#1

I think this looks really good, downloaded the open beta but failed to actually play it when it was available. Looks like gears of war mixed with GTA with an engine like crysis's

think we should check it out for a 4 way co-op...

#2

Yeah this one has been on my wishlist for a while, was waiting for reviews before I went ahead and bought it though.

#3

yeah, wish i'd played the 25gb of open beta I downloaded!

I liked that dying light too, but it seemed we lost interest with that all too quickly. I think the locale, and the tech bias/world epidemic theme will be better with this though, but yea, might have pressed the button when it was £20 on instant gaming, but now it's going up closer to release I might wait for the first reviews too. 

#4

Indeed. I heard about this being very co-op focused and it grabbed my attention. I will be keeping an eye on it post release. A shame you never played the beta, it would have been nice to know what it was like.

#5

Heads-up on the initial thoughts I have seen in reviews so far (there is an awful lot of negativity about this game so far - check the Steam rating):

Pros
- Lots to do and explore
- Cover mechanics are good
- It looks pretty
- ...infact, most of the positive reviews don't say what is good about it, so I am at a loss here

Cons
- Very grindy
- Bland and boring missions
- Repetitive
- It's pretty much an MMO
- Uplay
- "Spongy" gun mechanics (very unrealistic. e.g. 4 headshots sometimes do not take out an enemy)
- Crap AI

If anyone finds out more, do tell.

Last edited 9 Mar 2016 at 14:55.

#7

Chap I work with bought it on day one, said it was like mass effect and gears of war gameplay. He did mention there was a 'grindy' part of it, thought likened a lot of the missions to the borderlands side missions - you were aware they were filler to the story, and the reward was 'only' loot, though were still fun.

Don't know, there's some reviews that suggest there's some mediocre points to it, and the points come up from the link you posted, though also some overall fairly good reviews - see below:

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-division-review-in-progress-update/1100-6435444/

http://www.gamesradar.com/tom-clancys-division-review/

I've signed up on http://www.instant-gaming.com for notification of when it's back in stock, it's currently there for £33, I'm not paying steam prices (currently AAA release value £40)

thoughts?

#8

Not quite convinced yet... I will wait for the hype/anger-train to die down a bit before taking a second look at it. In all honesty I really don't like the sound of the "grind" and the repetitiveness.

#9

PC Gamer finally reviewed it. Not looking too hot, I must say.

Some points of interest (although I highly reccommend you read the whole thing):

- diminished by bloated and unnecessary RPG tropes
- the vast majority of my time in The Division was spent sprinting between abstract world map icons,
- completing shallow side missions for incremental loot snacks (empty calories)
- firing entire ammo reserves into soldiers whose superhuman health bars would be hearty enough to feed a family.
- 22 hours of filler [content] (out of the 30 hours the guy played)
- All it took was one teammate a few levels higher than our own to turn a balanced combat experience into their own personal shooting gallery.

Last edited 18 Mar 2016 at 09:01.

#10

That doesn't sound very good shame

#11

Yeah, it's a difficult one to call - opinion seems quite divided on it (unintended pun). I think one thing is for sure: it's a flawed game. Whether or not its flaws would bother you enough to not enjoy it, I don't know. What I do know is that I am sick to death of the "MMO flavour" (the grind, the boring filler content etc.) and it seems this game is chock full of the shit (plus it seems to have picked up some other issues along the way).

On the flip-side, G-Man seems to think it was okay (as did James/John at my work). Although I am not really sure about James, since he has liked some absolute stinkers. It's pricey for a game you may not like as well. If it was £15 I might give it a go, but £30-40 is a lot to ask for something that I may play for an hour and hate.

#12

so, I've sunk about 35h in the game to date, so far, I'm really enjoying it.

The guy I work with, Rob probably summed it up best: the loot system from diablo/torchlight, gunplay like mass effect with cover to cover like gear of war

if either of you (Jim/Meg) have played army of two it certainly reminded me of that


- diminished by bloated and unnecessary RPG tropes

well, it is an action RPG, some points to the skills/stats were a little beyond me and I'm only just understanding now


- the vast majority of my time in The Division was spent sprinting between abstract world map icons,

The map is big, and gives you a sense of this by needing to travel, though as you move from district to district you unlock safe houses which you can fast travel to, along with completed main mission areas


- completing shallow side missions for incremental loot snacks (empty calories)

Yup. side quests can be a bit samey, and they are for loot, but so many types of loot which all have stats, weapons etc. think just like borderlands but a bit more depth to the selection of kit available -


- firing entire ammo reserves into soldiers whose superhuman health bars would be hearty enough to feed a family.

well, yeah, this too but it's kinda part of the game, you'll chew through lower level enemies if you go back to earlier districts, provided your kit is top notch you'll do ok against level matched enemies, but if you take on higher ranked enemies in higher ranked districts, you'll really, really have your work cut out for you. If you're expecting it to play out like COD then you will be disappointed by the amount of punishment enemies take, but it's part of the charm - you have to work together exchanging taking the heat (aggro ) for laying down fire, you're forced to use tactics and the environment to overcome the enemy as they'll flatten you otherwise, and are great for flushing you out with grenades if you try to turtle.
speaking of grenades, another point it really pushes you to be tactical - you get loads of different types, fairly readily too from safe houses/loot containers/dead soldiers which further pushes you to stop being so sparing with them


- 22 hours of filler [content] (out of the 30 hours the guy played)

there is a lot, and side missions just keep popping up, but I never push to run the gauntlet and finish the story outright - I play online with the community which is brilliant btw, and everyone wants to play the main story missions which means I've probably progressed faster than I would have done on my own, but according to the stats I'm still about 60% of the way through the story.
Another cool thing is desite it being a co-op for the mission side of things, there's multiple districts of 'dark zone' an area where there's better gear, but it's PvP, well, team v team - you can seamlessly join a team
and go in to loot the world, yet have to face real players rather than NPCs.
And the seamless multiplayer truly is - when playing solo, it's only when you enter a safe house other players appear, you bump shoulders with everyone else refilling ammo, buying upgrades, looking at the available mission list etc. and at every house there's a matchmaking terminal that will match you eith for a mission or 'free roam' or dark zone - for all it attempts to match the same level players, and if you've not completed the mission before, it will attempt to put you with other players that haven't played/completed that mission before to try to keep the balance

- All it took was one teammate a few levels higher than our own to turn a balanced combat experience into their own personal shooting gallery.

generally, unless you invite a high tiered player into your group, you're never much further than a couple levels from each other, and the game adapts to throw more enemies of higher level at you to really keep you on your toes, the only time it's a shooting gallery is going back to the start of the game with a big group of you, akin to any game of level system.

I've played all the missions on hard so far, which can be frustrating, but you get better rewards, and I think the better experience avoiding the fish in barrel issue.


All in all, I wasn't expecting much from the reviews, but have been really pleasantly surprised by this game. I think it would be great for us to play as a four player, but I don't know if some of the damning reviews have already put people off :-s 

#13

Interesting counter argument to the criticisms there. I am game to give it a go when the price drops a bit.

#14

Certainly sounds like you are enjoying it. And 35 hours already! Blimey.

Let's turn this into a Q&A - since you seem to have played it a fair bit now - and I still have reservations.

1. How will it work with 4 of us playing - with regards to level adjustments (some people playing more than others etc.). I.e. Can we have a co-op character that we only ever touch when we are all on. I am thinking of you and Meg here (you have already spent a lot of time in it and Meg plays 24/7).

2. The loot. the arguments you make are at odds with everything I have heard up to this point. I have heard the loot is nothing but a number that goes up - the weapons are all the same (better versions of a weapon-type, that is) and do absolutely nothing to enhance the game/change the way you play. I think this was one of those RPG systems that so many players say simply does NOT work (that it is nothing like Diablo and Torchlight - those games actually had decent loot).
So, how much truth is there to this?

3. Is loot instanced or shared?

4. How much of this have you played co-op so far? I have a feeling we will just get bored stiff with all the boring "quests". One thing I hated about Borderlands was the repetitive boring "fetch" quests - and the sheer amount of time you spent running to an objective.

5. How much of the game is decent story levels compared to generic quests?

6. Is it an MMO?

7. Is it going to be a DLC-fest, like Payday? Does it have microtransactions?

8. What is the level-up process like? Do you have many active skills that alter play-style or is it just stat (boring) based, with no real progress other than rudimentary numbers?

9. Is there different classes?

10. Do you have to wait in queues to log in/do missions etc (like an MMO)?

11. Can you establish a party and not see random Joes (the public is something I would ideally want to avoid - and just play with you guys)?

I am in the same boat as Greg, I think. There are simply too many bad things I have heard about it to spend 30-40 squid on it. Wait for a sale or something, then we might even be able to get it in a 4-pack and save more dollar.

Last edited 22 Mar 2016 at 08:44.

#15

OMG Kilroy, ok, I will answer as best as I can the points you raise...

1. yes, just like the pre sequel, we can create multiple characters so we can play solo/online with one, 4p co-op fridays with the other

2. weapons wise, you do see them reappear at higher levels although there's is a bit more to that - whilst the weapon itself reappears, there are 4 levels of rarity which dictate the level of the buffs the weapon gets and how many, this is much like borderlands. On top of that, most weapons can be modded with a sight, mag, barrel, grip etc. and these all have levels of rarity and allow you to customize what you want to use the weapon for. Overall it's not as varied or randomized as borderlands, but enough so far it hasn't felt tiring. You can also find and be rewarded blueprints to make a weapon you want to use, though this takes crafting materials which you can either find or create from breaking down unused mods/weapons etc.

3. I believe the loot you get is shared, regardless of who finds it, the item is left for you, and likewise, drops are managed - sometimes you'll wonder why people didn't pick up that super rare item, only to realise they didn't get it

4. well, most of the side quest/missions are along the lines of assault the stronghold/rescue hostages/recover and protect supplies/take out murderer/investigate missing person etc. there's no actual 'now collect 4 beers' now kill 3 etc. etc. at the same time, it's a more serious clancy game so lacks some of the complete off the wall ridiculous nature of borderlands missions. but I guess, if borderlands bored you, maybe this would too! though I would add, it's a bit more of a tactical shooter, if that makes any difference..

5. There are a lot of side missions, some give you resources to rebuild the HQ, the main story missions give you more and advance the story. I'd say there are 1 or 2 main missions per district, I've been through about 6-7. side quest wise, probably around 10 per district. They don't just populate on the map though, sometimes you'll discover them from job boards etc. in other districts, so it doesn't feel quite so much that you're just ploughing through them and ticking them off

6. don't think so, combat plays like mass effect, you have main weapons, grenades etc. but also a couple of skill powers - health pack gun, remote homing mines, sentry gun, bulletproof shields etc. that you can draw on

7. seems to be more rounded, i think there is DLC - season pass etc. but nothing like payday - grenades come as standard!

8. err, yeah, the latter - numbers increase, you get access to higher tiered weapons and tech but the active skills are only gained through getting supplies by completing missions to unlock the areas of the HQ where you're based

9. nope, just a few faces, male/female doesn't seem to make any difference!

10. no, completely seamless - one second you're doing your own thing, the next you hit matchmaking after selecting a mission and you either manage or join a team

11. you can invite friends or use the random matchmaking function. 4 per team, they're not open so will only have people join if the party leader chooses to do that

yeah, its fair enough, it's reception has been pretty luke warm. I got it for £29 key only, I'd imagine it will fall fairly quickly, maybe multipacks etc. will be available!

#16

Wow, thanks for the in-depth insight there G-Man. I did Kilroy it up some there, but they were all points I had heard conflicting things about. Maybe this is indeed worth a punt.

I suppose it all comes down to what we all want to be playing right now. As it stands, it sounds like this game is a co-op playing game more than a single-playing game - so I may very well never play it on my own. If we haven't got all 4 of us on-board it therefore might not be worthwhile.

In any event, you have certainly answered some of the questions and doubts I had about it (for good or ill). I like the general sound/premise of the game (and did back when it was first announced).

A real shame it's so bleeding expensive. If the price was lower I probably would have just thrown caution to the wind and bought it.

#17

I like the sound of it from a multiplayer standpoint, as Jeg says if we are all on-board should be fun.

I would get it now but I am still skint so my hand is sort of forced to wait until it falls in price.

#18

Even though Instant Gaming is a little cheaper - I still have some left-over money on my Steam account. Not to mention I would rather get it on Steam to keep all my stuff "together" anyway.

As such, I could get it now if were so inclined.

Thing is, we also have Red Solstice to try out with all of us too.

#19

Red Solstice would be on my list first, mainly because it is cheap.

#20

Well, for good or ill I bought it. Let's hope the G-Man is right about the game. I had almost got to the point where I had talked myself out of buying it.