Tom Clancy's The Division (PS4)

After some of Ubisoft's previous releases, people would've been a tad skeptical about whether or not this game would be as good as in previous and demos.Visuals: 9/10The visuals in The Division are quite nice; what you'd expect on a next gen console, not mind blowing but certainly nice. Set in post pandemic NY during winter, you'll traverse a snow logged city, rife with blockades, abandoned cars, trash piles, quarantined zones etc. The environment and detail does a good job of immersing the player and creating atmosphere. Running about at night time in the dark whilst it snows is cool.Sound FX: 9/10There aren't amazing musical scores, but a decent job no less. The guns sound nice, beefy and diverse, rather than all the same like GTA 5. The dialog is decent enough and BGM is in the form usually of tense themes, (think series like 24, NCIS etc) The city itself, car alarms, distant noises, smashing, dogs barking all created a good atmosphere. Sadly for a game rated 18 and set in a snowy post pandemic city, there's no blood really when you shoot enemies.Gameplay: 9/10Here is where it gets interesting, The Division's main mechanic is a third person cover fire system like Rainbow Six Vegas, minus third person, but is also heavy on the UI (user interface) and how it works. The UI is implemented like a futuristic hologram supposedly displayed by your watch, this goes for way points, your map, even your HUD is in the same theme showing behind your characters backpack or next to them. There are markers that can be switched on and off showing where you can climb up, where you can take cover, or if in cover; a next piece of cover you can dart and slide to by holding x. Also enemy damage numbers. This UI heavy element and the RPG-esque menu and character/weapon customization menu may be a bit much for some people to understand or get along with, but it does give the game a slightly unique and tactical feel.The cover and fire system is as you'd expect, you can blind fire, move to other cover, aim over or around it, it is fluid and easy enough to use. You can sprint by holding L3, change shoulder aim camera from left to right with L3 whilst aiming, though this resets each time annoyingly. Vault immediately over obstacles or up onto a ladder by running towards and holding o. Or climb down safely by approaching a ledge and pressing o.AI, they are bullet sponges, head shots aren't instant kills, high ranking enemies with purple or especially golden health bars take an armoury to drop, do a mission on hard or above your Lv and the game gets brutal as you and 3 team mates are relentlessly forced to retreat as numbers of enemies advance and flank you. This can be both a blessing and pain. A blessing because the game has a tactical D&D style damage system or vibe to it, and results with the cover fire mechanics in a game that is more tactical than most, where's players literally must help each other to survive missions. But a pain because you're shooting humans, not Terminators. The AI are relatively smart, they'll take cover, react to noises or sight, throw grenades, and push forward or flank you, actually making it pretty tough by yourself at times. Play main missions with 1 or more teammates who are also online and the game becomes really fun and tense, players can revive others when they're downed, players seem to be matched by level brackets. Missions on hard difficulty offer higher rewards.There is a fairly big PVP area called the infamous Dark Zone, it too has level brackets for various sections, going higher and more dangerous the more north into the map you go. There is also great loot in the Dark Zone, but it's eerie and tense, with very though AI or other players hiding about waiting to shoot you.The map is quite generously sized, you can't walk into most buildings, but there are a number you can, whether safe houses, explorable apartments or shops for loot.Loot can be found and scavenged from containers, or dropped by enemies, otherwise bought from various vendors (weapon, gear, mods) Certain loot such as weapon parts and fabric can be used at a crafting station to make specialist or good equipment.You can fully customize weapons (muzzle, magazine, under barrel, scope, paint job etc) you can also customize your agents armour (vest, knee pads, gloves, holster, back pack etc) which play importantly into your characters build and stats. Whether they'll have high DPS (Damage per second?) High armour rating, or high tech skill (Damage/effectiveness of tech equipment) plus there are perks to unlock and other character abilities.The game revolves around a central hub, the "Base of operations" which has 3 wings, medical, tech and security you must upgrade (taking them from trashed quarantine shelters to a highly capable command post), this is achieved by completing 3 different mission types that will respectively reward you with medical, tech or security supplies.You can create your character at the start but only from a small selection of pre created faces and minimal hair styles. You can in game find and select different clothing items.There are rival factions in the game, sadly they're not highly distinctive, only two groups really do so far, the cleaners are notable with their hazmat suits and flamethrowers, or rikers with orange prison looking trousers and masks.The storyline is told through some cinematic events between main missions and radio dialogue from your commander (a female agent who's name I can't remember) or holographic shots of events and audio/CCTV that can be discovered. But the main crack is a small pox epidemic from bank notes, you're trying to restore order.All in all The Division is an absorbing and fun game, some of the missions may become a touch repetitive, but it's a very decent title from Ubisoft after prior mishaps. And during a mission set to hard difficulty with 3 other teammates, you won't find a more challenging, intense and tactical experience to date.

Very good game - possibly only 4 star but there are so many dumb 1 star reviews I gave it an extra star - it is and always has been an online game - it says so pretty clearly on the front of the box and in the many reviews - if you bought it without knowing this then it is not the games fault it is yours - don't give 1 star. If amazon delivered a day late - it is amazons fault not the games - don't give 1 star - this is a game review you're writing not an Amazon service review!!Anyway rant over.I see a lot of people compare this to Destiny and there are similarities in terms of weapon and gear purchase, upgrade modification etc. It is all very well handled in this game - slightly confusing at 1st but like any game the more you play the more you understand. The one thing I noticed is there is no clear and obvious upgrade pattern, some items improve certain attributes whilst reducing others - more so than destiny.In terms of game play you have various guns, grenades and special abilities and need to kill various types and strengths of bad guys and bosses to complete main missions, side mission and encounters. All of which progress the game along by giving you access to new parts of New York (you can access various parts of New York from the start but just won't be at a suitable level), access to better equipment and improve your base of operations. It reminds of InFamous in many ways - without the super powers.This is very much a duck and cover game, keep your distance, stay out of trouble and shoot whilst you can.All of the above is pretty standard stuff for online shooter/RPG style games but The Division does do it very well.Where I think it stands out it the sheer size of the map, the graphical style of New York (graphics are pretty good not worth moaning about), the feel of despair across the city and some of the little details such as dogs having a go at you if you disturb them. All very good.The multiplayer aspect is also very good - 4 player teams are almost essential on some missions - the matchmaking works very well most of the time and if not playing with friends it seems to pick other players of an equal level. Everyone I've played with so far has co-operated very well alsoThe dark zone is also very interesting - to rogue or not to rogue - I'm still getting to grips with this section.There are a few problems however.Glitches - it's a brand new game so some are expected - the most annoying is assembling a fire team for a mission only to find you are locked out / can't even start the mission. People joining you on a mission but being locked on the outside. I've also been trapped in a bush with no escape other than log out. I've also been in a safe house where everything lost colour. Doors I've unlocked becoming locked again.Encounters - quickly become very repetitive and somewhat boring but needed for XP and the odd piece of equipmentSide Missions - not as boring and repetitive as encounters but some are pretty identical just with different scenery - these are more essential to progressing the game however.And this one may just be me but it seems to take forever to load - I'm okay to read the epilepsy warning once but every flipping time - come on guys!!