Didn't know that I would love writing about this, but first actual video game review! Here we go!
What are the Specifics?
What's the Game: Tom Clancy's The Division 2
What's the Style: Third-Person Shooter, Action, Online, Role-Playing Game
Release Date: March 15, 2019
Previous Game: Tom Clancy's The Division
Company: Ubisoft, same group that does Assassin's Creed, FarCry, and Watch Dogs series.
Synopsis: You are a representative of the Division, a military outreach group recently stationed in Washington, D.C. After discovering the source and cause of the virus that ravaged the world in New York from the first game, you're attempting to find the President and take back the city and exclusive DC landmarks from terrorist organizations (i.e. True Sons, Outcasts, Hyenas), civilian militia, and privatized military (i.e. Black Tusk). You can customize your character, attire, and weapons, and level up your armor, gadgets, and specializations (select abilities) as you traverse this post-apocalyptic yet very familiar world to restore peace, take back territories, and uncover underground truths.
Side Note: See? This writing? I'm getting good at this. Made it myself! Didn't even copy it! Call out my typos to bring me back down to earth.
What Persuaded Me to Pick It Up?
I had played the first game, The Division, with my husband after getting a little jealous. Just picture me fighting with him over the controller or switching to my account while he's in the bathroom or cooking. What really compelled me was the recreation of Washington, DC specifically areas of Southwest and Northwest that I used to frequent regularly before the pandemic hit. The game play and mechanics in the first Division were solid and weren't too quick of an adjustment. So, loyalist that I am, didn't think it would be too much to jump back into the Division spirit.
What Do I Love About It?
I love that I'm able to spot popular haunts in my own backyard! The recreation of the areas were pretty accurate even with the haze of a post-apocalyptic environment. Sniping a Hyena goon across the Reflection Pool at the Lincoln Memorial is definitely a highlight. I loved how easy it was for both Chad and myself to get into the game. I didn't grow up playing shooter games and though I'm not technically out of practice, I appreciate that it isn't too hard for couples to pick up. I also loved the "Sharpshooter" specialization that yielded you a sweet TAC-50 C Rifle with awesome head-shot damage (+145%) if you level up the skill tree appropriately. Paired with Tip of the Spear or Ace of Eights Gear Sets, you were murking putties (yes, a Power Ranges reference) with damage or getting never ending rounds every head-shot you did.
I also have to admit, the character creation was varied in an inclusive kind of way that I appreciated but without being inundated with SO many options that I was spending hours just creating it! I always cringe (I immediately think of Mass Effect) when there's character creation in role-playing games sometimes, because I know that the the eventual character will be me settling for what's available not for what I really want (that's a blog post for another time). Here, I didn't cringe so much and I got a fully formed character I could be proud of.
What Do I Not Like About It?
There's a natural repetitiveness on Massive Multi-Player Online (MMO) shooter games that doesn't always vibe with me. My natural affinity is traditional fantasy role-playing games so that every quest (whether it be side or main), usually has a point and is not a repetitive recreation of the same stage you just beat with maybe a few more goons to kill or higher level bounties. I also didn't really care that much for the bounties after a while. It was a good check the box, but besides subpar loot, there wasn't anything groundbreaking introducing that for me.
And also...I played this game during the damn pandemic! At some point in the throws of what the world was going through, when you are on missions to discover more background about the virus, it didn't seem like an abstract game story anymore. It was a little TOO close for comfort. The DC streets in the midst of 2020 lockdown look eerily familiar to the Division 2's DC layout. This doesn't affect my rating because, honestly, Ubisoft couldn't predict this in launching this type of game in 2019. Frankly, I had every opportunity to play it before the pandemic.
Any Section That Stands Out?
The Summit Downloadable Content (DLC). Hands down. Picture this. A 100 floor escalation madhouse apartment where the only way to go is up and through armed guards, tanks, snipers, mechs, and fire. Think of the Indonesian movie, The Raid, on steroids (without the talented and fine, Iko Uwais as the lead). When it first came out, it only saved after the 3rd floor. However, afterwards you were able to save at each floor (like it helped). So why would anyone want to go through this, you ask?
Because it's a loot bonanza!!
You specialize in rifles and you want up-leveled mods? You can select it as targeted loot! Every series of floors, you can find one summit key and then the next set of floors unlock crates with that specific loot you wanted! No guess work! You want to target a specific gear that can, oh I don't know, boost your specialized weapon by 50% damage for a head-shot and automatically up your ammo. YOU CAN GET THAT SHIT!
What Can You Get Out Of It?
For a new gamer, it's a lot more intuitive than your average third-person shooter. No tricky camera issues to navigate and the MMO interaction with online players is provided in three ways: Players "Calling for Help" in their own campaigns, the Dark Zone, and Conflicts. However, each require deliberate action. Once you cleared the campaign and you go to World Tiers of play, participation is more encouraged but it's at your own pace. It's easy to get invested in the DLCs such as the Pentagon or going back to New York with Coney Island. There are some missions that will creep up on you and turn into it's own harder campaign, like Manning National Zoo. So you might have to be a little careful and read up on either the difficulty of the mission or the average length of time to complete it. You might be trudging through an intense mission for longer than an hour and you've just gotten to the final boss.
For experienced gamers, the Player vs. Player (PVP) of the Dark Zone and Conflicts is generally considered notable. Customization of the various skills was an early favorite as well for both Chad and myself. New players might get into a crutch with the default seeker mine or the turret, but more experienced players will see how each of the skills change up their game play. Each skill also has degrees of variations. It also allows collaborative pairing if you're playing on a team together. My go-to was a turret and the drone. I could distract my foes with the drone and coax them out of hiding places for a good head-shot. With the turret, it was steady and accurate fire to reduce shields and armor before I came in with a kill. It was also great to cover any my husbands' enemies while he was busy. For Chad, it was the hive and the turret. As a close combat player, the turret covered him especially when enemies tried to flank. The hive was modded to be a healing hive so that when either of us got into trouble, we had some good and steady healing. It bailed us out in more than one occasion. For experienced gamers, playing with these combinations can be a lot of fun and add some resourcefulness to the gameplay.
My Verdict? 5G
I really had a good time with this game and the replay value is high here. I've beaten the game at least 6 months ago but every other week my husband and I are diving back in for a new mission or to level up in another area. The original Division started out pretty good, but Division 2 definitely surpassed it and lived up to expectations! It's no surprise that this was a 5G for me!
Thank you for your time for my first video game review!
Happy gaming, everyone!
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