I've taken the dive and paid for a Division key. So far 10 hours in, and quite enjoying it. Maybe I can turn some of the negativity here around, but my experience may change (10 hrs aint that much). Disclaimer: I did NOT go into the Division with the expectation of a very deep MMORPG with guns. It's not deep. It will never be, it's Ubisoft boys.
- Matchmaking services work very well and tie in fluidly, load screens are present but they do allow you to get teleported to the part of the team already in the mission you want to play. It's a nice sneaky way to avoid travelling on foot a long time. Either way, the tech behind matchmaking is solid, and pings are OK in group.
- Good old Ubisoft game elements are present but not as glaringly copy/pasted as they were in AC > Watch Dogs. There are environmental puzzles in the shape of timed missions that have you walk through buildings and rooftops to find a switch. The game uses its mechanics to present challenges in side missions and events, the vast majority of which you have already done before in some other Ubisoft game. The similarities between WD and Division are sometimes striking, sometimes vaguely similar.
- The Division has a slower pace than most other parkour-like open world Ubi games. Some movement and interaction feels a bit clunky (containers can only be approached from the front, or the context button won't work) The challenge in encounters is definitely there, however. Currently level 12, and I've had multiple encounters that really forced a different approach. What I really liked is how the different weapon types are really different, also in playstyle. Snipers really do work. Close combat specialists with a shotgun can really make a dent. Flanking and separating from the group for surprise moves really does have its effect. And the skill trees are quite to the point, offering useful abilities that provide synergy and promote the group working together. If I judge this game for what it has shown me up until now, I say it's a very solid mix between RPG progression and a tactical/cover based shooter. The mechanics work, they are fun to work with, and there is complexity within this simplicity - the learning curve isn't steep, but a smart player can really do more than the stupid one.
- Teammates are generally retarded. But hey, welcome to PUGing, nothing new here
All in all I would urge you all to give it a go, just get a cheap key somewhere, I do feel 35 bucks is a justified price for this game, it's content complete, it has fun mechanics, and the repetitive nature is broken up by the mix of solo and open world versus instanced team missions, and the progression curve that unlocks new weapons and abilities as you go along.
Is it a GOTY? Far from it.
Oh, would almost forget: PERFORMANCE
on my system, with some tweaks, I've got solid 60 fps on a 780ti / 3570k@ 4.2Ghz. Occasional drop to 55 but very rarely so, with some minor tweaks from ultra > high on a variety of settings. Pretty much undiscernable from all ultra btw. The real bottleneck seems to be CPU, 4 cores at 100% most of the time. 120fps is a pipe dream
Luckily the game doesn't really need that.
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