As for the game itself well it's Division 1 with some tweaks but still many of the same flaws although overall I would probably enjoy it.
(Sticky cover mechanics are the main flaw so far same as the first game, either the guy leaves cover too easily or absolutely refuses to even consider leaving cover or taking cover at all.)
EDIT: White and blue and a fucking Dala Häst, it's like the Tourist Trap 2000 van or something.
(Is there a moose too anywhere on that thing? It's about the only thing missing.)
What's running in the background would be my first thought.
The game switched from Fairfight (Online server checks and stats coupled with some features such as screenshots.) to EAC or Easy Anti Cheat which should just strip the handles from programs trying to interfere with the game but it will also interfere a bit and might just crash if there are other problematic software that don't take nicely to how this is achieved.
Beyond that there are files in the beta folder from Windows 10 Redstone 5 though it should also run on Windows 8 and 8.1 and defaults to DirectX 11 though for Win10 it might need RS5 or newer. (DXIL.dll from the SDK and shader compiler for D3D.)
EDIT: Ah so GFE again, well that was resolved at least.
That's a known issue with the build for the beta or so they are claiming, periodic restarts are needed or it will crash though the server side seems a bit prone to errors too as it will frequently disconnect you during hiccups. Nothing uncommon during beta but it was a thing with the first game for some time after the actual launch too which I hope won't be repeated but eh it's probably going to see some downtime and unscheduled maintenance before it all gets sorted out and can be completely smooth for the end user.
Different map, less bullet sponge enemies, maybe better gunplay, (because of former), enemies at least seem to try to flank you more etc. but well not really enough to convince I guess.
The setting of divison 1 was more atmospheric.
Why would someone who doesnt own division 1 buy division 2 if he/she can get divison 1 much cheaper and prolly with more content?
It is brighter as a result of the different time of day and various lighting changes though there is also a slower texture streaming mechanic so it can take a while for texture quality to reach full detail.
No Gameworks in this one and there's less flashing signs and such so the NY lighting and reflections especially during night are gone.
Overall I find the game to look very similar to the first game so ~2014 or around there but the missing snow ambience kinda hurts and the vegetation is nothing special though it's fun to see a different environment for the Snowdrop engine as such.
The more organic map and layout of encounters and little events is welcome too, no more small zones of lootable resources and spawned in enemies and it feels more natural although that also means stuff is spread all over when it comes to finding lootable containers and there's more crafting and upgrade resources than ever.
EDIT: As for comparing the two Divisions well.
DIV1
The character menu, took out the UI though.
I don't have one for Division 2 (EAC so I can't take out the UI via third party tools.) but in comparison this one is darker.
https://i.imgur.com/Uy2W4wh.jpg
The echo recordings, these still exist but it's more black & white this time rather than orange and blue.
https://i.imgur.com/nv7BuHw.jpg
CERA hazard disposal vans and garbage, loved the amount of clutter Div1 had on the streets and the detail of the city overall.
https://i.imgur.com/WuU6hsn.jpg
Times Square, one of the bigger showcases for the reflections and the displays and such lighting up the nights in this game as you wandered the city.
https://i.imgur.com/e7xMg4x.jpg
The map though with the UI hidden, the character position and overlay could be in the way at times and making navigation a bit messy but I liked the effect overall.
https://i.imgur.com/oAiey9C.jpg
One of the earlier missions in the tunnels, also shows some of the street art used in this game which so far I've not found any in Div2 yet.
https://i.imgur.com/ZaJfWDb.jpg
An interior area, these usually contained loot mainly cosmetic clothing items and minor supplies but could be surprisingly detailed even for smaller rooms.
https://i.imgur.com/BK7ZWNi.jpg
More city streets at night also showing the fog and smoke effect, liked how wind and light interacted with said smoke back in the day.
https://i.imgur.com/idzUzLZ.jpg
Tunnels, these existed in Div1 as well and mostly contained loot and random water treatment missions along with some few other bits and some missions also took place underground, here it seems they're a haven for loot.
https://i.imgur.com/cXe29ek.jpg
Starting area just before the White House at least for the beta, refugee or evacuation camp of some sort and lots of military remnants though there's also a market and some Christmas decorations likely alluding to Div1 I'm guessing.
https://i.imgur.com/o9MbcGE.jpg
Checkpoint and a location for a side mission but it's out of the beta border zone so this is far as as can be reached by getting the camera drone just over it and a little bit into the zone.
https://i.imgur.com/KSLMWvU.jpg
Another similar situation at the edge of the playable area, a sort of monument here and some clutter and the brighter light makes things look a tad washed out I suppose.
https://i.imgur.com/OklZm08.jpg
More random junk really, some sign humor and other bits scattered about similar to the Swedish Meat food wagon above.
https://i.imgur.com/pGdJu2k.jpg
Inside of the area, texture streaming isns't quite kicking in or maybe it's just that blurry but this is right on the edge and was a bit tricky to reach due to the 3 second timer and forced respawn for crossing the beta playable area zone.
https://i.imgur.com/lpg32aF.jpg
Early morning showing the god-ray light beam effect in all it's framerate killing glory I suppose, some vegetation too and a park but it can't be reached since it hits the edge of the map again which is mainly two early level zones in a more urban environment.
https://i.imgur.com/OjFZrpz.jpg
Poking holes in the area and objects to check on the destructibility of the objects which same as Division 1 you can make holes in most objects though it serves no purpose since you can't really destroy cover and similar for flanking or shooting through as the game still treats it as a full physical obstruction so it's visual only and a waste of ammo if anything but the handgun is used.
https://i.imgur.com/OrGq539.jpg
EDIT:
And that's the basic boring descriptions out of the way, not a bad looker I suppose but yeah Division 1.5 sort-of with some additions and tweaks but much of the same too including some similar problems like a problematic PC UI and over sensitive cover mechanics ha ha.
Overall yeah the snowy setting will be missed and the strong light and spring environment here does make for a kinda blander more washed out looking visual experience of sorts.
These are just some of the zones in the game though but we'll see. Even after the downgrade it's not quite the wow factor that the first game had but it's also releasing on the same (console) hardware so there are perhaps limits from that as well.
EDIT: Aside from the visuals though there's also the gameplay and that's going to be interesting to see more from, tomorrow the end-game stuff should start unlocking giving beta players access to some level 30 content and yea verily everything be a tank.
Perhaps, maybe a bit less tanky than the first game prior to toning it down slightly via the world ranking introduction and other balance passes from patches.
And the above images aren't really direct comparisons, rank through Division 1 about two weeks ago to see how it was and partway through I focused less on snapping images and just shooting the enemies and wrapping up the missions again and testing stuff the pier zones and such briefly.
Content updates (Central Park what?) and good support and patches and server side maintenance and all that will be important for the sequel. Will be interesting to see how it goes over the year and player reception to the full game. It's not terrible but it is very much like what's already on offer in the first game.
Last edited by JBeckman on Thu, 7th Feb 2019 23:46; edited 3 times in total
The UI is still trash
The graphics look worse than in The Division.
The sound design is so bad.
etc.
I wonder why this game skipped Steam?
Haha
I just watched some gameplay videos, my interest for this one has reached the iconic wouldn't touch it with a bargepole/10
I think Ubi knew about it already after my brief experience with the first Division's beta, they must have tracked my face's disgruntled expression and decided to spare me the additional pain. My account is probably sitting on some sort of blacklisted pile with the "do not disturb with anything Calancy 201X-related" tag slapped over it, and that's perfectly fine!
FOV slider wouldn't hurt either but that seems to be a rarity in games nowadays.
EAC and it's strict whitelisting probably ensures third party programs aren't going to happen especially giving any kind of gameplay advantage unfortunately.
And this is your characters backside...taking up about 40 - 50% of the image total when you are trying to aim.
(Low FOV can be a bit ass but there's no need to dive right in there.)
(And then for first person it's like look at this big gun, look at it! Ha ha.)
Not too sure what to think of it yet. The more I play the more I like it though.
I miss the snowy scenary. The graphics look worse IMO. But with a bit of tweaking (for me: 10 brightness, 20 contrast, HDR off) it looks the best so far. I always get mixed results with any HDR, wether on my TV or on my monitor, dunno, just don't like it.
Without tweaking the contrast the game looks too washed out. Also, having a sharpness setting the game either looks too blurry or too sharp. I don't understand why the add sharpness and contrast controls and not simply set it to the way they envision the game was suppose to look like.
That put aside, the performance is ok. Everything maxed out at 3840x1080, don't know my frames but it runs smooth.
I have to agree on what was said. It's more like a TD1.5. What I like most is the changes to inventory/crafting. I remember in TD1 that I had my whole stash full of various mods and it was so tedious to sort through all the crap.
The skills feel clunky and partly useless.
I don't have anything else to play at the moment and for me personally there is nothing good coming out anytime soon. I might get TD2 and if I don't, I guess I sell my rig and start looking for a new hobby. Maybe I'm just getting old but all the latest and greatest games don't hold my attention any more.
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