Having never played a second of the game before I was surprised at the amount of free rewards I could claim for the game. At least 10 items across cosmetic and currency as well as 'starter' packs.
A download and a quick look couldn't hurt, could it....
The game graphical detail and textures look good but it's cityscape is repeated a lot, snow, trash and junk.
The beginning of the game lets you do the usual player character customisation and brief tutorial in a practical way.
Each login you are reminded that your playing a trial and the limits are listed. There is also a running timer in the bottom left of the screen counting down your six hours.
There are a few options for character editing but there aren't that many overall options. As most standard players start off with the same gear there are a lot of lookalikes running around.
Looks are one thing but there's no personality. Your character doesn't seem to have much..... character. For the most part all you see is the back of your character when shooting but even in cutscenes the character is bland. It's not a Hitman Agent 47 stern look of menace; Division dude looks like he's not happy about having been "activated" and the apocalypse is an inconvenience.
Overall there is lot of detail in the interface and the map is easy to use.
I found the in game UI was too floaty and that made text a distraction or not noticed at all. I'm sure with time it could be gotten used to. For me it just doesn't move in a fluid way. It's almost like it tries to auto rotate to the surface you are facing. Wall, car, players backpack.....Maybe I'm wrong but it's not intuitive for me.
The trial only allows the creation of one character. So you would need to delete and recreate, I've not done that but I wouldn't be surprised if the trial timer is shared on all characters.
The tutorials and the UI for them is a lot better than the UI for normal activities.
The echo system is technology gone beyond the franchise and into the realm of the 31st century future soldier/detective. It's use took away from any kind of immersion. It's a system I have never liked in any game. There are better ways to deliver the same information. Actual NPC witness reporting, a recording or a video to play. If the echo system uses CCTV footage to recreate the 3D projections why not just show the CCTV footage.
Beyond that modes story telling mechanic there are better ways to show hidden content and enable "Missing Person" missions via thermal and sonar imaging devices etc.
This echo system seems like future tech overkill for a game set in the today and future of only a few years.
I've not spent any currency for items but I leveled up and collected a hat, "oh joy", a few extra points to my health pool.
I've not done anything dealing with the cold mechanics.
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| The hat stands for 'happy'..... |
As a trial I'm not even allowed to use the items that are unlocked under the games UPlay rewards system. I'm sure in the full game you can use them and a lot more at the start. But no change of cloths to make him look like Sam Fisher for me.
I've spent a little over an hour in the game and already there are a lot of little things that add up to turn me off the game. Besides the echo system the two biggest distractions for me were the XP bar and the enemy health bars.
The XP bar and levelling up a character is straight from any MMO. Kill NPC's to gain XP to level up.
That game mechanic in turn directly translates to reward a gameplay style as with other MMO's. A grind to reach better gear to grind more loot to get currency to grind for gear.
For me I found that like World of Warcraft I accept the mission/quest without reading it and just go off to the map location to kill/collect what you need. XP for doing, XP as a reward. XP lets me access skills and loot.
Once you are a certain level and facing off against enemies of a similar level in your 'zone' you may as well be playing an MMO.
I can't state how disappointing realising that in this game was for me.
If the XP, level grind wasn't bad enough, you have a health bar on NPC's. This like so much else throws out the immersion factor.
You don't play wow and think my sword would have lobed the head off that boar in one whack. You just whack until it's dead. The same is true for this game. Shoot until dead and don't think about anything like a simulation or tactical.
Equating any kind of simulation due to the franchise name is a massive no no. Bullet to the face does not equal a kill shot or more damage to that health bar. Like an MMO the looks of items are cosmetic.
Does this make the npc's bullet sponges like I've been hearing the internet scream about, in my view no. They are walking healthbar's. They are MMO mobs. To me a bullet sponge is an enemy that has no indication of a health bar so that you just keep firing till the npc is dead... too many bullets needed to do that is a bullet sponge. My view on that mechanic, semantics. This is no tactical sim. It's a pity because you can cripple enemies. Shoot them in the leg and they hobble etc. There was a tactical system hidden underneath.
What was even more annoying were the constant magazine reloads. With all the futuristic elements of this game you think they would have increased the magazine sizes. This game has some strange game mechanic implementations.
What's really, really annoying are the charging melee enemies. Like Kamikazes out of the sun, they feel the need to charge you full speed from what seems like out of nowhere.
Even for an injured player like me below, Melee combat seems overpowered.
Magic baseball bats, they hit harder than 60 rounds from an assault rifle.
Those melee npc's also bring up the point that this game is a cover shooter. There is no crouch key. Crouching only happens once you hit spacebar and your character goes into cover mode. Better to hang back, pick off the enemy as the melee charge, then clean up the other enemies. Enhance your combat with grenades and gadgets and you've cleared the area.
This game is an XP grind, gear grind with PvP and a dependence on multiplayer. Those elements are almost everything I veer away from as a game mechanic. I can tell I'd hate the dark zone.
My expectations of the game were those of getting into a tactical shooter in an open world. What you get is an MMO like zoned city. In all I spent just over an hour in this games trial and I'm not compelled in any way, shape or form to try some more. Glad to have tried it and seen for myself but equally glad I bet heavy on GRW and didn't go anywhere near The Division with cash.
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