking with your fire team, or else you run the risk of the city eating you alive. Yeah, it’s Siege alright, only with the ENTIRE CITY of New York as the map.

BF4? Sure. The “anything can happen, and will happen” in combat, comparison. And the vaulting mechanics, very fluid and realistic. BF4 had its moments of pure anarchy, as I am sure that Division will as well. Combat is a real as it gets. You have snipers trying to pick you off from high atop ledges, to ground troops rushing you with assault rifles and bats – and then even hurl grenades at you, so there is no place you can take cover for long. You must fight to win and survive, especially if you haven’t made it back to your base so you can store your loot. Die…and you run the risk of losing everything you have looted up to that point.

 

The only thing I see the game is missing is the use of vehicles or stationary weapons – because even in Near-Apocalyptic-New York, surely factions would be fighting for control sectors all over the city. And even in the beginning of the game, it is stated “we are going to win NY back”. Ok, then, where are the gangs? Shouldn’t the city be one big gang war? With factions fighting neighboring factions for resources and more territory? I didn’t see or feel like this was a real focus for the game, however, I did only play a few hours of the Beta. This is something FC4 did really well, and I believe TC missed the boat if this was left out here.

 

How “open world” is it really? Is each session unique? How many players will be fighting over my version of NYC? 30? 60? 1,000? I would really like to know…because there’s a definite number of players in GTAV at any given point, and on each version of the city.

 

Overall, the gameplay is amazing. The graphics are second-to-none, even if they were “scaled down” according to reports, to accommodate the console-nation. Either way, they did the Master Race a justice by providing several things to make this game truly realistic and immersive – and optimized.

 

And I haven’t even been to the Dark Zone…yet.

 

Again, these are only my thoughts and first impressions. From just a few hours behind the wheel of this one, I for one can tell you not only am I interested and going to pre-order, but this game is one I have been waiting for, for a very long time!

[Guest L1ght]

"The graphics are second-to-none, even if they were “scaled down” according to reports, to accommodate the console-nation."

 

SSG, just a clarification of the news post that stated that, the graphics were scaled down, yes, from the trailers at E3 over the years, but it wasn't to the scale of the XBONE, nor for the sake of the consoles, so the PC version should have much better graphics.

 

I will give Ubisoft credit for that at least.

 

Although, im still a bit skeptical of the endgame. I really want this game to do well.

[Guest Black]

I heard the destiny reference with Rainbow six. Now I want this game.

[Guest LCpl.StayDown64=US=]

Thanks for taking the time to provide this thoughtful beta review, SSG. Sounds like this game has lots of potential. But from your review and other youtube videos, I'm not completely convinced that it's going to have the depth to keep me interested for a long time, ala BF4.

I'm looking forward to your after-release review. :-)

[Guest RET.1SG.Draven=US=]

Thanks for taking the time to provide this thoughtful beta review, SSG. Sounds like this game has lots of potential. But from your review and other youtube videos, I'm not completely convinced that it's going to have the depth to keep me interested for a long time, ala BF4.

I'm looking forward to your after-release review. :-)

 

Roger that PFC. I am planning on putting together a full after-release review of the game when it launches next month. I will probably be streaming this, so the review will be live :)