[Aptorian]

Just played through the intro of the Open Beta (go play it now on your preferred platform!)

The game went straight from cautiously excited to an instant buy for me. There's of course no way to tell if the game is front loaded with content and attention to detail but of what I have seen, the attention to detail and the layers of systems and complexity seems amazing.

It seems like a rock solid third person shooter with very well implemented RPG systems. The UI is fascinating and I love how they show you information inside the game world. Also the game looks amazing. The sheer amount of clutter and objects on display in the environments is like eye candy to me.

Anyone else been playing the beta and what do you think?

This post has been edited by Apt: 21 February 2016 - 09:28 AM

[Hocknose]

Yeah I had a quick go on Friday night. I didn't play too much for fear of spoiling the game for if I decide to buy it.

I agree with your points above about the systems, UI and presentation...it seems very well made.

One thing that did annoy me a bit (which I had read about prior to playing) was the enemy hit points. So some dude in a hoody comes at me with a baseball bat and I have to shoot him 5-6 times with an M4 assault rifle just to slow him down. Sometimes it takes 2-3 bullets to the head. Just seems a bit much and took me out of the immersion. I can imagine that issue becomes even more prevalent when you play co-op and the enemies become tougher. But as this is an RPG game as well as a shooter I guess they can't do it any other way.

I also think that i might be burnt out on open world games, I played Witcher 3 to death...loved every minute of it. But since then I've bought Fallout 4 and the new Assassins Creed which I gave up on after a few hours on both.

I'm 50/50 at the moment on whether I'll get it

[QuickTidal]

I didn't feel like doing the 26Gig download for game that I can just wait to buy in a little while anyways. It just wasn't worth it to me. But then my video gaming is slowing to a crawl in general.

[Aptorian]

Hocknose, on 22 February 2016 - 02:47 PM, said:

Yeah I had a quick go on Friday night. I didn't play too much for fear of spoiling the game for if I decide to buy it.

I agree with your points above about the systems, UI and presentation...it seems very well made.

One thing that did annoy me a bit (which I had read about prior to playing) was the enemy hit points. So some dude in a hoody comes at me with a baseball bat and I have to shoot him 5-6 times with an M4 assault rifle just to slow him down. Sometimes it takes 2-3 bullets to the head. Just seems a bit much and took me out of the immersion. I can imagine that issue becomes even more prevalent when you play co-op and the enemies become tougher. But as this is an RPG game as well as a shooter I guess they can't do it any other way.

I also think that i might be burnt out on open world games, I played Witcher 3 to death...loved every minute of it. But since then I've bought Fallout 4 and the new Assassins Creed which I gave up on after a few hours on both.

I'm 50/50 at the moment on whether I'll get it

Bullet sponginess doesn't bother me. It's the same when I shoot a naked psycho in the face with a plasma rocket launcher in Borderlands or chop somebody in the face with a Magic Dragon Sword in Skyrim. It's all level dependent.

Personally I feel like there's been a drought of shooters the past 12 months. Plenty of multiplayer shooters but I can't recall when a good third person cover shooter came out last.

I've been looking forward to The Division like a man dying of thirst. I NEED TO SHOOT SOMEBODY IN THE FACE.

QuickTidal, on 22 February 2016 - 02:52 PM, said:

I didn't feel like doing the 26Gig download for game that I can just wait to buy in a little while anyways. It just wasn't worth it to me. But then my video gaming is slowing to a crawl in general.

Is it just life moving on or are you getting tired of the modern genres? Personally I am of the opinion that every year is the best year ever in games.

[QuickTidal]

Apt, on 22 February 2016 - 03:06 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 22 February 2016 - 02:52 PM, said:

I didn't feel like doing the 26Gig download for game that I can just wait to buy in a little while anyways. It just wasn't worth it to me. But then my video gaming is slowing to a crawl in general.

Is it just life moving on or are you getting tired of the modern genres? Personally I am of the opinion that every year is the best year ever in games.

Well life is moving on a bit, family and those kind of obligations are taking more precedence. But I also echo the idea that open world games are just TOO much for me these days to bother exploring. Even the AC games I just have no push to do everything or collect everything. Hell, the Arkham games I do the main storyline to the end, and the game tells me I'm like 20-somehting % finished (because I've done none of the side stuff) and I'm satisfied I've finished the main mode.

Only DESTINY has me going above and beyond and it's PRETTY much the only game I play with any regularity...and even then it's just to kill boredom. I also play LEGO DIMENSIONS with my wife, but we find little time in which to do that.

I'll be happy once SF-V is not a broken game and will probably buy that...but I'm afraid to buy THE DIVISION because of how open it is...I feel I won't be able to devote the time.

[Aptorian]

I am not sure how Open the game is actually going to feel or appear, given the city like environments but yeah, playing a little under 2 hours it definitelt felt like a Ubisoft open world game, with NPC calling for help, ressources to be collected, small side missions to retrieve resources, etc.

[Obdigore]

Apt, on 22 February 2016 - 03:06 PM, said:

Personally I feel like there's been a drought of shooters the past 12 months. Plenty of multiplayer shooters but I can't recall when a good third person cover shooter came out last.

I've been looking forward to The Division like a man dying of thirst. I NEED TO SHOOT SOMEBODY IN THE FACE.

Did you miss Rainbow Six: Siege?

It's amazing.

But yes, I played both the previous beta and this beta, and am encouraged, especially since in this beta I was able to routinely find NPCs in the Dark Zone since they turned up the respawn rate to what it was supposed to be.

[QuickTidal]

Apt, on 22 February 2016 - 04:00 PM, said:

I am not sure how Open the game is actually going to feel or appear, given the city like environments but yeah, playing a little under 2 hours it definitelt felt like a Ubisoft open world game, with NPC calling for help, ressources to be collected, small side missions to retrieve resources, etc.

Don't get me wrong, though I have reservations, chances are I'll still buy and play the DIVISION as it simply seems too good to pass up...I just wonder at how much of it I'll play and get into. I'm happy to find out though. Plus, the Mrs will enjoy me not ALWAYS playing DESTINY. She's so sick of hearing Lennie James announce stuff in the PvP that she actively makes fun of the comments from Lord Shaxx.

[Tiste Simeon]

I love open world games, the new AC is freaking incredible! Might wait til it's been out for a while and see what you guys think but I'm very interested in this game!

[DeadHedge]

I have yet to buy an Xbone but from what I have heard of the Division is making me tempted.

I tend to play online with my wife though so would like to get 2, how easy is it to co-op in the game? More importantly is it easy to co-op with certain people?

[Obdigore]

DeadHedge, on 08 March 2016 - 08:58 AM, said:

I have yet to buy an Xbone but from what I have heard of the Division is making me tempted.

I tend to play online with my wife though so would like to get 2, how easy is it to co-op in the game? More importantly is it easy to co-op with certain people?

Do you know how hard it was in Destiny?

Its the complete f***in opposite. You just go into your menu and select the person on your friends list, and say 'join session'. So long as they don't have their session set to 'private', you can just join, or you can invite and they take the invitation.

You can then do everything together, except wander around the base, because each person's base is their own.

[DeadHedge]

Obdigore, on 08 March 2016 - 01:40 PM, said:

DeadHedge, on 08 March 2016 - 08:58 AM, said:

I have yet to buy an Xbone but from what I have heard of the Division is making me tempted.

I tend to play online with my wife though so would like to get 2, how easy is it to co-op in the game? More importantly is it easy to co-op with certain people?

Do you know how hard it was in Destiny?

Its the complete f***in opposite. You just go into your menu and select the person on your friends list, and say 'join session'. So long as they don't have their session set to 'private', you can just join, or you can invite and they take the invitation.

You can then do everything together, except wander around the base, because each person's base is their own.

Well that sounds simple enough. I assume it's full co-op (except bases) and you could effectively complete the whole game together?

Now to convince my wife she doesn't need a new hoover but 2 Xbones instead lol

[Obdigore]

DeadHedge, on 08 March 2016 - 02:05 PM, said:

Well that sounds simple enough. I assume it's full co-op (except bases) and you could effectively complete the whole game together?

Now to convince my wife she doesn't need a new hoover but 2 Xbones instead lol

So far, yes. I'm not very far into it yet (got further in the open beta, because I'm getting old and have 'responsabilities') but I was surprised that even the prologue can be done in a group.

[DeadHedge]

Well that'd a good thing to hear.

Does it play similar to the Rainbow Six games? I know that enemies are bullet sponges but how bad is it?

Now need to get £600 for Xbone's (need 2)

Based on experience will the game have a decent life span?

[Cause]

I'm worried about the bullet sponges and immersion as well. In borderlands it's different because it's cartoony. The division is hyper realistic. Shooting a guy with a rocket only for him to shrug it off is going to be wierd

[DeadHedge]

Cause, on 13 March 2016 - 07:57 AM, said:

I'm worried about the bullet sponges and immersion as well. In borderlands it's different because it's cartoony. The division is hyper realistic. Shooting a guy with a rocket only for him to shrug it off is going to be wierd

At least in borderlands the guy with the rocket could be spread across the landscape in multiple pieces lol

[Silencer]

Considering bullet sponge bosses annoyed the crap out of me in Destiny, that's definitely a huge factor in me not getting this yet - it's unquestionably worse for immersion when there is no real reason for the sponge too (annoying as it was in Destiny, they had shields, and/or were giant space aliens).
Total turn-off for me.

[Aptorian]

I've been playing it all last week.

The Division is very photo-realistic but I'd hardly call it hyper realistic. It's a grim scenario set in a fallen New York but your interaction with NPCs, etc. makes it more of a typical generic video game story.

I haven't had that much of a problem with the sponginess of the enemies health bars. It's portrayed as armor in the game. There are regular red health bar enemies, purple health bar enemies with armor that are slightly stronger than normal enemies and finally there are elite enemies that have a yellow health bar with armor that are pretty hard to fight if you're alone or if there is many of them. Basically think of them as the elite mobs in instances in WOW.

What regulates the enemies sponginess and your damage output, is the type of equipment you use. If you spec all damage you will have little health and ability power but you will absolutely destroy regular enemies with half a dozen hits. If you don't though, then suddenly you need to empty one or two clips into a single mob.

Anyway, I really like the game. The shooting is fun, I like the gear and I like the story missions. Regarding whether or not to buy it now I'd actually recommend buying it now. Multiplayer, even just random matchmaking, makes this game much more fun. You'll have a hard time getting through the story missions if you don't have a strong team.

[Hocknose]

hey Apt, i ended up getting this in the end and am really enjoying it.

Whats your uplay ID and I'll add you as a friend

I'm currently PVE lvl 19 and DZ lvl 18

[Aptorian]

VirtuallyApt. I'm level 30 but I don't mind tagging up for lower level story missions if you need it.

I haven't done a ton of Dark Zone fighting, since it's not particularly easy in single player.