TOM CLANCY'S THE DIVISION

jackcooper98
Mar 30, 2016
3 min read

“We’re an elite, highly skilled group of embedded agents. They only call us when everything else has failed. We have no rules. We have no limits. Our job is to protect what remains. We are your co-workers. We are your neighbours. We might even be your friends. But when we get the call, we leave everything behind. We are The Division.”

Based on the real life test-scenarios ‘Operation Dark Winter’ (I know, badass name) and ‘Directive 51’, The Division follows a group of agents as they fight to take back New York after a virus is spread through money on Black Friday, crippling the city in a matter of days. It sounds stupid, but the opening cutscene actually shows off the potential devastation a biological attack could do in a really clever and quite worrying way.

When I played through the Division, I began to notice something. Part shooter, part looter, and part MMO. The Division is what Destiny should’ve been. It doesn’t try to be seven different game types at once, yes, it’s got a few mixed in, but it knows what it’s doing, and doesn’t stray from it. Whether you’re doing missions on your own or playing with a group, The Division, unlike Destiny, is not only fun, but actually has a story behind it. Shocking. And it doesn’t cut out every time your Wi-Fi flickers below 100%, so that’s good.

The gameplay, especially the shooter part, does get quite repetitive, but the use of upgrades and skills means that there’s always new ways to take down the bad guys. Non shooter parts of the game, like map exploration and the ECHOS, which serve as visual holograms of the past are really fun, and will have you wondering round for hours. However, the main part of the game is clearly the loot system. Loot is everything, from weapons to mods to clothes and gear. The higher the level of loot, the better it is. In other words, find the purple loot, and you won’t die every three seconds. Find the yellow loot, and you’ll be near unstoppable.

The Division’s best part is by far The Dark Zone, which I would not recommend venturing into before you reach level 10 at least. Out in New York, agents are friend, not foe. In the Dark Zone, you can work together to get better stuff for use in the rest of the city but be warned, in the Dark Zone, even your closet allies can become your enemies. The moment an agent goes rogue, it becomes a free for all. My advice? Go in with a team. Doesn’t matter if it’s just two of you or a full group of six, you’ll probably team up with other agents along the way. Or, at least you should consider it. If you go in the Dark Zone alone, you won’t be coming out with much loot, if any at all. Remember, you don’t only drop loot when you die in the Dark Zone, you lose XP as well. Quite frankly, if the entire game was just the Dark Zone, it would still be pretty great.

The Division’s map, aka Manhattan, isn’t the best of gaming maps, but it’s pretty good. The concrete jungle is always a great setting, even when it’s become dystopian. The streets are packed with empty cars and rival factions just waiting to take control. My only concern is that it can get a bit big for walking around on foot, and there are times when having a vehicle to drive around in wouldn’t go amiss. Luckily, you can fast travel.

The graphics are pretty good, but I could’ve sworn the E3 presentation’s were far better. A theme, like unfinished/broken upon release, that seems to have risen up over the past couple of years. It doesn’t really bother me, mostly because in my head I’ve made up the solution that they downgraded the graphics so the rest of the game could be improved and, actually, Y’know…work.

All in all, the Division is a good example of what games these days should aim to be. The mix of solo and co-op play means that it can be enjoyed by anyone, not matter how they like to play. It’s got a solid story behind it that could one day become relevant to the real world, and gameplay mechanics that are some of the most fun I’ve ever seen. Yes, the upgrade system is very different to normal games, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. Plus, whereas Destiny’s loot system was completely random, The Division rewards you loot based on your skill, well, in missions at least. If you searching for loot outside missions, I suggest increasing your Scavenging factor.

7.5/10

All pictures are from my own gameplay experience: