Divide Reviews
I honestly dislike coming down on a game, because I know the developers behind it usually put their hearts and souls into their finished product. Perhaps if they baked their ideas a bit longer, fine tuned the controls, and fixed some of the latency issues (especially with loading), Divide could have been the big sci-fi adventure they clearly aimed for. But as it is, I was only relieved it didn’t take too long to complete.
Hopefully the next patch for this game will let any interested parties have the best possible experience. Not every product is for every person, but it becomes impossible to defend something that actively breaks due to misinformation or buggy code. Divide deserves better than to be forgotten because of launch-day issues.
There's a decent science-fiction story holding all of Divide's pieces together, but it's not quite strong enough to outweigh the disappointments of excessive backtracking through repetitious metallic levels that barely look different from the last. A great musical score and a moderately interesting combat help keep it interesting, but bugs and repetitive encounters made the campaign feel much longer than it needed to be.
Rich in story, but less so in execution, Divide suffers from a few technical issues that makes it a little more clunky than it should be. That said, the cyberpunk narrative is evocative of the best of sci-fi, backed up by a fantastic score. I just wish the controls matched that potential.
Divide has the potential to be a decent game, but it’s over ambitiousness in the face of its low-budget ultimately nets a forgettable, half-baked sci-fi game. If Exploding Tuba Studios dumped the twin stick gameplay, and instead fully-embraced the adventure genre, I would be interested in seeing it take another stab with a new game. But more Divide? No thanks.
A neat concept alone is not enough to save a poorly-designed, technical jumble of an adventure game. Divide flickers into life on occasion, but far too briefly, and nowhere near bright enough to keep it interesting.
I can't remember the last time I've seen such a mess of a game. There's a decent story here, but it's buried under so much technical and design shortcomings that it's not worth your time digging to try to find it.
Divide could have been an interesting, indie sci-fi game, but poor design decisions hold it back.
While I did like the futuristic cyberpunk feel of the game, and the graphics are quite nice and stylish, but the bugs, the lack of a proper map, and the control scheme get in the way of what could have been a solid PS4 release. Perhaps a patch or two down the road might fix the game, but right now I can’t recommend this one.
Divide’s decent science fiction premise is undermined by tedious and repetitive design.
Divide is an early contender for the worst releases of 2017, thanks to its largely boring story conveyed through awful voice acting, gameplay that can't handle most basics in an effective way, goals that boil down to "wander around until you figure out how to advance", and a ton of glitches. At least the soundtrack is really good.
Divide‘s curious narrative and enigmatic characters can only do so much; for every genuine moment of intrigue there are a hundred other moments to be spent aimlessly wandering the endless, grey corridors, desperate for the whole thing to just end.
Divide doesn’t excite, doesn’t surprise, doesn’t reach out, and doesn’t look in. It tests my patience, wastes your time, and can’t keep its eyes on the prize. The cool architecture is basically copy-pasted to death. And the gameplay, which is thankfully short on bullets, is still rehashed ad infinitum. It's a twin-stick shooter that removed the gunplay but replaced it with little more than checkpoints and crate scrounging. It often feels like there’s no end in sight.
Divide is a really good game when it's playing to its strengths. It takes a familiar, played-out sci-fi story and uses mechanics and interactivity to give it a fresh, insightful spin. It's not as nuanced a take as this sort of story needs, but you can't argue with how well Divide's approach works at its best.
With an intriguing premise and classic gaming style, Divide has the makings of a compelling, sci-fi mystery. Despite a strong story, neat concept and solid musical score, however, repetitive exploration and an assortment of bugs mar what should have been a promising overall experience. That's unfortunate as this has the ingredients of what could have been a great game.