You can expect to hear a hell of a lot more about Ubisoft's latest triple-A gamble from here on out. The Division is easily one of the most ambitious and interesting games the studio have produced in quite some time - yet when you start to go hands on with the near-full version, the same old issues that plague many of their titles start to rear their head - alongside some worrying features that are hopefully only present in the beta. Initially unveiled in 2013, what we saw appeared to be 'yet another' military shooter; albeit one with a more realistic take on what it would look like to see New York City evacuated en masse, right in the middle of a viral pandemic outbreak. Initial footage was supremely gorgeous to look at, whilst also being gritty and impactful, particularly when citizens of New York started recognising their own boroughs and street corners. Now it's out though... you can almost kiss goodbye to that ideology. Whilst The Division is reportedly still going to have a healthy injection of story to keep things going, the reality is a stat and loot-heavy RPG; one that features bullet-sponge enemies, an emphasis on forming parties for raids and ensuring that if your primary pursuit isn't levelling up, there's not a whole lot else on offer. It's certainly going to strike a similar chord as Destiny with certain gamers if Ubi iron over some substantial creases, but right now it's looking like one hell of a mixed bag...
Downs...
9. Gameplay Is Immediately Very Basic
There was a moment right as I emerged from the initial safe area HQ, where I approached my first set of enemies. You'll see all sorts of augmented reality pop-ups telling you that a certain street or city block is ruled by enemies of a particular level, but for me it was just two random hooded goons, doing their best to pillage a corpse. Now you might think, "Can I approach silently and get the drop on them?", "Maybe deploy some sort of item that will trigger when they see me?" The game's tonality suggests an element of seriousness when you're kitting up and heading out to 'take back the city' from the assorted thugs, but then it hits you... your only option is to blow them to smithereens. No stealth kills, stance-swapping, bringing them in alive, not even a crouch button. Unless you discuss which direction to fire from with a teammate, there aren't any discernible tactics, leaving you with no real options other than taking cover and returning fire when necessary. You do have access to a melee button for close-quarters, but it's not one that triggers an animation on the part of the enemy. Instead, it'll take a good three hits to down a thug who's charging you, the entire time their animations play out as normal, reacting occasionally but mostly making everything feel extremely awkward. The general approach to combat favours multiplayer, no matter what Ubisoft may say, and that's because...
