Tom Clancy's The Division

[Jason]

It looks like I'm in. I received an email from UPlay saying I had guaranteed access to the beta. I just need to wait for them to email me the key.

[Jason]

...kinda wish first person was at least an option.

I say the opposite about almost every first-person only shooter.

My son, who is a big COD fan, actually enjoys playing Battlefront more in third-person than first-person. I was very surprised about that.

[Brad Company]

With Battlefront, first person puts you at a disadvantage, along with ADS.

[Jason]

Just got my code for The Division Beta!

Update...downloading now.

[Jason]

With Battlefront, first person puts you at a disadvantage, along with ADS.

Why does first-person put you at a disadvantage in Battlefront? Is it different than first-person modes in other games?

[Brad Company]

With Battlefront, first person puts you at a disadvantage, along with ADS.

Why does first-person put you at a disadvantage in Battlefront? Is it different than first-person modes in other games?

Yep, field of view is limited and ADS has an unacceptable delay for the most part.
The long range weapons are a bit better w/ADS, the blasters not so much.
Your best bet in most situations is strafing in 3rd person w.o. ADS.
And chucking grenades. Never stop chucking grenades

[Jason]

Watching some live streams of The Division on Xbox One...I may end up not cancelling my pre-order.

[Jason]

Played for about 45 minutes before work this morning...the game is definitely a keeper. I love cover-based shooters.

[BDSooner72]

I love cover based shooters and this is no exception. Been awhile since I played a third person shooter but it came back to me an hour in. The gameplay itself felt like Uncharted, which is a good thing and also prepares me for Uncharted 4.  Plenty of cover, grenade incoming, dodge roll into next cover as you try to kill bullet-sponges. The AI was really aggressive and did not stay in once place very long. They flanked well and had some melee only guys that seemed to disregard any desire to make it to tomorrow.

(spoilerish)
The boss on the other hand never moved an inch, we just took turns waiting for each others clips to empty. He had a powerful weapon and my health was rock bottom, so it took a while to finish that one.
(/spoilerish)

The icing on the cake are all the RPG elements, many that we never got to play with. That will be what extends the game for the single player guys like me over a game like Uncharted where you mainly go back to pick up treasure items missed or a reply on a higher difficulty because it is a more linear story focused experience. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Only got to play in the Dark Zone for a couple minutes before the servers reset.  Killed a couple AI guys and that was it, did not run into a human.

The game is also absolutely gorgeous, especially when outdoors. From the day night cycle to when you get that first snowfall.

Some issues:

No crouch button? Seems like a really odd decision for a tactical shooter.
Why is it every AI Enemy becomes the second coming of Dan Marino when tossing a grenade? Would it kill you to have a grenade get over/under thrown or hit something? it's a far to common problem in the cover based games. Yes you want us to move around and if the enemy AI does it's job properly you do not have to use this crutch.

That was my impressions of the Beta. I have deleted it since I feel quite comfortable in my pre-order. Would rather just wait and play the final product to do all the extra missions I left untouched.

[Jason]

Nice write-up.

I just spent an hour trying to get past all the guys in MSG and couldn't do it. I got pissed off and turned it off. Looks like I'm going to need a party to get past most of the levels.

[Jason]

Finally gave up on the MSG mission after about 35 tries (literally) and started exploring the other available areas in the demo. As Brent mentioned, the outdoor graphics really are impressive, especially during the day. I haven't read much about the map, but I'm curious to see how accurate it is compared to the real Manhattan once the game is released.

[Brad Company]

No Dark Zone for you?

[Jason]

Nope...never made it there. To be honest, I had forgotten about even looking for it until you mentioned it in this post.