The Division - Tom Clancy Presents Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's The Division, By Ubisoft

[Badfinger]

My approach has been to save the repetitive side stuff for when I'm just roaming around by myself (usually while listening to podcasts). Then I can save the meatier missions for when I'm grouped up with friends. So far it's been really great.

 

Except for that time when two of my group members who had just finished the tutorial thought it was a great idea to set a level 8 mission to hard mode our first time through. That did not go well for us.

 

It sounds extremely challenging! Agreed, do missions with people. Trawl the world on your own time. This game is gonna take at least 25+ hours to hit max level even if all you're doing is trying to maximize exp gain.

 

There's been a lot of cross talk about how the enemies are "bullet sponges". If they are taking 20 seconds to down at-level, you need to upgrade your gear. In level appropriate duds, I can down 2-3 enemies per magazine out in the world. The normal enemies are easy. The purple enemies can definitely be taken down quickly. It's the elites that are rough. And they ARE rough. One of the things I liked about the missions is that the "boss" fights aren't just literally a single man standing there giving it to you. It's multiple enemies, lots of environmental stuff in play, verticality, stuff like that.

 

Holy shit the pyrotechnic show when 4 people in a group pop their skills to start an engagement, too. It's really awesome. Matchmaking has been a breeze too. THe only hiccup is if you don't go to the physical location to queue you might get dropped into the middle of someone's mission.

[prettyunsmart]

There's been a lot of cross talk about how the enemies are "bullet sponges". If they are taking 20 seconds to down at-level, you need to upgrade your gear. In level appropriate duds, I can down 2-3 enemies per magazine out in the world. The normal enemies are easy. The purple enemies can definitely be taken down quickly. It's the elites that are rough. And they ARE rough. One of the things I liked about the missions is that the "boss" fights aren't just literally a single man standing there giving it to you. It's multiple enemies, lots of environmental stuff in play, verticality, stuff like that.

 

I like that boss fights can break down into a big bad and a bunch of little guys, but I'm a bit disappointed that many of the big bads seem to be pretty similar. And most obnoxiously, many of them seem to be built on the "large flamethrower man" model, just with varying degrees of health. The encounters and the environments vary enough, it's just kind of underwhelming that there isn't much uniqueness to each boss character.

[Badfinger]

I like that boss fights can break down into a big bad and a bunch of little guys, but I'm a bit disappointed that many of the big bads seem to be pretty similar. And most obnoxiously, many of them seem to be built on the "large flamethrower man" model, just with varying degrees of health. The encounters and the environments vary enough, it's just kind of underwhelming that there isn't much uniqueness to each boss character.

 

That will change. I'm not saying it's an incredible menagerie of unique bosses, but it's not just flamethrower mans from here to infinity. There's variety, especially across factions.

 

I mean, I'm not saying, just saying - I killed a helicopter and it literally rained purple gear across the entire level.

[Wrestlevania]

I'm playing on PC and really enjoying it so far. Add me!

 

n.b. I've just swept everyone I know on Steam into uPlay automagically, which is a smart feature (shocking for uPlay, I know).

[juv3nal]

Quak0r on ÜPlay if you need someone to roll with in EU timezones.

 

I'm 20 now and expect to hit 30 by the Sunday.

 

waaaay behind you in level, but also I'm on ps4. I mean I am only presuming that everyone listing uplay ids is because they're on pc, that's the case, right?

[Quak0r]

Yes, i think so.

[Dewar]

I guess whatever patch the rolled out Wednesday night (with no in-game patch warning or anything, the server just went down) fixed the dark zone. The sheer number of NPCs that come at you when you signal for extraction is crazy. It was getting to the point that two teams of us were basically in eternal extraction. Since there are only 4 hangers on each rope, 2/3rds of us would be able to extract on the first call, so then we'd have to call a second time. By the time that second time finished, there was enough loot on the ground for the first group to need to extract again. I guess I expected other players would be the big hazard for extraction.

[njoos]

I'm nj00s on uplay. I'm probably up for playing with people.  Add me if you want.

[Badfinger]

I had a momentary twinge of concern that once I hit 30 there wouldn't be anything left, but roaming the north of the Dark Zone last night completely allayed those doubts. It is scary and brutal even without other teams of players.

[prettyunsmart]

I had a momentary twinge of concern that once I hit 30 there wouldn't be anything left, but roaming the north of the Dark Zone last night completely allayed those doubts. It is scary and brutal even without other teams of players.

 

That is good to hear. I had been feeling like the game was mostly alright as I was playing it as a co-op shooter with some friends. But once I got into the Dark Zone, it really started to grab me. I wandered around for a while with an IRL friend and Dewar and it was pretty great. We ended up teaming up with another group and even got to fight a couple of over confident rogues.

[Dewar]

That is good to hear. I had been feeling like the game was mostly alright as I was playing it as a co-op shooter with some friends. But once I got into the Dark Zone, it really started to grab me. I wandered around for a while with an IRL friend and Dewar and it was pretty great. We ended up teaming up with another group and even got to fight a couple of over confident rogues.

 

Repeatedly. I wish that there was some way to prevent respawn attacks. I was both the aggressor and the aggressee and it didn't feel good either way. 

[prettyunsmart]

Repeatedly. I wish that there was some way to prevent respawn attacks. I was both the aggressor and the aggressee and it didn't feel good either way. 

 

Yeah, the fact that you can trap someone at the exit by attacking them sucks too.

[Wrestlevania]

I still haven't risked the Dark Zone yet, definitely want to try that with a few Thumbs though.

 

I'm also playing on PC, but am taking my time with it. Just hit level 13 after about 9hrs of play--am in no hurry to rush through to the end game.

[YoThatLimp]

I still haven't risked the Dark Zone yet, definitely want to try that with a few Thumbs though.

 

I'm also playing on PC, but am taking my time with it. Just hit level 13 after about 9hrs of play--am in no hurry to rush through to the end game.

 

Let's group up before you hit 15 and hit up the Dark Zone, I think there is a cutoff after 14 where you are grouped with a higher tier of player. 

[Wrestlevania]

Let's group up before you hit 15 and hit up the Dark Zone, I think there is a cutoff after 14 where you are grouped with a higher tier of player. 

 

Sounds good! I'm on usually in the evenings, from about 8pm GMT. Will keep an eye out for you.

[YoThatLimp]

Sounds good! I'm on usually in the evenings, from about 8pm GMT. Will keep an eye out for you.

Nice! I'll be on later today, I just bought a new headset as my mic was not cutting it!

[Griddlelol]

Odd question: is this game good? Or is it 3rd person Destiny? 

[Wrestlevania]

Odd question: is this game good? Or is it 3rd person Destiny?

 

The Guardian has just published an interesting (early) review that sums up my feelings and experiences so far (my lack of excursions into the Dark Zone notwithstanding).

[prettyunsmart]

Odd question: is this game good? Or is it 3rd person Destiny? 

 

I find myself agreeing with this RPS non-review, which is appropriately titled "Why The Division Is Better Than You Think." It's a well made cover shooter that's a lot more fun when played with people, but it has a story that's mostly forgettable and some tasks and enemies repeat too often. Somehow, though, when I'm in the middle of a mission, or when I find a better piece of gear, or when I'm waiting for the helicopter in the dark zone, I don't mind the repetition too much.

 

I'd say that it is "good" (probably not great) for the kind of thing that it is trying to be, which you could sum up as third person Destiny. But I am enjoying it quite a bit.

[Badfinger]

Odd question: is this game good? Or is it 3rd person Destiny? 

 

I'll answer your question first with a question. How are those things mutually exclusive?

 

I like this game. I have put a lot of time into it already. I'm definitely towards the bleeding edge of available content, but even so we failed a challenge mission yesterday after it overwhelmed us. The dark zone is a unique experience in this genre, and offers a large degree of challenge both initially and solo. It depends on what you want from the game. There's easily 40-50 hours of content between story, side missions, and fiddling in the dark zone and that's without repeating anything discreet. That's not saying none of the side missions will overlap, but I mean you're not going to grind Madison Square Garden to hit level 7 before you do anything else.

 

I disagree with all the outlets saying there's no story. There is an incredible amount of detail and world building that happens through side missions and intel pickups. One of the best characters in the game is April Kelleher, who I guarantee no review will ever mention.

 

It's not Diablo-level replayability a week after launch, but there's a core game here good enough I want to have that. They've also already laid out their update plans for the year and the free stuff coming up front looks promising.

[Wrestlevania]

I disagree with all the outlets saying there's no story. There is an incredible amount of detail and world building that happens through side missions and intel pickups.

 

Very much agree. One of my favourite incidental mechanics in the game is its holographic crime scene recreations. I'm finding being able to walk around these (often traumatic) ghosts of individual citizens' lives to be quite affecting, and spurs me on to find out what might have happened to them and others caught in that moment.

 

Granted, there are a fair few Manly Man's Man archetypes littered throughout the story, doing their typical, tedious Manly Man posturing. But they're not the only properly-formed characters here, which is refreshing—not least for a shooter.

[Dewar]

I think it's a very good game played with others, and an average-ish one played solo. Unfortunately, a couple of my main internet friends had the week off for various reasons, so they've leveled way past me. It gets boring real quick when you're just waiting for others to shoot the skull-level enemies because you only do a sliver of damage to them. Oh, and the group size of 4 kinda bites too, since by the time I get home from work (west coast) those friends have already filled up a group of four, and I don't really enjoy playing alone, so I fall further behind, etc.

 

On the plus side, they've capped out, so at least they're not getting any further ahead.

[Badfinger]

I think it's a very good game played with others, and an average-ish one played solo. Unfortunately, a couple of my main internet friends had the week off for various reasons, so they've leveled way past me. It gets boring real quick when you're just waiting for others to shoot the skull-level enemies because you only do a sliver of damage to them. Oh, and the group size of 4 kinda bites too, since by the time I get home from work (west coast) those friends have already filled up a group of four, and I don't really enjoy playing alone, so I fall further behind, etc.

 

On the plus side, they've capped out, so at least they're not getting any further ahead.

 

 

Oh christ that sounds horrible. This may not be for you, but I absolutely enjoy grouping with others by myself (which is to say, taking my chance on the random matchmaking). The mission matchmaking has worked extremely well for me. The one caveat I would suggest is if you want to guarantee not to get matched mid-mission, go to the beginning of the "dungeon" and use the finder there.

[Dewar]

I might try that. My fear is always being the only person in the game who doesn't understand where to go. I guess it's a hangover from MMO dungeons and such, but none of the missions in The Division have been all that hard to find your way around.

[Dragonfliet]

Yeah, I've had good experiences with people, so far. The best have been wandering the Dark Zone alone, like a fool, and a tense moment in an extraction zone with a group of 3 leading to an invite, and some excellent running around with random cool people. 

 

The game is a bit scary when you realize you might need to group with strangers, but I've found people to be pretty decent, on the whole (well, except for roving groups of griefers, from time to time--ugh). 

 

Question: does anyone know if the game levels enemies to the party leader, or just to the highest level member of your group?