In 2016 Tom Clancy’s The Division
released to a tremendous amount of hype and ultimately, a favorable reception.
It became one of Ubisoft’s best-selling games, so a sequel was almost guaranteed.
Now as live-service games have become more competitive than ever,
The Division 2 has arrived to consume your gaming life.
The Division 2 picks up several months after the events of the previous game
as America is still trying to recover from the Green Poison outbreak.
The snowy streets of Manhattan have been replaced
by the overgrown and sun-drenched capital, Washington D.C.
As a Strategic Homeland Division agent, it’s your job to protect D.C. from three hostile factions
vying for control to further their own agendas.
Of all the elements that comprise The Division 2, the story is its weakest link.
Cutscenes and story revelations are surprisingly rare,
while none of the featured heroes or villains receive much development
beyond a handful of audio logs.
With three free add-on episodes set to release over the coming year,
it’s painfully clear much of the plot has been held for future updates.
Even though direct storytelling is lacking, the streets of Washington D.C.
are chock full of world building discoveries.
Coffee shops, museums, fast food restaurants, and narrow alleyways
house hidden collectibles and valuable loot.
Exploration is almost always rewarded, encouraging you to take your time
and investigate areas that aren’t necessarily involved with a mission.
It’s immensely satisfying to not only discover more powerful gear, but hidden missions
that provide context and seem extra special because you spent time off the beaten path.
Each zone of the city is separated by a recommended player level up to the current cap of 30.
Similar to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, lower level zones scale up with you
but stay a few levels below you to maintain a sense of progression.
D.C. is a dangerous and hostile place with roving soldiers
ready to shoot first and never ask questions.
Even with a slight level advantage, death comes swiftly,
forcing you to stay frosty at all times.
The intent is to play in groups, but going solo is completely possible;
it’s just harder because you can’t get revived.
When wandering the streets of D.C. the world is represented from the party leader’s perspective,
but stats are normalized so players of varying power levels can play together.
While you won’t encounter random players out in the world, safe houses scattered throughout the map
as well as the deadly Dark Zone provide opportunities to interact with fellow agents.
Combat is tense, tactical, and visceral.
Recklessly charging into battles with no strategy will almost certainly result in immediate death
even against the most basic enemies.
Using cover is essential for survival, and successfully navigating from point to point,
eliminating targets with ruthless efficiency, is exhilarating.
Health and armor can be regenerated through armor packs and skills,
but knowing when to use them is essential.
Depending on which faction you’re up against,
different tactics change the dynamic of each encounter, but staying behind cover,
moving when flanked, and paying attention to positioning are the keys to success.
It’s hard not to throw a fist in the air and let out a victory cry when overcoming
some of the more challenging battles.
The amount of enemy variety helps to keep things fresh.
The True Sons use better equipment
and are more tactical than the Hyenas who frequently walk in the open, spraying their submachine guns.
Meanwhile, the fanatical Outcasts have suicide bombers
that can ruin your day in a split second.
Regardless, each faction will do anything they can to flank you,
even sacrificing themselves for the good of their squad.
It can be a little jarring when enemy forces sprint at you or spawn from a closet, but
it helps encourage movement and positioning instead of just camping in a corner.
There are also elite units and bosses that require a ton of ammo to put down.
If you manage to target a specific point and destroy their armor however,
you can take them down much more quickly,
as a further reward for smart, tactical play.
There are eight core skills, two of which can be used at a time.
The turret and drone provide additional damage while the chem launcher and hive
offer support abilities like healing and revivals.
Each skill can be modified to serve different functions like
the incinerator turret that fires a steady stream of flames
or the defender drone that blocks incoming bullets.
As of now, some of the skills are more useful than others,
but hopefully the eight player raid due out later this year
will incentivize more balanced team compositions.
Each encounter is rewarding by itself but made even sweeter with the promise of loot drops.
There are multiple ways to obtain better gear from exploration,
crafting, eliminating enemies, missions, and side activities.
The steady climb to level thirty and beyond is impeccably paced.
It always feels like no matter what task you get caught up in,
you’re making progress towards the next level or finding better equipment.
The usual weapons are all here like assault rifles, light machine guns, and shotguns.
Finding a better drop of a gun that fits your playstyle may take some time,
but it makes it even more exciting when you finally find what you’re looking for.
Missions are the primary way to progress and they feature standard objectives
like pushing factions out of territories, recovering vital intel, or eliminating high value targets.
Most play out as expected with multiple skirmishes that culminate in a boss fight.
There are a few times when you have to interact with an object like a valve or a laptop,
but it would be nice to have more objectives than simply eliminating waves of enemies.
There are also optional side missions as well as smaller activities set in the open world.
Objectives involving propaganda broadcasts, hostage rescues,
and capturing control points all play out in similar scenarios of attack or defend.
Aside from providing convenient fast travel points,
these activities never really feel worthwhile, but they help to make the city feel inhabited
and ensure you always have something to do.
Strongholds represent the highest level of PVE play and are essentially The Division 2’s version of dungeons.
They take place in interesting locations like Roosevelt Island and the Capitol Building,
but like most activities, mainly feature lots of shooting.
In the end, they’re somewhat of a disappointment
and feel like a missed opportunity to introduce new mechanics or objectives.
For players looking for the most intense and dramatic challenge, the Dark Zones have returned.
These hostile locations have you fighting against both the AI factions as well as other players,
and they host the best gear in the game - if you can extract it and make it out alive.
The primary goal is to clear landmarks,
retrieve contaminated high-level gear,
and then call a chopper to a landing site to claim it.
The twist is that other players inhabit the Dark Zones, and if they choose to go rogue,
they can assassinate you and steal your hard-earned loot.
Rogue players are free to engage others at will but become targets themselves.
It’s unnerving every time contact is made, never knowing if someone is good-natured
or feigning friendship, waiting to stab you in the back.
Additionally, these zones include a separate leveling system with a cap of 50.
For every 5 levels, you gain a Dark Zone perk,
but the stakes are high as you lose XP upon death.
With an entirely separate progression, tense uneasy alliances,
and even a secret vendor, the Dark Zone is an entire game’s worth of misadventures.
When all of the main missions and strongholds are completed,
a fourth faction called the Black Tusk invades the map, and the end-game begins.
They are the most well-equipped and tactical faction,
and by saving their arrival for last, the end-game feels unique.
After they invade the map, the main missions and strongholds are remixed,
making old activities feel new and rewarding.
One of the three Dark Zones becomes invaded, allowing you to fight
without normalized stats, meaning gear and level score matters.
It’s the most competitive location and offers the greatest rewards.
Furthermore, three separate specialization classes unlock, each with their own special weapon like
the sharpshooter’s sniper rifle or survivalist’s crossbow.
Not only are they yet another thing to get invested in, but
the weapons and perks they offer add another layer to combat and squad synergy.
Visually, the post-apocalyptic summer of Washington D.C. has a more distinct look
than the grays dominating the snowy streets and glass skyscrapers of Manhattan.
Unfortunately, the amount of visual pop-in is startling,
as textures take a few seconds to load in, sapping some of the beauty and detail from the environments.
The Division 2 improves upon the original in nearly every way,
offering a staggering amount of content to engage with.
The Dark Zone still stands apart,
delivering tense multiplayer scenarios,
and the ability to play either solo or co-op is something we don’t take for granted
as it’s not always easy to coordinate game time with friends or family.
While we’ve grown accustomed to rocky launches from similar games,
it’s easy to recommend The Division 2 as it is today,
and the year one road map makes us incredibly excited for where the game is heading.
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