'Tom Clancy's The Division' Beta Includes Updates To The Dark Zone, Gets Eye Tracking Support

Get ready to spend another weekend in a New York City devastated a pandemic spread by Black Friday shoppers. "Tom Clancy's The Division" is scheduled for release on March 8, but Ubisoft announced a new open beta beginning Thursday and running through the weekend. Players can preload the beta beginning Monday with Xbox One user getting an extra day to play "The Division." The beta for PC and PS4 players begins Friday.

The upcoming beta will be the first public one for "The Division." January's closed beta was met with mixed reactions from critics. The game is beautifully designed, but the gameplay can be repetitive, according to Ars Technica's Kyle Orland. The big highlight was the multiplayer Dark Zone, where players can seamlessly interact with other players with a slight catch. The Dark Zone features the game's best loot and players can go on raids and kill enemies within the area. There's also the chance your ally can actually be a traitor who will steal your valuable loot. The uncertainty within the Dark Zone was what separated "The Division" from other massively multiplayer online shooting games such as "Destiny," according to Kotaku's Stephen Tolito.

Those opinions were based on the closed beta, but the upcoming trial includes several tweaks based on player feedback. There will be a new mission, "Subway Morgue," where players will meet The Cleaners. In the mission, players will have to rescue an engineer and explore a mass grave. The beta includes an upgrade to the Tech Wing in the Base of Operations. Players can gain the Deployable Turret skill.

The Dark Zone gets the bulk of updates ahead of "The Division" beta. There will be more weapons and non-player enemies within the area. Surviving as a rogue agent leads to a bigger reward, but escaping the Dark Zone will be more difficult. There's also an early warning indicator for players who have shot another player but did not do enough damage to go Rogue. The update includes some leveling tweaks and bug fixes were included in the latest update.

When the game is officially released in March, "The Division" will include eye tracking support. Players using the Tobii EyeX controller and the EyeX software can aim, duck for cover and tag enemies with a simple gaze.