The Division – so is it good?

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Craig M

I have spent just over a week with this heavily hyped and eagerly awaited online RPG shooter. The Division pits you as an agent called into help clean up the streets of New York of thugs and looters following a deadly pandemic. As previously reported on here, I tried out both the closed and open betas and enjoyed them…but the main game opens up that experience massively and presents a very detailed and darkly believable world.

So what’s it actually like to play? Firstly creating your agent is a little basic but it gives you enough tools to form your own identity, complete with hair styles, male or female genders, tattoos, facial scars, facial hair etc. You can also swap the clothing throughout the game to various aesthetic-only effect, and it is fun if a little less appealing than the various appearances on offer in Destiny surprisingly.

Secondly I like the game’s initial mechanic of updating your base of operations based on resources earned from various themed missions…rescue a medic, rescue a tech guy and recue a security guy etc. It’s absorbing and makes the player seek out particular missions to gain particular resources. For an online based game its a great single-player incentive. The game also offers up a wealth of side missions which vary in detail but can get quite challenging too. The game is also split into various districts that are set at certain levels that you’re best avoiding if your character’s level isn’t high enough. One shot kills are plentiful if you dare to enter these areas at a low level.

The multiplayer portion of the game is fairly seamless and if like me you don’t have actual friends to jump into a game with, match making with a group is easy and works well, with communication only partially necessary as the missions mostly lead you by the hand amidst being assaulted by various enemies and objectives. On the other hand the ‘darkzone’ is not such an easily accessible place and I haven’t really had the opportunity to jump in with a team, so therefore solo excursions have meant many deaths and little to no reward as of yet. It remains enticing, especially with the prospect of exotic loot, but for now it’s on the back burner.

It’s a game I think will take up a lot of the players time and the world is highly detailed, full of atmosphere with lots of areas to explore and random encounters to help build up your stats as you find supplies, kill bad guys and have fun. New York City is impressively realised, that visual downgrade hardly an issue anymore as this game is a real looker; weather effects, state-of-the-art lighting and superb textures and animations all helping immersion. One slight issue is some pretty bad pop-in especially when leaving a safe house or underground area and reaching the street – but I’m sure it’s a visual hiccup that can be patched. I’m playing it on the PS4.

The gameplay itself, despite a strong narrative and interesting back stories and solid gunplay can get repetitive, and samey enemies seem to be a factor that you keep encountering again and again. The various factions in the game add some variety, but the way you take them on is pretty much the same every time. As with any MMORPG (which this is to some extent) it’s a concept and a game world that hopefully will grow and develop as time goes on. I am enjoying it a great deal if you hadn’t realised and am only looking forward to what the developers come up with to further add to the experience.

Will The Division be good?

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Craig M

I have the game coming next Tuesday and to be honest I’m a little apprehensive. The two Betas that we had were ok, and the gameplay and combat seemed good…but I’m still not entirely sure how interesting the final game will end up being. Will it be a game that only really comes alive when playing co-operatively, or will it work just as well (or well enough) in single player? The world it depicts that of a post-virus outbreak near-future New York is certainly compelling and developer Massive Games has done a great job of bringing New York to gritty life, but the wow-factor of the first reveal and the final graphical downgrade still stings me.

I have been playing a lot of Destiny lately and enjoy it on an exploration and character developing basis, and the various missions whilst a bit samey are still fun with solid gunplay mechanics and an interesting world. Yet that has several large planet environments to explore and therefore gives some variety to the surroundings. The Division on the other hand just has New York and as well realised as the city environment may be, for a game that is meant to last for a long time, several years in fact … one admittedly huge environment is still that – one environment. I’m sure the various areas and districts will have their own flavour, but at this stage I’m wondering about the game’s lasting appeal for months to come. It also niggles me the developer’s focus on The Dark Zone, a multiplayer PVP environment that for me, was never the big pull of this game and turns it into basically another multiplayer shooter but with loot and a few NPC characters to shoot. It’s interesting but the developer seems way too focused on it and less focused on the game’s narrative or single player / co-operative experience outside the ‘dark zone’.

I’ll offer a more rounded opinion on the game once I have played a fair bit of the final product. At the moment though I’m a little less excited than I should be. I’ll leave you with the launch trailer…

The Division beta – impressions

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Craig M

One of the most hyped games for this year has to be Tom Clancy’s The Division, an open-world MMORPG set in a locked down New York after a pandemic outbreak. I got access to the beta of the game over the weekend after pre-ordering, and I must admit it’s very good indeed. I haven’t actually managed to partake in some of the much talked about co-op gameplay or the PVP dark zone sections, but just exploring the disaster-stricken New York streets, taking on scavenger gangs and completing side missions as well as the beta’s main mission … has been a lot of fun.

screenshot captured directly from my PS4

Visually the game has had a bit of a downgrade since the initial E3 reveal but that was to be expected considering the game was first shown before the Xbox One and PS4 were even released. But with that in mind, how do the visuals stack up in this near-finished version? Very good indeed actually. There are a ton of effects at work, impressive weather such as wind & snow considering the game is set at Christmas, and a wealth of detail on buildings, the road, and cars (yes you can still close that car door, folks!). The lighting is very atmospheric and with what appears to be a dynamic weather and day / night cycle the game shows off it’s true beauty the more you play it.

screenshot captured directly from my PS4

Gameplay-wise (with similarities to Destiny) you create your character (well, their face and gender but I didn’t do much with this aspect when first booting up the game), and then are introduced to the world, following the storyline of an agent flown into the crisis and having to make his (or her) way to the base of operation – a hub environment that you enhance and develop as you go on missions and complete tasks. It’s a good idea and one that will mean there’s more than just a develop character / stats excuse to keep on playing. I wonder if this is the only base of operation or if there will be others in different areas the player can develop? The core shooting feels good too, with an excellent cover-based mechanic that enables the player to run to various areas of cover very easily, making for some exciting encounters. The character / NPC designs are very detailed and slickly animated making this game feel very next-gen overall. I think it will be a game that could become quite addictive also as more missions become available and various quests are discovered. The enemy characters at this stage seem quite samey (all violent hoodies it seems) but that could change once the game is out and we could get boss fights. It’s too early to be sure though.

For now The Division is looking to be a solid game to invest a ton of time in so I can’t wait till March 8th!

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt impressions

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Craig M

Probably the most anticipated game of the year. CD Project Red’s long awaited follow up to the award winning Witcher 2: Assassin Of Kings takes the series full open world RPG and is the most ambitious project the acclaimed studio have ever under took.

But the important thing here, beyond the hype is for a fairly take them or leave them fan of RPGs, how does it play? I chose to pick up (or more specifically download) the Xbox One version, and after about seven hours with it, I can confidently say … this game has me hooked. Think a cross between Red Dead Redemption, The Elder Scrolls series and to some extent Assassin’s Creed and you sort of get the idea. You play as Geralt, a bad-ass monster hunter or Witcher; feared, respected and reviled in equal measure. The quest kicks off with you in search of the sorceress Yennifer; a former lover of Geralt’s who he’s been tracking for years and is close to catching up with her. Also you are on the look out for your prodigy Witcher / sorcerer Ciri, who we meet in the flashback prologue where you train her as a child. The story holds many twists and turns however, places to visit monsters to hunt and kill for bounty, and a massive, highly detailed world to explore and get lost in.

Launch trailer

This kind of game for me can be a little daunting and I’ll admit it took a while to really get into. The fighting controls are a little unwieldy at first until you get your head around them and learn to throw in magic and protection spells with your swordplay. Yet with plenty of character customization, potions to brew and abilities to unlock … this becomes a very deep and engrossing experience that I’ve really only touched the surface of.

On the Xbox One it looks fantastic. One of the most impressive aspects is the weather and the lighting, how trees blow in the wind, rain fall, mist rolls across the land and moonlight bleeds in through the trees (or eye-burning sunlight). Also add the sheer detail to houses, villages, grass, very realistic water and the wealth of creatures and monsters … and a myriad of interesting folk and characters. This is a joy to behold. There are a few (minor) fluctuations in frame rate and occasional pop-in or glitches, and the game did freeze on me once after dying. So it’s not perfect, but for the scale and number of things going on it’s still an impressive technical achievement that will only get smoother and more polished with future patches.

Screenshot captured directly from my Xbox One

Anyone after a long, rewarding and deep game to really get involved in, then you can’t go wrong with this epic RPG. It has it all and I’m sure will throw up many surprises and memorable situations as I progress. It’s out now for PC, PS4 and XB1. So what you waiting for? Time to kick some monster ass and break some hearts.

Final Fantasy XIII – impressions

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Craig M

Let me begin by saying that I have only played a few hours of this latest epic RPG from developer Square-Enix. The last game in the series I played was Final Fantasy VIII, and before that the much celebrated Final Fantasy VII. None of which I might add, did I complete. I have never completed an RPG as they tend to be games you keep in your collection from months, at first addicted to and then just dipping in and out of as their initial wow-factor wains.

Over five years in the making, from the minute I switched on, it was clear to me that this was something special. From the production values, including beautiful CG movies and breath-taking scenery, to the finely detailed character and enemy art, there has clearly been a lot of time and money spent on crafting this game. To play it is basically a gradual learning curve with a detailed tutorial system to get your head around an at first, basic battle system that allows you to attack enemies in real-time with the use of the ATB (Active Time Battle) gauge, an ever increasing metre on the screen that fills up and in the time it takes to fill you must assign attacks to unleash on your enemies. Anyone used to the mechanics of RPG games will take to the system straight away, and thankfully not too much is expected from the player from the off-set, more over the system increases in complexity as your progress, and you’ll grow your understanding of it as you play.

I only really struggled when I had to fight my first major boss character, and had to hone my skill at the system, which admittedly took some doing. You see the system is all about knowing how to time your attacks and defence correctly – grasp this and you’ll be making your way past deadly enemies in no time, but the complexities don’t stop there, as there is also a very deep upgrading system to improve your characters abilities and weapons, which will surely see me getting enthralled for months to come.

The game itself is centred around a group of (as ever) likable, colourful characters, lead by Lightening, a female soldier who becomes embroiled in a struggle against warring factions from two different planets; Cocoon and the barely explored, much feared home world of Pulse. The story is typical of Japanese RPGs, complicated, emotional and very hard to explain – so google it if you are curious. I personally am loving it, and am really enjoying the branching storylines of the various characters – which certainly keeps proceedings interesting.

(Update: 17/03/2010):

Well I am about 12-13 hours into the game, and although the game felt somewhat dumbed down from previous installments, I was kept hooked by the graphical splendour and the story, and now I have hit the 10+ hour mark, the game’s complexities are beginning to reveal themselves. I’ll warn you – this game is a grower, and if you’re initially after a deep and complex RPG from the get-go, this will at first seem rather basic. But fear not! I assure you with the crystarium, the weapon-upgrading and the battle system with the gradual addition of summons, this turns into the Final Fantasy that fans have adored for years. I defend the choice to go linear for those that aren’t used to the style of RPG games, and to be honest from my own experience with them, they can be rather alienating unless you have lots of time and patience, which in this day and age, few do, especially with other commitments like work or school. I salute Square-Enix for designing a game that pulls you in slowly, doesn’t blind you with complicated gameplay mechanics, but settles you in before revealing it’s intricacies. You may feel like it’s too linear or dumbed down, but it’s far from that, it’s just trying to appeal to a wider audience, and for once loosing none of its identity in the process.