Over the weekend, there was the beta of The Division: here are our first impressions of one of the most anticipated multiplayer games.
Before you start, above all we must say that Ubisoft has announced an extension of the beta. Ubisoft has diluted over time the selected players access because of the high demand and decided to grant more time to try out the various aspects of the game to those who came after.
It is being understood that this beta is little more than a demo with only one mission of the main story, but with the opportunity to try various side issues and the Dark Zone.
After these first tests, The Division occurs a sort of mixture of different genres, even if the base is a role-playing game.
Destiny surely, for the type of organization of the network infrastructure. Watch Dogs for the technological plant (although Ubisoft claims it is a different graphics engine, Snowdrop, developed by Massive) and for the management of hedges.
As you know, The Division is set in a charming and extensively reproduced New York. The setting is post-apocalyptic, but the most famous structures of the Big Apple have remained almost intact, and this means that the environments are detailed and full of polygons.
We recognize some iconic places (for example, the mission in this beta is set in the Madison Square Garden), although the topography of New York is not slavishly reproduced.
The game is inspired by these real events that have highlighted how vulnerable humanity. A bio-terrorist attack has indeed brought to its knees right in the US Black Friday, or the day on which Americans spend 90 billion dollars in shopping. In just five days the United States are brought to their knees.
In and around the city are the opponents believe that the answer to all problems is the focus. Believing that there is only one way to eradicate the virus, these ex-workers, who contributed a great time to make New York, have become aggressive and dangerous ” purifiers “.
A controlled damage the tone for a series of optional activities such as taking hostage civilians and soldiers of the JTF and control some areas of the Black Zone. The Division in the final version there will be other factions beyond purifiers, such as offenders, the Rikers and another faction still unrevealed.
But the game element with the most innovative concept is precisely the Dark Zone, or the PvP area of The Division. Even the players here can join a team consists of up to four members, with the possibility of being able to engage and challenge any of the other players in the Dark Zone. The goal is to bring it down to be able to subtract the loot and seize it.
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All players are free to do so at any time when you are inside the Dark Zone, but if you kill unnecessarily another agent, then you will be recognized as renegade’s Division. This means that the other players will know the position of the renegade on the map and, above all, will be entitled to kill him, which allows you to gain experience and take possession of the booty.
When you are renegades, in short, it will eventually be followed by an army of malicious players with very little chance of success beyond running away from the Dark Zone.
This is bounded by high walls and marked in red on the general map of New York. It can be accessed from the main entrance, a huge metal door, or climbing over a wall.
And in the same way of course you can leave it. Inside the Dark Zone accumulate experience points specific to this area with the ability to unlock alternative skills and further customize your agent.
Another interesting mechanics regards the booty collected in the Dark Zone, because it is contaminated and cannot be used immediately. To do that, we must reach the extraction zone, to wait for a helicopter and give the loot over to be decontaminated.
But the Dark Zone is valuable from the point of view of the booty, because the most rare and precious finds are located in this area. The other side of the coin concerns the possibility of falling victim to an ambush perpetrated by other players: die in the Dark Zone can even result in the loss of some point experience and regress also as experience level.
In the Dark Zone there are also bandits controlled by artificial intelligence and optional missions that are assigned from the outside. Players can form themselves into groups of four to meet these challenges.
You can also talk with any other player on the fly, without necessarily entering into his party, because the voice of each is widespread in the surrounding area. During the course of the main campaign, they will be assigned missions that require mandatory to pass through the Dark Zone.
The Division in the beta you can try all of these elements of PvP, but also some aspects of the main part in PvE. The Division offer a story told through cut-scenes in the style of other Ubisoft games, but in this case shared with friends.
The network structure distributes players between the various servers available when you navigate to a new playing area, so you always play with someone, whether ally or adversary.
Then Destiny, The Division is a true MMO short. Not only, New York has played fantastically and is always a pleasure to explore it, but at any time you can meet other players and socialize beyond their team members.
The setting for Bungie Destiny provided the simple ” rushare ” in the maps themselves, addressing sterile artificial intelligence, and meet other players only in a fixed hub.
In the beta, it is unfortunately not yet possible to customize in depth your agent: almost all abilities are blocked and, unfortunately, the phase of creating the character is limited to random selection. This means that the clashes in the PvP are still rather flat, because there are no significant differences in terms holistic between agents.
Players unlock skills by leveling up, with the option to assign two of the quick call keys, and then use them in combat. We have to care area, sticky bombs applicable to walls, furniture shields that deflect the blows of enemies, and much more.
Each skill can be further modified and thereby acquire different characteristics than the basic version. Talents and abilities will be added Benefits (Perk).
All of these skills in the final version of the game will allow you to customize your agent curator, damage dealer or tank, which theoretically offers the possibility of assembling the balanced team and tactically efficient.
A crucial element of PvE part is the so-called Operational Base, which can be enhanced to better assist the Division who is dealing with the biological crisis and to support more effectively the citizens of New York survived.
In the beta, it is placed right in front of Madison Square Garden, and allows you to cure the character in the infirmary, to change the workbench weapons, to deposit the objects, to recover the loot extracted in the Dark Zone, to trade with sellers.
There are three areas in the Operational Base, Security, Medicine and Technology, that, if enhanced, allow to obtain permanent benefits for your agent. Be faced various missions in the campaign, they allow to obtain resources to improve each of these areas and unlock Skills and Benefits, useful to further customize the agent.
In addition, there will be repercussions, visually obvious, even on the main map: for example, the missions Security allow the city to benefit from better defenses against multiple threats, and the protection of civilians is increased. Technology provides the latest gadgets; while missions associated with medicine allow to specialize in the agent as a curator.
In addition to skills, to medikit and grenades during the fighting, you can use three different weapons, each of which modified deeply interacting with different slots for upgrades. One of the three arms is the classic sidearm to use with shields or other types of protection.
In The Division, moreover, there is also an economy on the bullets, which must be purchased individually or collected as booty. The fighting has a strong structure based on the shell, with the ability to quickly switch from one coverage as in Watch Dogs.
The mission of the main story in this beta is articulated on different gaming scenarios and suggestive, contextualized within the Madison Square Garden. Of course, it is heavily based on the shell and provides regular clashes with soldiers and with a boss, which of course requires the concentrated fire of all elements of the party.
Before starting the mission the game does a quick matchmaking, which allows us to identify the comrades in arms when we face The Division alone. In this beta matchmaking, it works very well: this aspect is of course crucial to the success of The Division. There will always be the possibility to address the challenges with other players even when accessing yourself without a group of friends?
As for the mechanics of firing, we are very simplified, as we said in a not very different from what happens in Mass Effect. Although the shooter by component is very present, the firing depends mainly from the attributes and character statistics, as is normal to happen in a way that is intended primarily as an RPG. For this, it is a firing less realistic and rewarding compared to that of a traditional shooter.
The agent you can dress up with various pieces of equipment, such as masks, breastplates, various kinds of protections. All pieces are comparable with each other and which have a value if you wanted to swap them with sellers. They are highlighted on the map in a clear game with a color system that makes it clear immediately as they are effective.
The Division is based on the Snowdrop engine that plays a New York pleasing to see and very detailed, thanks to the presence of towering skyscrapers. Some graphics or how to highlight the sensitive objects brings to mind its Watch Dogs. Moreover, New York is full of secondary activities, some of which are already in the beta.
For example, we may come across a girl who needs assistance, having to save a group of civilians as hostages, to secure a base or providing support to the JTF operatives ambushed victims. But it can also happen to meet civil or beggars seeking help, or food or medical kit. Are all actions that allow you to scrape together a few points more experience and, possibly, of the spoils. Ubisoft promises of continuously updating these optional activities with releases of progressive expansion content in the later stages of the launch.
In the beta, we recognize some technical problems, although of course you have to consider the nature of the produce not finalized at present distinguishes The Division. The game is still struggling to do the streaming of the map, which occasionally produces freeze or without some game location of certain polygon elements.
The Division has a very detailed graphics, as mentioned, but this must be an important optimization work, especially in optical PC and in view of what has happened with other recent Ubisoft games like Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed Unity and Far Cry 4.
We cannot make a final judgment on The Division, but we have to say that after the beta test of our expectations have grown. The Division promises a kind of deep exploration and rewarding within a well reconstructed scenario.
It seems more diverse and tactical than the sterile adrenaline Destiny, even though the difference is obviously going to seal the long term, the outlets of the progression of the characters, the exploration depth and the actual declination of all the elements on the strategic plan.
Product prices and availability are subject to change. Any price and availablility information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of any products.
