The Division: 3 Ups & 6 Downs From The Beta Playthrough

4. If You Don't Like Loot Grinds, Stay Away

Loot is the name of the game, not story or character-progression. The vast majority of your customisation and 'build' is comprised of which loot you'll be picking up, and seeing how Ubi have applied such a time-tested system to a realistic setting is both incredibly novel, and immediately restrictive. See, in the likes of Diablo or Destiny, their innate fantasy or sci-fi settings allow for all manner of fancy clothing options or weapons to emerge over the course of several hours. You literally have no idea what shape a gun or piece or armour can take in those genres, but in The Division - and granted it's only been the beta so far - everything is resigned to a set of padded kneepads, another shotgun, a slightly cooler looking jacket, etc. In the full game there could be riot gear or more stylish clothing options that'll make going out in the Dark Zone to fetch loot more rewarding, but there's an encroaching feeling of "seen it all already" that starts to permeate your play time far sooner than it should.