VIDEO GAMES: Tom Clancy's THE DIVISION BETA Review
The Division BETA test is in the books and we have a few things to say about the latest exciting installment of the Tom Clancy video game series! Hit the jump and check out the review, the Customization Footage and The full "Madison Field Hospital" Mission.
There is no doubt that The Division Beta had its ups and downs... just like any other BETA test. Over the past few days a few of us got the opportunityto play the BETA and complete most everything in it. There are a lot of intruiging aspects of the game that should get gamers excited for launch day, however, there are a few red flags that if not fixed, could stray people away from the game. Read on and take a look at our compiled thoughts.
Weapon Customization: The customization is the first thing that most of us noticed when we first started playing. There was a bunch of rumors that The Division would mimic Bungie's Destiny, but there are only a few similarities. I'd even go to say that The Division delivers where Destiny fails. Both games have a loot system that drops different rarities or tiers of weapons and armor. Customization is also where The Division separates itself from Destiny. Not only does each weapon have different tiers of rarity, but the add ons (scopes, skins, underbarrel, muzzel, and magazine) also have different tier levels and stats that a player can use to customize the way they play. For example, a scope can increase headshot damage, increase weapon range and increase othe stats as well. There is a lot of variety in weapon customization. Even the one skin that dropped for us made the weapons look awesome. There are also armor mods, but those weren't available in the BETA. Compared to Destiny, The weapon customization inDivision is everything Destiny is not even though you can't really compare the two games. As an avid Destiny player this is what i want in Destiny so, so bad!
Skill Customization: The skill tree, altough very limited in the BETA, has a lot to offer players who want to customize the game to their own style of gameplay. There are a lot of different abilities that can be used during the game, however, players will only be able to use three at a time. Without the full game, it is hard to tell the exact impact the abilities have.These abilities were very useful to us rogue agents in the dark zone and will be pivotol to survival in the DZ
Open World (Non-PVP): This is where the red flags come up, but we will start with the good part. The BETA started by having you clear your safe zone or home base in a certain area. Reports suggest there will be multiple safe zones in the game which is nice compared Destiny's safe zones. There are medical, technology and military areasthat provide perks during the game. In the BETA, however, there was just one medical mission seen below and a few side missions. We never got to see what the other areas had to offer. Each "main" mission can be replayed with your buddies at harder difficulties, but it falls short of other "instance" type modes from other games.
In our quest to achieve level 8 we found that enemy density in the normal world was awful. Finding extra side quests to do was even worse at times because you wouldn' t know where to look in the big open world. When we weren't doing side quests we'd roam the streets only to find one or two enemies scattered about. The A.I. enemies are not very intelligent, most of the time they're in plain sight or charge at you. As long as you use cover, you are safe. The result of labor was a very cleared area with nothing to do and we were still level 7. Sure the side missions kind of fun, but lacked depth to them. Overall, if the normal game is like this people will get burned out and the game will be replaced by other games. The good news is that it is an easy fix. Random side missions that pop up and enemies moving on key utilitlies (power, water etc) would be a nice touch in a post apocalypic New York.
The Dark Zone: This is where the game has high highs and low lows. Let it be known if the Dark Zone remains how it was in the BETA, solo play will be discouraged. Rogue agents (achieved by killing other players) can easily pick you off when they know you are solo. The Dark Zone is a place where PVPVE takes place. While in the DZ players can kill other agents or A.I. enemies to earn Dark Zone Cash to purchase items. Loot also drop while in the DZ, but there is a catch. The items are contaminated and must be take to an evact zone and put on a helicopter for cleaning. This hot zone for potential"rogue" agents. The CBM and Gamefragger team pulled a lot of "D-BAG" moves on poor helpless people trying to get their contaminated items on the helicopter. Rogue agents wait till there is a big group of people around the helicopter then grenade the crap out of everyone and then they take all the loot. Yes, solo play isn't the most fun, but being in a group and going rogue is the best part of the game.
The PVP also has tiers that prevent you from playing with friends. We got one of our members up to level 8 so we could have a bit of an advantage, but that member was barred from playing with the rest of the group because they had a achieved a higher PVP level. That player got bored and quit because solo play is a lot harder in the DZ
Story & Endgame: Other than the one mission there really wasn't a story at all, but that will change when the game comes out. It will also be interesting to see how everything comes together for the endgame. The story has a lot of potential, but could be overshadowed by cumbersome and uneventful missions and sidemissions.
About Tom Clancy's The Division: A devastating pandemic sweeps through New York City, and one by one, basic services fail. In only days, without food or water, society collapses into chaos. The Division, a classified unit of self-supported tactical agents, is activated. Leading seemingly ordinary lives among us, The Division agents are trained to operate independently of command, as all else fails. Fighting to prevent the fall of society, the agents will find themselves caught up in an epic conspiracy, forced to combat not only the effects of a manmade virus, but also the rising threat of those behind it. When everything collapses, your mission begins.