The Division - A late to the party review, by DeathLovesLife

[BSKkayfabe]

I first want to start off by saying I've missed out on this game for a couple years due to simply that "DELTA-1-200" error. Well I've just recently been able to bypass the error and have begun my foree into the world of, "The Division". The first thing that struck me was the character customization. The clever way it brings you into the customizer i.e. the reflection in the snow covered window on the divers side of a New York City police cruiser. I then spent a few moments recreating my exact character model from, "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands". It made me feel great that i could give my character a life outside of Bolivia and bring him to New York. It gave me this giddy feeling that i could make my character span several games essentially (the same hair and facial hair) and be this grisled military guy whos taken down a large drug cartel and who is now tasked with helping to find a cure for a deadly virus. I have to admit I'm only a sliver into the game so far, but from what I've played, i love it. The atmosphere is what gets me the most, i love games that take place in the winter. When i walk the streets of New York while the snow is falling, i get a very real sense of emotion for some reason (maybe it's just me) but, it makes me very at ease and calm to walk about. I love how the city feels alive and dead at the same time, people are Walking about trying to survive but then again the streets are abandoned sometimes. I feel amazing when i help a random citizen by giving them a candy bar or energy drink, i love small things like that cause I'm weird lol. If i had one gripe so far, it'd be with the other players. It makes me Kinda sad when i see a group of players but no one's moving or no one seems to be socializing (everyone just seems to run around by themselves, so much so that it makes me feel alone even when they're around, almost like NPC's. Id like it more If people were keen to interact or even tag along, create a friendship or something. Other than that, stay tuned for a more in depth review in coming weeks.

[TheYuriG]

The Division has been my major gaming investment in the past weeks, as I've gotten addicted to the in-game achievement system and recently reached 4k commendation score (max is 5365 iirc).

 

Although I do enjoy the game most of the time, I have a serious grip about with the complete gameplay difference between the pre 30 and the post 30. Game is very cover based, tactical shooter before you hit max level and then after... it's facetanking town. I don't have a problem with either model, I just wish the game was entirely one of them. Starting a second character for the dailies after having a maxed character was a really slow, boring, frustrating experience.

 

You mentioned the lack of interaction between players. My experience is a bit different, me and players usually emote at each other pretty often on the back of the Base Of Operations. The Terminal, as it's called, is the major hub of the game post 30 as you can go anywhere and do whatever you need there. By aiming at another player and pressing the right stick, you can send them invites to join you and whatnot. At the back end of the terminal is also possible to use a laptop to matchmake. I'm assuming you didn't reach 30 yet as you don't seem to have interacted enough or matchmade with others too much so far. Matchmaking in this game is amazing as well, love it.

[BSKkayfabe]

@TheYuriG I've taken what you've said into consideration and appreciate your feedback, I'm only level 8 right now as i only started playing last night. 

[Guest]

I only played the beta demo way back. My only grip then that killed The Division for me was that game in-game graphics had a hazy fuzzy texture or grain film or something during the testing. Over the years my eyes had worsen so its probably just me but other games seems fine. But yeah that sorta blur or motion effect really kill the game or my interest for it. Now, is it still like that? Do you know what im saying. Is there 4k support? I thinking maybe give it a real try and buy the game on a sale. Over the years ive seen it drop considerably well.

Edited September 20, 2018 by ERGOPROXY-DECAY

[angelgrievous]

I tried playing it after Ghost Recon: Wildlands and found that it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.  I'm still going to jump back in a finish it, hopefully It'll stick a bit more this time but overall I found Wildlands to be the better of the two.  

[VeritableLemon]

My one issue with the Division was the grind for level 30. After finishing the story missions, I was about level 26, and replaying story missions gives you almost no XP, so I found myself slowly grinding away in repetitive side missions and story missions to finally hit max level, which is what a majority of the "fun" endgame content is locked behind (Tier missions, all the DLC content, and high-level Dark Zone). After I hit level 30, the time it took me to become (almost) max gear level was only a few hours.

 

I never hit max gear level (obviously that would've taken much more time), but I do wish that the game at least rewarded replaying story missions with a little more XP to make the grind to endgame faster. After beating story missions, all I found that was left to do was do the incredibly-repetitive side missions or replay story (Dark Zone never contributed to your Player XP, only your Dark Zone rank, so I won't be counting that as an activity because it is somewhat separate).

 

I'll wait on the Division 2, but the Division was still definitely an incredibly fun game that I enjoyed playing through with randoms. I hope the 2nd one strives to vary missions and hold my interest after I've cleared the story, but haven't reached the endgame yet. New York City was still made incredibly, and while you do collect some XP from collectibles, it's pretty minimal. There definitely was some emphasis put into exploration, but I hope the 2nd one puts an even larger emphasis on exploration because the game world (at least from the original) was stunning in its attention to detail.

[Guest]

Ok so i notice its on sale atm for 15$ if no want season pass and everything. Do you think the gold edition for $27 is worth it? I dont get much about the gear set they give but it the 3 dlc expansions is it worth the extra 12$? 

 

edit: NVM, went ahead and bought the physical standard game for $7 from ebay. lol

Edited September 23, 2018 by ERGOPROXY-DECAY

[BSKkayfabe]

Honestly you can't go wrong with either. It's a fun little experience either way. I'm happy you got it cheaper on ebay lol