Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Reflections, Red Storm Entertainment
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Genre: Open-world Shooter

Preface: Only 20hrs played into the game, there's still more content to explore and I'll update the review soon as possible after more playthrough

So how do I address a game like The Division 2? It's a pretty delicate matter because once again another looter shooter jumps into the foray within the likes of Destiny 2 and Anthem, alongside the rumored upcoming reveal of Borderlands 3. This game is a titular sequel to a game I also had grips with on many scales like the bullet sponge enemies, the gear unlocks and progression.

Division 2 I have to say, is quite an improvement. Not only that but it comes with some newer content that gets you frequently returning to one battle at a time. A new PvP mode much akin to Destiny called Conflict. You can now face against boss enemies for bounties and participate in several activities. It's much more livelier than its predecessor. Though there are times something just feels amiss and you reflect on your experience before dwelling on other stuff because the game doesn't have that big hook Destiny had (for me that is).

So let's talk about how the sequel gets it's gears grinding.

Premise

After the Green Poison Virus that spread during Black Friday in NYC, 7 months later, your character receives a distress call from Washington DC. Things are very rough down there. President and remainder of the staff are either dead or missing. Civil order has fallen apart and 3 big factions have taken over the state city: The Hyenas, Outcasts and True Sons.

As a Division agent, it's your priority to help restore the SHD network that went offline and delve into the true origins of the Green Poison Virus.

Ubisoft created multiple branches of stories for the original game, this one however is somewhat lacking; because the story is just so-so. You save the day from another threat and then another one shows up, which will lead itself to the next sequel. You do get to experience a lot of interesting subplots from various sides of the survivors and JTF military groups, but that's pretty much as far as it'll go without having significant presence in the main story.

Though this is a looter shooter, maybe story is not one big incentive for anybody to divulge into even though this is a Tom Clancy title. Talk about missed opportunity.

Gameplay

There are some major changes, redesigns and new implementations to the core gameplay while being similar to the previous title. You take cover and use certain prompts to either move onto another corner of cover, running to another position or climbing over them. You can still dodge pressing the cover button twice. But instead of health packs, you're given armor packs to replenish armor while your main health regenerates itself. Gadgets like drones, seekers and turrets are introduced into your arsenal of abilities you'll use during combat. Instead of shooting a healing pack with a grenade launcher, you'll use your drone instead to revive your allies or let it take several munitions fired from enemy as a shield. Modding is now available for gadgets as well.

As for enemies, well they're less spongier but don't make the mistake of assuming that's always the case when you ramp up the difficulty higher. But enemies do have key weaknesses like leg shots or head traumas. Electrocuting them or making them dazed also gets you several advantages. Enemies also use tactics, some groups are more aggressive and tend to launch martyrs to thwart your position while others use covering fire and flanking to take you out. True Sons troopers with helmets prone and fire suppression onto you, shooting him head on doesn't pay off. 3 faction of enemies has their own dynamic maneuvering for taking you and your group down leading to few trial and error situations before you learn a lot about tackling them. Once you've passed the level 15 mark, more diverse class of enemies start showing up from each factions, which elevates the combat further.

And of course, this wouldn't be a Division 2 game without Dark Zone and I am here to say instead of one zone, there are several of them scattered throughout the map. Nothing much has changed on this mode besides the fact that they've worked out the kinks around rogue agents. Basically going rogue means you're the target for a big manhunt since you've killed Division agents and stole their loot. Dark Zone is where you find rarer loots and safely extract them. That last part is where things get really tense.

While trekking through the ruins of DC, you participate within in-game activities like stopping propaganda calls, picking up supply drops before enemies steal them, doing rescues, taking over and defending control points. The list goes on as you progress further.

Searching for resources like parts, food and water to donate towards control points helps maintain foothold for your allies. All the while you could earn Project rewards for doing various tasks like donating your equipment, certain materials and doing menial tasks. Keeping the loop fresh and reinvigorating.

Also bit of a tip, side missions scale based on your current level. Meaning you could leave them for later and finish them off to earn more points once you've reached to higher level.

There's quite a lot to enjoy in here obviously, but am not exactly done expressing my grievances yet, in fact am getting warmed up for the next topic. To end this one, I'll state that the movement feels little clunky and there are times when you're moving around, object collisions get you stuck at like bunch of garbage piles or thrown leftover items that are small to notice. The cover system isn't fluid as I wanted it to be from the previous game.

Online

The new PvP mode: Conflict isn't much of a palette cleanser. Basically it's a hide and seek, and destroy mode where you find other 4 members of the opposition and take them out. There's limited amounts of respawns so the one who gets dried out the most loses or anything that is at 0. Certain aspects of this feels little unfinished and may receive more updates to give more boon to break the mundane grinding of the main game. Also not many out there are playing this so good luck getting a match in-between.

Matching up for missions with crew got easier thanks to matchmaking, though getting invited to a team you don't usually get some form of hint or sight as to what kind of people they are. Am stating that because I had to play with Chinese players and ah, let's just say they're quite chatty. Very chatty.

Division allows you to finally easily join a clan without having to go to an impromptu website to do so. Searching your clan preferences allows you to easily pick which one you'll be comfortable being with.

But you don't get many agents, just like the last game responding to your backup requests while taking over control points, fighting against tougher enemies or trying to get out of sticky situations. Joining people's session as them being group leader nets you rewards all the while playing some activities or missions that you've already completed. Still, this feels underhanded in terms of use honestly.

Also, this game has server stability issues as well. Randomly I would get disconnected and taken back to the main menu all the while losing whatever progress I've made. Thankfully during missions within group, you get an open window for few minutes to rejoin before you're replaced with another player instead.

Then there's the matter of in-game virtual currency acquired by real money. Yes, microtransactions if you will. Understandably this game is going the live-service route but I have a funny feeling this isn't going to pan out well.

Production Value

The game's audio is just superb, thanks to finest attention to details and immersion factor. Every weapon you shoot sounds realistic and distinctive, very succinctly telling you what you're getting into when you're locked and loaded. Both Simon Koudriavtsev and Ola Strandh captured the sense and feel of this game very well.

Especially the music, I literally got Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex vibes at times and then there's the Dark Zones; with an eerie, minimalistic score that reminds you of what a ghost town really is like. Come to think of it, the inspiration came from Chernobyl.

The visuals in this game are nice, the city in decadent state feels real especially complemented with great post processing effects and illumination. The character models on the other hand though, looks pretty outdated. It was jarring to see them intertwined with the environments as their presence kind of dampens the immersion.

Then there's this.

Somehow the ragdolls started showing up in stand-still after their death in hilarious fashion. The one example I've shown you is just one in particular of some of the funny stuff I've seen.

But on the flip side, it's a well optimized title especially for AMD hardware.

Verdict

Am not gonna lie, as pedestrian as it felt playing this game, it actually offers a lot to do. Maybe the flow isn't working out for me. But I can't wait for end-game, heard it's pretty sick at this point.

But how good is it against Anthem? It came jam-packed with enough content to get you filled in for hours.

Then again, this isn't a perfect game. Hopefully the new PvP mode makes better offerings in due time. I'll be looking forward to that.

Score: 8.0

UPDATE: The PvP mode, Conflict now has Domination. I didn't know that earlier but it seems Domination is more fun than Skirmish, the deathmatch mode I've mentioned. Basically it involves you capturing strategic areas from which you earn points, the one who reaches the cap wins.