I played in the closed beta on my Xbox One a few weeks back. Starting on the 19th (18th for Xbox One), there will be an open beta.
Now that I have a PC capable of running it, I will be playing on both the Xbox One and PC.
So far, it seems interesting. RPG shooter, loot oriented. You could compare it to Destiny, but it's 3rd person, and there are fewer load screens. Also, the open world area is single player or players in your group, only. The only place you'll run into other players, randomly, is in the Dark Zone PvEvP (player vs environment and vs player) area.
The concept is more near future, where someone (group, government, something) has contaminated a ton of money in NYC on Black Friday with a version of Smallpox; and the players are part of a secret government organization called The Division. So players enter, and have the single player/group story areas to try and bring NYC back under control.
There are enemy factions that have taken advantage of the ensuing chaos. The Rioters are pretty self explanatory. The Rikers are escaped convicts from Rikers Island Prison. The Cleaners are former NYC public workers who have decided the only way to eradicate the virus is to kill and burn anyone contaminated, or who might be contaminated. And there is a PMC faction, as well, made up of former soldiers now working for a PMC who have decided to make NYC theirs.
PvE content, so far, has random encounters, missions for the main story, and missions to gain supplies for the base of operations. PvP content is the Dark Zone, where players can attack other players and steal any contaminated loot they have picked up and haven't extracted.
The Dark Zone is interesting. Up to 24 players (as of now, this may go up in the final release) are all in the same zone, fighting enemies and looking for loot. But, they can also turn on each other, if they choose. Doing so makes them 'go rogue', where they have disavowed The Division by attacking others who are, ostensibly, on the same side as them. Once rogue, players have a timer that they must wait out; but until then, they will be marked on minimaps, and even through walls, for non-rogue players. Killing a rogue earns a reward; surviving as a rogue until the timer expires also earns a reward.
Any gear picked up in the Dark Zone is contaminated with the Smallpox virus, and must be extracted via helicopter at specific areas on the map before they can be used. This gear is also not bound to the player in any way until it is extracted. As such, if players die, either by NPCs or other players, that gear not extracted becomes a drop other players can pick up. Extractions called in are also notified to other players in the area, and take 90 seconds to come in, which can encourage PvP.
In the previous beta, the Dark Zone wasn't extremely solo player friendly, but was great fun in groups of 3 or 4. There also weren't a lot of NPCs, but this is changing in this open beta (this was the same in the PvE areas, so hopefully this will also be addressed).
There is also a crafting system in place, but last beta had no possibility of using it, and I don't think this one will, either.
Anyone thinking of trying out the open beta? If so, I'll be UTGRSam on Xbox One and unclethursday on the PC. We can get together and see how it works.
Now that I have a PC capable of running it, I will be playing on both the Xbox One and PC.
So far, it seems interesting. RPG shooter, loot oriented. You could compare it to Destiny, but it's 3rd person, and there are fewer load screens. Also, the open world area is single player or players in your group, only. The only place you'll run into other players, randomly, is in the Dark Zone PvEvP (player vs environment and vs player) area.
The concept is more near future, where someone (group, government, something) has contaminated a ton of money in NYC on Black Friday with a version of Smallpox; and the players are part of a secret government organization called The Division. So players enter, and have the single player/group story areas to try and bring NYC back under control.
There are enemy factions that have taken advantage of the ensuing chaos. The Rioters are pretty self explanatory. The Rikers are escaped convicts from Rikers Island Prison. The Cleaners are former NYC public workers who have decided the only way to eradicate the virus is to kill and burn anyone contaminated, or who might be contaminated. And there is a PMC faction, as well, made up of former soldiers now working for a PMC who have decided to make NYC theirs.
PvE content, so far, has random encounters, missions for the main story, and missions to gain supplies for the base of operations. PvP content is the Dark Zone, where players can attack other players and steal any contaminated loot they have picked up and haven't extracted.
The Dark Zone is interesting. Up to 24 players (as of now, this may go up in the final release) are all in the same zone, fighting enemies and looking for loot. But, they can also turn on each other, if they choose. Doing so makes them 'go rogue', where they have disavowed The Division by attacking others who are, ostensibly, on the same side as them. Once rogue, players have a timer that they must wait out; but until then, they will be marked on minimaps, and even through walls, for non-rogue players. Killing a rogue earns a reward; surviving as a rogue until the timer expires also earns a reward.
Any gear picked up in the Dark Zone is contaminated with the Smallpox virus, and must be extracted via helicopter at specific areas on the map before they can be used. This gear is also not bound to the player in any way until it is extracted. As such, if players die, either by NPCs or other players, that gear not extracted becomes a drop other players can pick up. Extractions called in are also notified to other players in the area, and take 90 seconds to come in, which can encourage PvP.
In the previous beta, the Dark Zone wasn't extremely solo player friendly, but was great fun in groups of 3 or 4. There also weren't a lot of NPCs, but this is changing in this open beta (this was the same in the PvE areas, so hopefully this will also be addressed).
There is also a crafting system in place, but last beta had no possibility of using it, and I don't think this one will, either.
Anyone thinking of trying out the open beta? If so, I'll be UTGRSam on Xbox One and unclethursday on the PC. We can get together and see how it works.
