Static Reviews Tom Clancy's The Division
1My review of Tom Clancy's The Division
Graphics
I played on a PS4 and the graphics go from good to average. Some areas of the game look really nice, while others are just adequate. There is the all to frequent texture pop in that break immersion though. Overall the graphics are average for this generation and I would call them serviceable. Character customization is limited as well, which makes getting that next item less about making your character look cool and more about stats. Everybody likes to make their character look cool and unique. You won’t find too much of that here.
Gameplay and Controls
Gameplay ranges from fun to frustrating. The gameplay does allow for wow moments. The controls are tight most of the time, but caused me frustration on more than one occasion. Like when you are in cover and double tap the X button to roll out. If another object that provides cover is near where you are rolling, you automatically take cover behind that object. Even if that means putting your back to the whole gang of gun toting looters that have their sights aimed down on you.
Combat is satisfying in most situations. That is until you run into a boss, or as everybody is not affectionately calling them, bullet sponges. They don’t really do anything special, compared to other mobs, but they hit harder and take a ton of damage to kill. I ran into one that was a level lower than me, but I could not kill it no matter the strategy I employed. Once you hit Manhattan, it would be in your best interest no to try and solo any bosses.
The gun modification part of the game is very good and I enjoyed upgrading a gun that I had grown to like without having to necessarily replace it. Also, when the time came to replace a favorite gun, you get to take the mods and apply them to the new gun. This is a great touch as well.
The crafting system was confusing to me. While making a gun it would tell you if the damage was better or worse than the currently equipped one. The problem is, after making the gun, it didn’t necessarily have higher damage. I made several guns thinking they would improve my damage, just to turn around and salvage them because they didn’t.
There is a lot of running that happens in this game. That is one thing I noticed for sure. It doesn’t seem to be so bad while you are doing it, but when I went back to watch my let’s plays, it was really noticeable. There is a teleporting system, but the load times for that almost make running a better option.
PVP, the dark zone, is a different experience. It can be frustrating for anybody who didn’t start to build up their character early to face some one that did. I have seen one player take out five others and barely get a scratch. I am not sure if this is a balancing issue or what Ubisoft wants, but it is no fun to be on the losing end of that situation.
Audio
I didn’t really notice the audio while playing. Nothing stood out in a positive or negative way. It is what you would expect from a triple A game. The soundtrack is nice, but it falls into the back ground like if this was an action movie. Which I guess is a good thing. We don’t want to be distracted by the music while we are in a fire fight.
The Story
The story is middle of the road too. It wouldn’t make you want to buy the book, if there was one, but it isn’t bad either. It gets you from point a to point b. I think part of the problem with the story is how most of the characters talk to you. It is via a communication device. This takes away from developing feeling for them in my opinion. There is one missions where you have to run back to the starting area of Manhattan to talk with a lady that had been giving you missions. I for the life of me didn’t remember talking to her when I was first there. Until I got there and then I remembered, but not because she was memorable, but because I had notice a glitched piece of paper stuck on the computer monitor she was using.
Overall
Mostly I have enjoyed my time in The Division. It is satisfying to win fire fights and to beat bosses. I do wish the loot was more appropriate for doing so though. I think this game has a lot of potential, but many tweaks will need to be made before it gets there. I am hoping that these happen outside of the year one DLC, so that everybody has a better experience.
My rating for this game it a 75 out of 100. Hopefully Ubisoft is committed to getting this to an over 90 rating. I would love to see this game shine for the next couple of years.
Take care and bye now.
StaticBuzz out.