PixlBit

The thing that I immediately liked about The Division beta was the sense of urgency it created. Unlike other open worlds where you are allowed to take your time and pick off quests at your leisure, The Division made me feel like I needed to sprint across the city to stop whatever problem was happening right away, like a fireman searching for small fires. In between missions, there were shootouts and looters to deal with, putting even more action directly in your path. Once you get to an actual mission location, they are pretty good about putting the pressure on you from beginning to end, usually ending with a tough boss battle. I really liked the pacing of it all. It kept me in the game a lot longer than I was expecting.

When I was sprinting towards the second mission in the game, The Subway station, the sky was dark and it was overcast and foggy, with heavy snowfall. I could barely see where I was going, and it gave me the feeling of Silent Hill. Another day, I revisited the same mission but it was clear skies and I can see the detail in the environments much clearer than the day prior. It's a nice detail that I found surprisingly immersive.

The story reminds me of Bloodborne. Unlike previous Souls games that were more post-apocolyptic, the apocolypse in Bloodborne was happening in real time and you had a front row seat to witness the chaos in the streets of Yharnem when you start out. Same thing with The Division, as a virus outbreak has created mass panick in the streets and you have to deal with an angry populous with guns, as well as whoever the bad guys are wielding flame throwers and machine guns trying to destroy the infected. There are some side missions that deal with missing persons amidst all the crazy stuff to fill in more of the narrative. It's kind of like Racoon City in Resident Evil as the virus outbreak begins to spread. 

Overall, I like the 'end of the world' as its happening setting and think they got the sense of panic just right. I wasn't expecting a lot from the game, and it might be lighter on story than gameplay, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  

-asreal