Overview: Open world game, action RPG, and third-person shooter. Play as a member of the Division and help recover New York City.
20170916:
This game was free-to-play on Steam/Uplay and - despite the fact that overall and recent user reviews were only "Mixed" - I decided to give it a try.
Steam Game Time: 93 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Great graphics
+ Unlimited sprinting
+ Decent UI: clear direction on getting to target mission and general location of enemies (even when they're behind obstacles)
Minor Pro:
+ Decent character customization
Neutral:
~ There seems to be some crafting element; I didn't get far enough in the game to experience it
Minor Con:
- Uplay; launches from Steam but loads up Uplay...
- The first few missions could have been more instructive
Cons:
- Unintuitive cover fire system; I'd like to experience a more fluid cover system mechanic (with that being said I have a feeling this system is used in many games)
- Online; at one point I was experiencing lag... (actually, that's when I stopped playing)
- Story fails to get interesting at the appropriate pace
- Item pick-ups is annoying. Can't I just auto loot all?
- There doesn't seem to be a pause option. Is that because it's online?
- When I feel that the pistol offers a better experience than the submachine guns, there might be something wrong with the game
- When I stopped playing, the missions were the same: go to target location and eliminate enemies. (Lame.)
Summary:
Unfortunately, due to a noticeable, game-interrupting amount of lag, I decided to stop playing. If it weren't for the lag, I probably would have played for an extra one or two hours before stopping.
As it stands, I can only comment on the gameplay I experienced up to the point of quitting and it was mostly negative. In fact, the dominating pro of the game is it's detailed graphics. Among the list of cons I mentioned above, I would have most enjoyed a cleaner movement system (including going in and out of cover, or the option to smoothly transition between one cover point and the next).
With that being said, I was definitely expecting a more shooter-oriented experience. Instead, I learned after quitting that the game focuses more on being an action RPG.
While putting myself in the right mindset with respect to game genre would have helped, I doubt it would have lifted my overall game experience from negative to positive. Rather, at best it would have shifted my experience strongly negative to moderately negative.
Tom Clancy's The Division (PC) (2016)
Relevant Links:
Tom Clancy's The Division (Ubisoft Website)
Tom Clancy's The Division (Wikipedia.org)
Tom Clancy's The Division (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Tom Clancy's The Division (Steam Store Page)
 |
| My customized character. |
20170916:
This game was free-to-play on Steam/Uplay and - despite the fact that overall and recent user reviews were only "Mixed" - I decided to give it a try.
Steam Game Time: 93 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Great graphics
+ Unlimited sprinting
+ Decent UI: clear direction on getting to target mission and general location of enemies (even when they're behind obstacles)
 |
| Animal control... |
Minor Pro:
+ Decent character customization
Neutral:
~ There seems to be some crafting element; I didn't get far enough in the game to experience it
Minor Con:
- Uplay; launches from Steam but loads up Uplay...
- The first few missions could have been more instructive
Cons:
- Unintuitive cover fire system; I'd like to experience a more fluid cover system mechanic (with that being said I have a feeling this system is used in many games)
- Online; at one point I was experiencing lag... (actually, that's when I stopped playing)
- Story fails to get interesting at the appropriate pace
- Item pick-ups is annoying. Can't I just auto loot all?
- There doesn't seem to be a pause option. Is that because it's online?
- When I feel that the pistol offers a better experience than the submachine guns, there might be something wrong with the game
- When I stopped playing, the missions were the same: go to target location and eliminate enemies. (Lame.)
 |
| Faye Lau (right) and I (left) prepare to board the copter. |
Summary:
Unfortunately, due to a noticeable, game-interrupting amount of lag, I decided to stop playing. If it weren't for the lag, I probably would have played for an extra one or two hours before stopping.
As it stands, I can only comment on the gameplay I experienced up to the point of quitting and it was mostly negative. In fact, the dominating pro of the game is it's detailed graphics. Among the list of cons I mentioned above, I would have most enjoyed a cleaner movement system (including going in and out of cover, or the option to smoothly transition between one cover point and the next).
 |
| Great scenery. |
With that being said, I was definitely expecting a more shooter-oriented experience. Instead, I learned after quitting that the game focuses more on being an action RPG.
While putting myself in the right mindset with respect to game genre would have helped, I doubt it would have lifted my overall game experience from negative to positive. Rather, at best it would have shifted my experience strongly negative to moderately negative.
Tom Clancy's The Division (PC) (2016)
Relevant Links:
Tom Clancy's The Division (Ubisoft Website)
Tom Clancy's The Division (Wikipedia.org)
Tom Clancy's The Division (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Tom Clancy's The Division (Steam Store Page)
Date/Time
Saturday, September 16, 2017
@
22:00
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