The open beta for Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 has ended. Unlike with the previous closed beta, everyone had a chance of trying the game out this time, which opened up the game to the critique of a worldwide audience. If there is anything in the world that rarely forgives and never holds back, it’s the gaming community! Therefore, putting a game out for open beta is the equivalent of putting your creation up for critique in front of millions of critics who refuse to tolerate any flaw! A bold move, one might say! It definitely is that! A high risk, high reward move that is becoming increasingly more popular in gaming.
The main question is simple – did The Division 2 open beta show enough to get the community even more excited for the release date? That much is for sure! Even those who may not have been sold on the game were often left wanting for more after going through the content provided in the beta. This not only means that the developers did not go overboard with the content they have out with the beta but that the content we got was good enough to satisfy the unsatisfiable community!
What is it that keeps us intrigued and waiting for the release of The Division 2 on the 15th of March?
A 40-hour long campaign!
The amount of gameplay we got in the open beta was very limited and short, as per usual with this kind of thing. However, that cannot be said about the campaign that awaits once the game is officially released! According to the developers, the campaign is going to be 40 hours long! Sure, the developers have been known to exaggerate on the length of their campaigns in the past. However, it is still more than reasonable to think that it will take at least 30 to 35 hours for experienced players in the shooting genre to make their way through The Division 2 story. This is still a very lengthy campaign! Just how lengthy? It’s about twice as long as the one found in the first game of the series, The Division!
Better AI in The Division 2!
Over the years, the AI in video games has always been known to be weak, stupid, or unbalanced. That was also the case, at least to some degree, in The Division where your enemies were extremely cowardly and would rarely come after you, opting to stay behind cover instead. This is not the case in The Division 2! The differences were evident in the beta, where the AI posed a much greater challenge than in its predecessor. In fact, the enemy would often outsmart the player, have better positioning, and even use their grenades and gadgets efficiently.
Of course, the chinks in their armor are going to be quickly exposed once the game is released and the most experienced player will likely not have too much of an issue overcoming the AI in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. However, it is evident that it will pose quite the challenge to the lesser skilled players and beating them may finally feel as rewarding as overcoming other players in a PvP environment! Even though the solo mode in the previous game was not something that was heavily criticized in the past, any type of improvement is always welcome!
Ubisoft is striving to improve before releasing The Division 2
More often than not, releasing a beta of a game before the full title is released is more of an advertising campaign than a bid to test the game out. This is evident in a number of recent releases that have had multiple issues in their beta that were not even close to being fixed when they were out. However, Ubisoft’s plan to first come out with a private, then an open beta is designed not only to promote the game they’re releasing but also to seek out any issues that may arise and fix them as much as possible. Ensuring that The Division 2 runs smoothly upon release is obviously a top priority for Ubisoft, which is a good indication of what to expect when it comes to maintaining the game in the future!
One of the most prominent issues during the private beta was the login queue times that were rather long, especially considering that only a very limited player base had access to the beta. However, the open beta took us by surprise by having no serious issues with queue time whatsoever! The scarcity of special ammo in The Division 2 private beta was also fixed, as such the amount of such ammo felt sufficient and did not take away from the fun in the game. The developers have also repeatedly said that all of the updates and new content for the game are going to be free for the first year! All of these combined provide a single, very important message – Ubisoft has the quality of the game as their absolute top priority both upon release and in the immediate future!
It is NOT an extension of the first game!
For one reason or another, The Division 2 has gathered criticism by some people saying that it is merely a standalone expansion to the original game rather than an actual unique title. However, it is evident that such people never had a glance beyond the surface of the game!
Are the character animations somewhat similar? Can the lighting effects be similar to those in the original game? Sure, but they were some of the best things about the game, so why try fixing what’s not broken! However, the story campaign, the map, the UI, even the AI as mentioned above, all of them are new and upgraded from the previous game! If anything, The Division 2 has kept only the very best features of the original game, which ought to be celebrated instead of criticized!
Barring any major issues in the areas of the game that were not revealed in the open beta, The Division 2 looks to be one of the most exciting and promising titles throughout the whole year, which says a lot considering that it promises to be one of the biggest years in gaming!
