Xbox One players may already be exploring a post-apocalyptic New York today, but tomorrow PC and PS4 players can get in on the action as well. Ubisoft is hosting an open beta for its upcoming third-person shooter/MMO The Division, doing some final bug fixes and trying to build excitement ahead of a March 8th release.
The Division is an interesting game — in some ways trying to enter that hybrid MMO console market created by Bungie’s Destiny, in others looking a lot more like a recognizable third-person cover shooter. I had a good time with the closed beta, clomping through the Dark Zone and admiring the snowy wastes of the abandoned New York City streets. The whole thing was pretty bleak — which I suppose is to be expected once the country has been decimated by a smallpox outbreak — but pretty nonetheless.
For many people, this weekend will be their first look at Ubisoft’s new world, but Ubisoft has made a whole bunch of changes since the closed beta. There’s some new content — not only will the developers be introducing a new flamethrower wielding faction called “The Cleaners,” they’re also giving us a new story mission, a new wing of HQ, a new skill in the form of a deployable turret.
The Dark Zone remains the most interesting part of the game, and Ubisoft has made some changes to its hybrid PvP/PvE zone as well. It’s significantly increased the number of non-player enemies, which should increase the opportunity for loot acquisition, but could also take some of the focus off of the PvP element. It’s also trying to make it slightly clearer whether or not other agents have actually “gone rogue” by killing other players, adding in some more warning systems so you don’t end up getting flagged as a player-killer just because someone wandered in front of your sights in a firefight.
Other than that, the major questions I have for this weekend concern stability: server stress tests are a big part of an open beta, and a game like this has to be a rock at launch to generate momentum in the future. If we see some nice, clean gameplay this weekend, it bodes well for the 8th.
Source : http://www.forbes.com
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