The Division 2 has came along at a good time. Fans of the original have had time to anticipate a sequel while many who have an interest in the looter shooter genre have been burned by Destiny 2, Anthem or both. So while the Division 2 doesn’t bring anything revolutionary to the table, it does build on the success of the first game and deliver a satisfying experience and possibly more importantly a stable platform for players to team up and level up.
In terms of graphics the game is gorgeous. I was excited when I heard about the Washington setting. New York in D1 was cool, but it felt a little too familiar to me. Being from Scotland and never having visited any of these cities and I can’t recall playing any open world games set in Washington in the past. At the start of the game you rock up to the White House and straight away you see the level of detail that is before you. I had heard gripes that it would have been better to hold off exploring such an iconic venue until later in the game but I would argue it does a great job in setting the tone of what is to come.
The games HUD can be a bit polarizing. On one hand I like the mini map and the job it does keeping you on the right path. I also like the enemy indicators, which are vital given how ruthless the advanced AI are trying to box you in throughout the game. However it’s not all positives in this front. The line marker that appears above your head showing you the route to the next objective has in my experience at times been almost broken. Often not actually showing you the fastest way, getting confused and re-calibrating randomly and also not making it particularly clear if you are on the right level vertically for what you are looking for. This may seem like a minor issue, but it can be frustrating none the less.
Another disappointment in D2 is the lack of any real story. This was to be expected and therefore has been called out as a non issue by many, but I still feel Ubisoft could and should have put more effort into fleshing out a story, putting your character in the center of it and making you care. It feels like more often than not when a developer is making a looter shooter they feel like the audience doesn’t require a strong narrative and to me that is the wrong way to look at it.
The team over at Massive have done a superb job with the new weather system implemented in the game. Thick fog, heavy rain and thunderstorms appear to frequently interrupt the beautiful lighting effects you get from the sun. Dynamic weather may seem like standard fare in 2019, but rarely have I seen it utilized this well in a game. You also have to take the weather into account when getting in to a firefight as the difficulty ramps up if your vision is obstructed.
Gunplay is one of the most important things in a game like this and I am happy to report that all aspects have been improved from the previous game. There now feels like there is more weight to the guns. AI enemies react in a more realistic way to being shot at which is both more immersive and difficult at the same time. Some enemies could still be regarded as bullet sponges, but not to the degree we saw in D1. You still wouldn’t want to be heading into a fight with a batch of enemies that are a higher level, but on the whole I think a better balance has been struck.
End game content is strong with the emergence of the Black Tusk. A high powered mercenary army that appear all over the map and provide a real tough challenge due to their superior weaponry and tactics. After the main story they will occupy areas where story missions took place but this doesn’t result in you just playing the same mission again with harder AI. The layouts have been altered and the story altered. There really is a lot of content here for players who are engaged.
The Dark Zone and Conflict both didn’t appeal to me as much as I had hoped. As tends to be the case with this style of game, the majority of the player base will shoot on sight in the DZ which is entirely within their right, but I would just prefer a more co-op vibe from that mode. For those who enjoy the Dark Zone experience though, you’ll find lots of rewards for the time spent in the form of perks and loot drops. Conflict is a mode those inclined seem to enjoy, but PvP is not for me.
Overall The Division 2 is a worthy successor to the original game. Gameplay has been improved and the mission design is head and shoulders ahead. The base game alone is worth the price of admission, but if you want to stick around the stream of DLC planned could keep you coming back for years. The game has it’s faults, but it is the best example of a looter shooter I have played.
JC
A review code was provided by the publisher. Reviewed on PS4 Slim.
