Sort of TL;DR version: If you want a third person shooter with RPG mechanics like stats and gearing up your character with a side of Open World PvP, then go ahead and buy it. If you're looking for a engaging storyline with amazing characters, you're better of waiting for the next Mass Effect. If you want a challenging game, then this game is also for you. Hard Mode and Challenge mode are not easy but they aren't complex in any way either. Everything has Matchmaking. Long Version: The RPG mechanics are solid because stats actually do matter here like it should. You can either stack up health to be somewhat of a Tank, stack DPS gear to bring down enemy fast, build up your skill power so that your abilities get stronger or you can build a hybrid but I'm not sure how good that is. The game is pretty rewarding but RNG can suck sometimes. If you kill a boss at a higher level with friends, lets say level cap being 30, everyone gets rewarded Purples. The bad part about it since stats actually do matter and you're trying to get a specific build, you may end up getting something that doesn't work for said build. The story is all over the place and what makes it interesting is the videos you get after completing each mission. You can do the missions in any order, it just makes it worse if you want to follow up a chronological order. I know some mission are of higher level but you're not restricted to doing them with other players that don't mind carrying you. The Side missions are literally copy paste of one another, especially the encounters. Its either defend this or that, go here and kill everyone, or survive for a certain amount of time. Not surprised there since Ubisoft does this in every open world they make and use the lazy route. The Dark Zone can be either more of the same or a really fun experience. If you're stuck in a lobby that is either almost empty or nobody going rouge, you'll be left with nothing left than killing the same NPC all over again. If not, then you're going to have some highly tense moments whether you're a rouge or chasing one or more. Side things: Crafting is in the game but its nothing too hard since there's only a handful of materials. You can re-roll stats but I'm not doing that until I'm geared. Upgrading the Base of Operations has no real impact other than giving you Abilities, Talents and Perks. There's tons of items to collect around the world that add up to what happened or is happening during the story. Some are interesting. Overall its a fun game but not sure if it will last more than a month for me considering I know if Ubisoft integrates "Raids", they will just make even more bullet sponge bosses with no real mechanics.

Anyone who says it sucks balls and that anyone playing it is an idiot, is an idiot. Anyone who says it is the greatest game currently in existence and will kill destiny and dress inappropriately at destiny's funeral, is also an idiot. It is quite a decent game. It has a reasonably engaging story, fun (and useful) player skills and while I myself have not yet entered the dark zones I have heard they are not the land of backstabbing betty's it was initially claimed that they would become, like you see in GTA online. There are obviously issues, like the clunky cover system which, in my opinion, is a little too fussy (requiring you to hold X or equivalent when jumping between cover to initiate the jump, but then also requiring you to keep holding X or equivalent to complete the move otherwise your character just stops where they are) but nothing too serious. All up the pro's far outweigh the con's, and if the devs treat it with the care it deserves, it could definitely overcome many of the con's to become one of the great games of this console generation. So far my personal experiences with the game have ranged 7.5-8.5 out of 10. Some areas have room for improvement, but it's definitely a worthy addition to your games library.

I walked past an open car door this morning on my way to work, very tempted to run up to it and shut it

It's a solid RPG. I don't want to point it out too much, but practically every major thing that's been requested on these forums, has in some way been implemented in the Division. It has item and weapon crafting. It has diverse and re-rollable stats. Diverse missions with informative dialog. In-game, audio and video lore. Complete, head to toe vanity items. Gear-sets with compounding stats will be introduced. Few loading screens. More than four emotes that are useful. The list goes on. I'm kind of tired of the "bullet sponge" comments to be honest. It doesn't have "RPG elements" it [b]IS[/b] an RPG first and foremost! When you find or craft better weapons, the lower level enemies go down quicker, while the tougher enemies take a longer amount of time to kill. Which to be honest is how it should be considering they're HARDER. The game balances challenge intelligently so you don't end up taking everything for granted. I'd also like to point out that an assault rifle has about 600-700 rounds of ammo. It's not like you're going to run out any time soon. With increased challenge, you learn to play tactically and you start to understand the many builds you can work with. All in all, I'm in love with the game. I don't feel that buyers remorse at all and I'm excited to see where Ubisoft takes the franchise in the future.

My 4 to 5 hour impressions: Destiny is still king of shooting mechanics but The Division does just about everything else better. + Quick in-game matchmaking + Lots of incremental loot upgrades + Cosmetics separated from gear + great sounding guns + much more tactical + loads of in-game lore (video clips, audio recordings etc.) + gorgeous, open and highly detailed version of NYC + PC version + no last gen support holding it back and it shows + GREAT ost - the character creator is one of the worst I've ever seen. - missing a pre-order appearance pack (not a huge deal because I'm swimming in cosmetic gear) - shooting can be a little unsatisfying at times Not too many complaints so far but I dont have a lot of time played yet. A lot will depend on the Dark Zone and how strong or lax Ubisoft and Massive are with cheaters, specifically in the PC version. I love it so far. If Bungie doesn't adapt some of these QOL improvements, it's going to be hard to buy Destiny 2 at full price.

I literally cannot stop thinking about playing it. It's like when I first got Destiny, but I actually enjoy the story.

I feel the game is great, I have had lots of fun playing. Best game ever? No, there are some things that you run into that just make it fall short of that title. I give it like an 8.5/10. Anyone who complains about the game is one of the few: 1. They base there opinions only off of other negative reviews and do not even look at the positive review. 2. They are fan boys for other games such as destiny so they want the Division to fail. 3. They experienced minor issue with the first safe house not letting you activate the next mission, this problem was more then likely cause to to very high traffic day 1 and was fixed relatively quickly. 4. The persons connection is bad so they rate the game low. The game is a MMO RPG so if you know your connection is bad going in and the game seems laggy do not give the game an instant 1 rating. Most of these people to do not understand how to actually rate games. A lot of user reviewers will give games a 0 or 1 rating based of of 1 thing they do not like. For example one meta critic user rating was a 0, his comments were, The game is outstanding story wise and is easy to follow with lots of cool mission side quest and encounter however I do not like how it is 3rd person. Because it is 3rd person I have to give it a 0. I was speechless by this, how can you say the game is realyl good but give it a 0 just because it is 3rd person.

Before you buy a game you are unsure about, it is always best to rent it and see for youself, if you really like it, what's another 3 bucks? If you don't you just saved $57.. Honestly Pro: a wide variety of cosmetics to change the overall look of your agent. Con: character customization is extremely lacking , if you were expecting fallout 4 style creation, prepare for a disappointment. Pro: skills, abilities, talents, and perks. There are so many things that contribute to your agents stats, so many combos to mix and match with a squad, there's really a massive(pun intended) amount of customizations. Con: playing mission after mission, or encounter to encounter can feel like, "run to point A, shoot stuff, run to point B, shoot stuff." Essentially all games have that feeling but some mask it better than the division. Pro: I found that it is a lot more fun to decrease the HUD as much as possible, no radar, experience bar etc. This creates a sense of exploration in itself, instead of looking at your map every 30 seconds, you actually have to explore, and the encounters are more of a surprise this way. Con: SpongeBoss, playing on [u]harder[/u] difficulties is as expected, enemies deal more damage and have a staggeringly large health bar, though the normal play through isn't quite so spongy. Pro: Matchmaking for any mission, seamless pve/pvp transitions, the feeling you get when you just got an amazing loot drop mixed with the instant terror of being a prime target is oddly pleasant. Con: always online, I understand that without this feature, there wouldn't be seamless transitions from pve to pvp and matchmaking/squad joining but something about always needing to have an online connection to play bothers me. Pro: proxy chat, people seriously underestimate the importance and the fun of this feature. There are more things for both pro and con I'm sure, but when it comes down to game play, if you enjoy tactical 3rd person shooters, looting, and the thought of being on both ends of the darkzone, I recommend the division. If you are looking for a destiny replacement, this is not it. The longevity of the division will be determined by how fast you can max out/ get the best gear, and by the endgame content, and let's not forget the DLC. [spoiler]hopefully this helps someone, if not I wasted my time :([/spoiler]

A 3rd person shooter with rpg elements making enemies bullet sponges. Its a gear based game, what you equip will determine your damage output and health, and skills. You run everywhere, no faster mode of transport except for your feet. Im unsure so far off the difference of missions, green yellow and blue but theres those and then side mission and some extra missions. To me it feels like patrol on destiny except the missions you do are there instead of going to a hub to choose a mission.