TOM CLANCY’S THE DIVISION 2
Guns and glorious teamwork for the good ol’ USA – it can only be a Clancy game. Yippee!
"IN SPITE OF ITS FUGLINESS, THERE’S A REAL ASSUREDNESS TO THE GAME’S GRITTY SHOOTOUTS.”
White House aaalllll the way down. If you thought Roland Emmerich’s crappy, alarmist action film showed the US capital at its worst, you ain’t see nothing yet. While its predecessor’s New York was a snowy slum, this MMO shooter sequel somehow makes that dystopian take on the Big Apple look like a winter wonderland. Still, at least shooting dudes amid all the DC detritus can be a hoot.
Well, occasionally. Like the original, The Division 2 is functional rather than inspiring. With an ugly art direction blighted by glaring texture pop-in and plasticky character models, Massive’s online adventure looks a generation away from the Greek splendour of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. And not in the right direction. Yet in spite of this overt fugliness, there’s an assuredness to the game’s shootouts the likes of Anthem and its eye-arousing Frostbite 3 action could only have the naughtiest of dreams about.
CAPITOL NO CHILL
Is the art design lacking? Absolutely. Are mission objectives phoned-in? You bet your apocalyptic arse. Prepare to hold down r a looooot as you hack satellites, relays, and all manner of boring tech terminals. Even in its blandest moments, though, The Division 2 can consistently fall back on one killer quality: its AI is really fun to battle.
Though gangs of Hyenas – one of the game’s dastardly military factions – are generic, they’re elevated by fiendishly aggressive AI. It’s a good thing The Division 2 has such a buttery, elegant cover system because these enemies never give you a moment’s rest. Constantly trying to outflank you and appearing from all angles, the game’s murderous AI puts up one hell of a fight.
Positional awareness is key. If you want to ensure you’re not the victim of a pincer movement, you have to stay on the move. Rest behind cover too long, and you’ll either be treated to invasive stomach surgery courtesy of a grenade or eat buckshot after a shotgunner gets the drop on you. Whether it’s a boss who rains grenade rounds down on you from afar or later villains who call in drones and walking gun turrets, the level of challenge enemies provide will constantly keep you engaged.
Whether you tackle missions on your lonesome, with a clan, or as part of a ragtag foursome of randomly paired players, the ultraaggressive AI means you constantly have to be mindful of your loadout. Unlike in Anthem, which guns you carry into battle is crucial. Equipping a varied arsenal that’s of a high enough level to take out the game’s ever-improving foes is a perpetual balancing act.
Pairing a gut-punch shotgun with a 100-mag LMG can make your survivor deadly at any range, while fiddling with perks and skills is crucial. Do you go in with a portable shield to keep enemy fire at bay paired with a killer drone sidekick? Or perhaps you’d rather opt for a smart mine that seeks the bad guys out, then complement that with a gadget which scans and highlights your targets? The Division 2’s forever-fierce challenges give gun choices huge weight, and it’s all the better for this tactical tension.
SECOND DIVISION
It’s too bad this AI excellence is let down by lacklustre design choices. Not only are the environments hard to read – certain objective markers can be maddingly confusing – but the look of the world is uninspired. The Divison 2 clearly took a crash course in ‘I Am Legend 101’ because its apocalyptic take on Washington, DC is about as generic a doomsday wasteland as you’ll find on PS4. Out-ofcontrol shrubbery chokes every street corner; clapped-out cars clog each road your guerrilla fighter travels down; flooded swamplands frame iconic landmarks with damp dread. All that’s missing is Big Willie’s Alsatian. Although to be fair, the game has a lot of stray dogs… and deer… and racoons.
Though the art design is dreary, DC’s landmarks provide pleasing window dressing. Duking it out on the streets surrounding the Washington Monument or tweaking your soldier’s perks at the White House – 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue acts as the game’s main base – serves up gaudy virtual tourism. Certain missions make cute use of the setting, too. One of the most memorable side-quests involves your recruit ‘borrowing’ the Declaration Of Independence from the National Archives.
To Massive’s credit, the interior environments outstrip their samey open-world wrapping. A decent collection of story missions shows the developer has a real eye for
“DESPITE ITS OVERTLY POLITICAL SETTING, THIS IS A GAME WITH NOTHING TO SAY.”
creating subversive locations. Be it a battle through the historical exhibits of a museum (one minute you’re capping dudes against a backdrop of Old West saloon doors and cacti, the next visions of Vietnam set the shooty scene) or the claustrophobic confines of a TV studio, these more linear environments exhibit real flair.
SAY NOTHING
As much as these key sections do a commendable job at visual storytelling, in a wider context The Division 2 struggles with narrative. Despite its overtly political setting and the current climate, this is a game with nothing to say. If you were hoping for some statement on the current US administration or societal issues in general, you’re barking up the wrong apolitical tree. Though it takes place seven months after the original, there’s little to connect The Division 2 with its predecessor. Next to The Last Of Us, this open-world effort’s doomsday tale is the most uninventive of also-rans.
While it’s not the friendliest of experiences thanks to things like the muddled UI, workmanlike engine, and mildly confusing busywork (improving aspects of your base by donating armour and other resources can reward new gun parts) the core of the game is undeniably fun. Certainly, The Division 2 is no Anthem, which is a very good thing.
There’s certainly a lot of promise here; a fact hammered home by the expanded highlevel Dark Zones and new PvP Conflict maps. Right now it’s too divided to truly conquer, but give it time.
VERDICT
Though fugly and unrefined, a clutch of decent missions and ever-engaging shootouts mean The Division 2 is just about worth signing up for. Only just. Dave Meikleham