Zero Punctuation: The Division

[Darth_Payn]

I've had my reservations about The Division since those E3 trailers last year didn't really say what you, as the player, are supposed to accomplish in a plague-ravaged New York, and they've been backed up by this article on Wired.com saying you basically spend he game shooting scared civilians gone feral. At any point do you find the terrorists who did started it all?

 

[Jburton9]

Great Review Yahtzee : )

I watched previews, Let's Plays, etc and despite how I wanted to get interested in the game, it felt unoriginal and well, uninteresting.

In the Borderlands series at least the guns varied and were over the top silly plus the atmosphere made sense for Bullet Sponge Bosses for loot n shooters.

Since The Division is supposed to be based on near real world situations multi head shoting bosses unfortunately does not make any sense at all.

I wonder how long the servers will last once interest dies down?

 

[geizr]

When I first heard of The Division, it seemed fairly interesting, and, of course, I immediately began comparing it to Destiny (a game that turns boring in a hurry). I was asking people about the story and LFG in the game, both of which people answered in the affirmative. Actually having a story, or at least so I was lead to believe, and, *gasp*, ACTUALLY TELLING IT TO YOU IN GAME (holy fuck balls! what a concept!) had already put the game miles ahead of Destiny. Even further cementing the deal was that there was actual match-making and group finder BUILT INTO THE GAME (my head ass-ploded!). Now I was genuinely interested! Then I saw that the game was made by Ubisoft, and I was suddenly torn by dilemma. On the one hand, the game seemed very exciting; on the other hand, Ubisoft (fucking hell!).

Now, given that this game was the new hotness, that meant every Twitch streamer and his first to third cousin would be playing the game. So, I spent time watching streamers play the game (also, it was them to whom I asking many of my questions about the game). Naturally, a lot of people, just as I did, immediately compared it to Destiny; however, as the arguments wound on, it became clear to many that Destiny is the wrong game to which to compare The Division. Instead, the better comparison would be to something like Diablo 3. At first, I was in disagreement with this idea, but, as I watched streamers play the game, it became more and more evident to me that comparisons to Diablo 3 were entirely appropriate. It was at that moment of realization that all interest in The Division immediately evaporated (hell, practically sublimated from solid to gaseous form in a single instance). The Division is just yet another soul-less, empty gear grind. There's absolutely nothing there. My prior internal conflict over the game was immediately resolved, and the Universe made sense, again: yeah...it's an Ubisoft game; not going to waste money on this shit-bucket. I give the game about 3 months for the novelty to finally wear-off and everyone becomes totally bored of it (so, yeah, maybe Destiny still is a reasonable comparison).

 

[bificommander]

While I had a some amount of fun with the game, I am very much in agreement with Yahtzee here. The whole "secret sleeper agents" thing is utterly irrelevant to the story, except to make the implications of gunning down tons of people even worse. (Fuck, you're not even living in Manhattan, you have to get flown in. You could've been a member of SEAL Team 6 and it wouldn't have mattered.)The character customization is pointless because everything you to choose to wear is samey and boring (and decent customization of your face is nonexistent). While the enviromental design nicely conveys the feeling of desolation, the gameplay doesn't support that at all, and storywise Crysis 2 did this decaying New York thing better (The Division even coppies the quick-cuts-of-TV-news thing at the start, showing the escalating crisis caused by the disease). The forced-humor from the quest-givers is groan-inducingly stupid and ill-fitting. And elite enemies are total bastards. Though I'd rate the short ranged enemies with shotguns or flamethrowsers as badly as the snipers. Regular versions of these bastards are fine, they'll murder you if they get close so you need to shoot them before they get close. Elites just wade through your fire and shoot your balls off.

Still, the basic gunplay isn't too bad, and the game looks good. Know what I would've liked? This engine and basic gunplay, with the setting and variaty of The Secret World. The Division's active skills could be replaced by the various magics (I never felt that the gun-melee-magic system, where all just gave you basic attacks, really worked), and that'd be an excuse to give you a few more. You're just an openly admitted member of a shady organization, fighting some supernatural entities that don't feel as weird to shoot on sight (and who's bizare resistance to dozens of head shots are more believable). And some actual distinguishing looks and quests in the mix.

So, how long will it take to make a mod for that. One week? Maybe two?

 

[Flathole]

I've never been a fan of his works, but sticking Tom Clancy's name onto products that he didn't make seems disrespectful and disingenuous, like they're saying "Hey Tom Clancy made this! That means it's good!" Maybe the story is based off one of his writings, but it still seems like they're saying he had an active role in the development of the game.

Also, the gameplay seems very similar to the "Raid Mode" of REvelations 2. You know- the mode that was just thrown in there as an extra, mostly disconected from the main game, yet an entire game on its own. The point I'm trying to make here is REvelations 2 has both a very good survival horror game AND a very good shooter/RPG game (though raid mode does get tedious in large doses) while Dead Person's: The Division only has the one game.

 

[Sewa_Yunga]

But Yahtzee, have you even looked at the emergency signs in this game?

In case of emergency:

Keep calm and

Spoiler: Lorem ipsum

 

[Zydrate]

Eh, I'm enjoying it. But it also befits my style. I like Diablo 3 and Borderlands, it's basically a mix of those.

 

[Jeremiah Payne]

I think this a pretty good game, but I knew Yahtzee wouldn't like it. I hope he reviews Rainbow Six Siege next week and tears it a new asshole for being such a rip-off.

If your partner keeps snoring while you are trying to sleep tell them to stop playing the Division...

Seriously I went to watch a livestream of this game, was bored of all of the game ideas within 5 minutes of watching it so I asked what the streamer said they liked about it. They replied "It has survival aspects that makes it different than most shooters" to which I replied what are they, "Oh you have to go get items for civilians to survive off, plus you have to craft what you need to progress"...

JUST PLAY ANY OTHER SHOOTER OR SURVIVAL GAME YOU ALREADY OWN THEN!!!

Rant over.

Why do you care so much if other people like the game? How does that affect you personally? I think Far Cry Primal looks a boring shitfest, but i'm not going to insult people for liking it.

Because it is my own opinion, I didn't say that it is bad they like it I just said my opinion. There is no reason to get all mad about it.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I'd been interested in The Division right up until I played in the beta. At that point I realized that this game would be great for people with lots of friends they can play with regularly, but solo? The shine wears off fast. And I played through Borderlands and every last bit of all its DLC solo, because the game was wacky and varied enough to hold my attention.

 

[Starik20X6]

An endless swirling vortex that absorbed all joy and interest from its surroundings

Oh, so that's what the Ubisoft logo is meant to be...! The more you know!

 

[Evil Smurf]

At least we got an enjoyable review out of it. The Ubisoft game is bland, and dumb.

 

[Erttheking]

And apparently it's still Ubisofts best selling game ever. And people wonder about why the AAA industry behaves the way it does - because people buy the grey sludge anyway.

I'm skeptical, considering that Ubisoft is saying the amount of money it made and not the number of copies it sold. When Halo 5 did this it turned out that it was counting the money made off of Xbox One bundles, and sure enough, similar bundles are being offered for the division.

OT: Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought the idea of secret government agents being prepared to take over sounded a little dodgy.

Halo 5 still sold well regardless though.

By the industry average? Yes. By the Halo average not so much though. In fact I think I saw some people argue that it was the weakest entry in the series regarding sheer copies.

 

[Erttheking]

What's annoying is that you could have had a perfectly good storyline with the same basic elements. Instead of America, the game ould take place in Mexico. The Mexican government has collapsed under it's own corruption after somebody set off a large series of bombs throughout Mexico City and the surrounding states. So now the Narcos are trying to move in to the power vacuum. You are one of the people attempting to stop it. This allows for multiple character origins, ranging from DEA agent to tourist to poor bastard who actually lives in Mexico City who just got caught up in things on the first day at their new job. It also at least partially explains enemy progression as initially being random looters and opportunists before moving on to the Narcos themselves and then for endgame a fully Narco controlled part of the Mexican Army. Throughout the course of the game, supplies would come in, and eventually hireable allies, from various parties interested in sending money and supplies to your counterweight to the Narcos. Boom,a much better reason to be going out and slaughtering assholes in the same basic setting.

I'd play that, (Provided it's nothing like Call of Juarez the Cartel) if only because I'm tired of modern military shooters being so Americancentric.

And I AM American.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

And apparently it's still Ubisofts best selling game ever. And people wonder about why the AAA industry behaves the way it does - because people buy the grey sludge anyway.

Just cause it's "grey sludge" doesn't mean it is to everyone.

This can be turned around though. Just because people are happy with "grey sludge" doesn't mean it suddenly isn't "grey sludge".

 

[CaitSeith]

But Yahtzee, have you even looked at the emergency signs in this game?

In case of emergency:

Keep calm and

Spoiler: Lorem ipsum

Ok. I thought the Post Office queue was funny, but this takes the cake. Maybe it's an Easter Egg, but I got the feeling that it isn't the case...

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I am really missing the day when Tom Clancy games had balls.

Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory were masterpieces.

 

[hentropy]

If only Ubisoft would take a cue from the guy who made Bear Simulator and just quit. Go into... fuck it I dunno, slot machines like Konami? The mobile market is already shit they can't shit that up any more. Can they?

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

I'm so in need of something to scratch the Rainbow 6: Vegas itch. I was thinking that Siege might be the closest thing, but I can't bring myself to buy it. Seems like such a ripoff with all the microtransactions and whatnot, and the forced online stuff just doesn't grab me.

I also love Borderlands, seems I enjoy the 3rd person shooting loot'n'shoot to the RPG hack'n'slash nowadays, but I'm still a bit torn on the Division. If it really is as boring as people say it is, then it's not worth full price just yet, and by the time the price goes down there's probably not as many people playing it anymore! And this game seems pretty crucial in the play with buddies factor.

Speaking of which, can anyone who's played it weigh-in on whether the game is playable with strangers? If the solo is out of question, and I don't have any buddies (on PC at least) who play it - what's it like jumping in a random party?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Speaking of which, can anyone who's played it weigh-in on whether the game is playable with strangers? If the solo is out of question, and I don't have any buddies (on PC at least) who play it - what's it like jumping in a random party?

My brother plays the game. Thus far he has said that all the random pugs he has been in have all been well mannered and polite.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Speaking of which, can anyone who's played it weigh-in on whether the game is playable with strangers? If the solo is out of question, and I don't have any buddies (on PC at least) who play it - what's it like jumping in a random party?

My brother plays the game. Thus far he has said that all the random pugs he has been in have all been well mannered and polite.

Thanks, that's all I really wanted to know. Seems the game could be quite prone to trolling, or getting screwed over if you get too brave without some sort of crew. Also with the collidable player models and so on.