Review

Tom Clancy’s The Division

The hype train has been riding through our lives heavily in the last few years. Through the abundance of exciting E3 showings and gaming sites (ours included) lauding what could be, games are being sold more on potential rather than what’s actually present. Throw in a recognizable name into the mix and before you know it, the bar has been set exponentially high. When that happens it’s no wonder Tom Clancy’s The Division broke records upon release. Unfortunately, a large install base doesn’t automatically mean that all of our prerelease praise was warranted…

The Division has had most of us tactical shooting fans on edge ever since we were shown the game at E3. The idea of being able to fight in a diseased and crime ridden New York City with our friends seemed like an incredible idea. RPG elements in a co-op shooter isn’t new to anyone, but having the late Tom Clancy’s name in front of the title puts it into a different stratosphere of shooter. And as a fan of everything Clancy, I can’t help but be critical in the midst of all the praise the game is getting. Moments after booting up the game and connecting to the servers, I was thrown into the game’s customization sequence. Right off the bat, things aren’t going well.

This is easily one of the most underwhelming character creation menus that I have ever seen. Because there are no aliens, elves, or any other species of character available to choose from, the ability to create someone who looks like you is important. There is no way to change any facial features (sans a scar or two), there are limited haircut options, and the only way to truly make your character look unique is with tattoos and piercings. Don’t get me wrong, I understand not every RPG/MMO-like title gives their players the option to completely build a character. And to be fair you can choose your sex and ethnicity. But the limited choices create servers filled with people who look exactly alike, sans a scar or two; almost all of my African-American friends who play the Division have the same face and haircut.

Of course, this sort of thing isn’t a deal breaker. A lot of time you’ll spend gawking at a gorgeous post-apocalyptic New York, forgetting about how your face looks anyways. On a particular Black Friday, a virus was planted onto banknotes for what seemed like a terrorist attack. The virus quickly spread through New York, claiming hundreds of lives before the city is quarantined. To respond to the crisis, the government activates sleeper agents (The Division) to help those stuck in the city. And as a newly activated agent, I saw the burned buildings and destroyed cars throughout. Even in this state, this is probably the most accurate depiction of the Manhattan area I have ever seen in a game. The small nuances like posters being readable, the wind blowing my clothes and paper in different directions, snow collecting realistically on my gear, the sick people walking the streets – visually, all of these things helps to sell the narrative to the player.

Due to the lack of law enforcement, gangs have taken over large sections of the city. Some are more organized than others, but they are all extremely dangerous. The Cleaners, for instance, are a group of sanitation workers who zealously set people on fire in order to “cleanse” the city of the virus. They walk from block to block carrying flamethrowers, searching for people who may be hiding in buildings or in shelters; they would actually be rather terrifying if this wasn’t a video game. You’ll deal with them and other groups as the Division starts liberating the city. What’s interesting is how you’ll go about this task.

Because this is an third person shooter with RPG elements, the game is set up to loop encounters with the goal of leveling you up. You’ll get missions from key individuals (some of which you’re tasked with saving) before heading into an area to complete some objective. Using an assortment of guns – you can carry two primaries and one sidearm – you and three friends will shoot any enemies that get in your way, making sure to snag whatever loot they leave behind. At one point your group will enter a no respawn zone before facing a boss. Similar to Destiny, deaths here require a teammate’s assistance. If your entire group falls in battle, you’ll respawn at the last check point. That said, special skills and equipment can be used to even the odds. Once the mission is completed, the experience points (and other currency) are doled out as an NPC congratulates you on a job well done.

The mission structure isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Going through these realistic environments and strategically coordinating your attacks can be rather fun. There are even some intense moments late in the game. The problem comes in once you’ve realized that you don’t have to utilize smart tactics during firefights to be successful. And I suspect it has to do with the RPG mechanics layered on top of the shooting. The enemies, regardless of level, don’t seem to think. They just run, duck behind cover, and shoot. Sometimes, they’ll run towards your position in an effort to flank you. I say try because they don’t move from cover to cover when doing this. No, they come right at you. What makes them difficult to deal with is the amount of bullets it takes to down them; a shotgun wielding foe being shot multiple times in the chest, may kill you before his health bar reaches zero.

Some enemies will snipe from afar, others will toss grenades, but none of them are very smart. Being able to drop a turret to defend an area or using portable cover when fighting a chain gun carrying foe are sound tactics. But as long as you have decent weapons (for the appropriate level) and hide behind cover, you won’t need to use majority of these items/skills. The boss fights aren’t any better. Each lackluster encounter is the same; I knew, by the end of every mission, I would be either fighting a big guy with a heavy machine gun, a big guy with a flamethrower, or a sniper. All of them were bullet sponges that would slowly move around an area, forcing my group to change hiding spots while pelting them with bullets. Sure, using our abilities helped but aside from a healing station, they weren’t really needed. Not only did it feel like a waste to have all of this cool gear and not have to use it, but the repetitive boss battles started to grow stale a few hours in.

Now I am no rookie to RPG’s. I get that most of them revolve around repetition for the sake of farming items. I guess I just expected the Division to play more like a Tom Clancy game. One where headshots really mattered, being stealthy was an option, and a tactical approach was important; basically more like the E3 demos.  I really enjoyed the trait/skill/perk system, the tight controls, and how easy it was to find groups via matchmaking. But after I unlocked the available traits and choose what talents I wanted that would help my team, I had become bored with the game. I wasn’t being challenged, at least not in the way I would have liked.

One of the more unique elements in the Division involves an area called the Dark Zone. Here, players battle higher leveled enemies to gain some of the game’s best loot. What’s interesting is that in order to keep the spoils, you have to have them airlifted out of the zone (they need to be decontaminated). Any player looting to score some “easy” loot can kill you and take your stuff. Killing another agent will make you Rogue though, basically putting a bounty on your head as extra Dark Zone XP is awarded for dispatching jerky players. It’s a cool idea on paper. In an effort to keep the zone from becoming an area full of trolls however, Ubisoft added severe punishments for going Rogue. For a limited time after killing another player, you’ll show up on the map as a prime target. If you’re killed while rogue, you’ll lose a large amount of Dark Zone experience, something that’s needed to unlock better items.  Because of this, most of the time there are just a bunch of agents nervously staring down one another as they wait for the helicopter to airlift their items. While I wouldn’t call it a safe place to explore, it’s certainly isn’t the Wild Wild West it could have been.

Overall, The Division is a solid game that has the potential for growth. There are plenty of side-missions and collectibles, the gameplay can be fun with three friends by your side, and it isn’t at all bad on the eyes. The uninspiring bosses, repetitive mission structure, and wasted tactical abilities hurt the experience though. Ubisoft is planning to release more content in the near future. Hopefully that’ll mean interesting missions and cool raids, maybe some actual competitive PvP that isn’t neutered by Dark Zone penalties. As things are right now, even after hitting the level cap and finding some rare weapons, I’ve lost my drive to play.