Tom Clancy's The Division Reviews
The Division is a very interesting game, with soaring highs as well as flaws, and the best multiplayer for years.
The biggest concern I had going into The Division was its viability as a single-player game. Thankfully, the developers proved me wrong. In spite of my emotionless hero, Ubisoft Massive's dystopian version of New York City is absolutely gripping. While I did come close to burning out (that happens when you play any game six or more hours a day for more than a week), I'm still excited to jump back in and spend more time with the multiplayer modes, as well as dive deeper into the Dark Zone.
Tom Clancy's The Division is overwhelmingly okay. It will drown you in its abundant okayness, so okay is it in terms of playability and content.
At level 26, I'm enjoying The Division. At level 30, I'm worried it'll get repetitive.
The Division delivers on its promise to provide an open-world shooter that scales well enough to play like a single-player campaign or a challenging four player co-op MMO.
When The Division fires on all cylinders, it's really something; a solid loot-shooter, with engaging mechanics and the perfect set-up for co-op online. What bogs it down, between a lack of variety and a mix of technical hitches, keeps it from reaching those heights. For now, it's a serviceable squad-based shooter effective at eating up a couple hours a night with friends.
Ubisoft's online shooter will be familiar to Destiny veterans, but its gritty take on New York amps up the misery and leaves us powerless to care
This collapse caused various factions of armed looters, rioters, murderers and thieves to pop up all over the city - along with stray dogs and scurrying rats - patrolling the snowy, litter-filled streets and killing indiscriminately, taking whatever they want. Fortunately, the government had set up an armed militia of cover-hugging sleeper cell agents, and they're sent in to restore order by... patrolling the streets and killing indiscriminately, taking whatever they want.
Ubisoft has created a wonderful world for gamers to play in, but The Division is held back by a lack of mission diversity and some gameplay quirks.
Any enjoyment to be found in The Division could easily have been smothered by its tremendously dull side content. Fortunately, it's saved from some all too familiar open world bloat by not only the high stake thrills of the Dark Zone but its top notch story missions. When added to a wealth of other positives – like its loot system and detailed open world – this entertaining action RPG manages to muster more than enough antibodies to overcome what thankfully turns out to be a mild case of the Ubisofts.
Tom Clancy's The Division is a game that demands to be played with other people. It's biggest gameplay flaws are forgivable once you add a friend into the mix, but as a solo experience it can be an exhausting grind with little in the way of rewards or satisfaction.
Playing The Division is a bit like having the flu - you can't get it out of your head and it doesn't ever want to let you go. But unlike the flu, you won't mind at all.
Decent third-person shooting mechanics, geared strongly toward co-op; but unless your brain is tickled by colour-tiered items the rote repetition will eventually drive you from Manhattan. The Division's speculative catastrophe fiction never sits convincingly with its pure, stat-based loot grind.
You could say it's their destiny to be better, and so far that is proving so. I'll need more time to observe them in the future but for now there is only a good outlook for the future of the Division and its many agents.
Post-pandemic New York City is a terrifying vision, but it's not one that you'll likely want to leave for some time.
If the enticement of better loot and stat optimization catches hold of you however, there's a chance that The Division may well become your next addiction, especially if Ubisoft and Massive can keep a steady stream of updates and DLC coming.
With enough content to keep players busy for a long time, and a support plan from Ubisoft that should see the shelf life extend long past just the release window, you'll likely be playing The Division for a while.
Ubisoft has built an excellent base to work off of. The Division is worth checking out right away, and its future seems bright right now, and time will tell if that's true or not. For now, though? Buy.
The Division is a great shooter that's primarily let down by glitches, drabness, repetition, and a thoroughly underwhelming first raid.