When Does The Division Open Beta Start?
Will you be playing?
Tom Clancy's The Division [official site] is returning to beta this weekend, but this time it's open to everyone. If you're tempted, you can start pre-loading the game now via Uplay or Steam, and find out when the beta unlocks in your region below.
Those of you who want to play, you can start doing so this Friday, February 19 from 9am GMT / 10am CET / 1am PST / 4am EST. The beta will then close on Sunday, February 21st, assuming they don't extend it like they did the closed beta.
The Division's beta should appear under the 'Games' tab of the Uplay client automatically or by clicking the big 'Open Beta' banner on the game's Steam page. It'll already be ready to go if you played the closed beta, although there have been a lot of tweaks and fixes to the game since then. This beta will also offer slightly different content, with the singleplayer mission this time being set in the 'Subway Morgue' and being to rescue Paul Rhodes, an engineer who can help establish the tech wing of your headquarters.
Adam wrote his impressions of The Division based on a trip to Massive's studio in Sweden, and was somewhat positive:
"The Division has been a long time coming and I had no idea what kind of game I’d be playing until I sat down with it a couple of days ago. It’s a far more effective blend of ideas than I’d expected but I can’t quite get past the dissonance between the setting and the style of play. Whether it’ll matter in the long run, I can’t say – it only took me fifteen minutes to get used to the idea that a man in a hoodie can take 30 bullets right in the chest. Maybe it’s odd that I’d accept that so readily if he were twelve feet tall or a wizard."
He also spoke to the team about the importance of PC in the game's development.
My experiences in the closed beta were mixed: I like the structure of it, wherein your actions out in the world give you materials to expand and improve your headquarters and unlock more story; but I'm unconvinced by the shooting, which often requires you to pump umpteen machinegun bullets into enemies before you get the feedback of them falling over. I'm not sure if one will override the other, but I'll be playing this weekend and will offer some more thoughts next week.