The Division Review

After three long years the Division has finally launched and whether I'm grinding for the next legendary drop or trendy scarf to compliment my wardrobe, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Roughly putting in just under 70 hours and still going strong, my experience with the Divisions has been mostly positive. Set in New York during the busiest shopping days of the year some money has been passed around containing a deadly virus that has affected the entire city. Due to this New York City has been thrown into chaos and where normally the police or military would suffice to resolve the issue they have been unsuccessful, this is where you come in. The Division is an agency that is brought in when all other forms of law enforcement have failed. Its your job to go into New York City and not only discover the source of the virus but clean the streets of the various factions that now inhabit it.

The Division is a 3rd person, open world, shoot n' loot RPG and as such, your first task is to create your character to set yourself apart from the rest. This is the first time you take control in the game and unfortunately it is one of the weaker aspects. Typically in these types of games there  are hundreds of different options but what we have here is fairly limited and somewhat odd given the tone and setting. There are only six different face options for both male and female that range from recovering alcoholic to post facial reconstructive surgery. From there you have a few hairstyles to choose from and in case your agent was working at hot topic awaiting their activation, there are quite a few tattoos and piercings. Its not that its impossible to create a good looking Agent but overall the options are lackluster and should have been more diverse. Luckily, one of the more popular aspects are the hundreds of different clothing options you can choose from. Massive was smart to have these almost entirely separate from gears so you can wear whatever you want without diminishing your stats.

One area the game has no issue in impressing visually is the open world itself. Massive has done an incredible job in creating a dreadful post epidemic New York that is both beautiful and depressing. Streets are littered with empty cars, mountains of trash line the sidewalks, and citizens can be seen fighting among themselves for scraps or crawling slowly on all fours only to take their last breath and die right in front of you. Different portions of the city that might be overrun with a particular criminal factions will show wear and signs of their establishment. Massive pulled no punches in this regards; JTF (Joint Task Force) officers can been seen hanging lifeless from overpasses by their feet or propped up next to a sign mocking their death. It might appear offensive to some but in this type of scenario it only adds to the overall experience and never appears to be overdone for pure shock value. One area I was concerned with was the fact that this takes place solely within the confines of one city. While New York City is huge and usually a popular setting for many avenues of entertainment, I was worried the environments would begin to feel repetitive. Luckily, this hasn't been the case while I'm exploring the streets, inside of apartment buildings, rooftops, or even going below into the large subway system. Overall, I am really impressed with what Massive has accomplished in their vision of New York City and look forward to what they have to offer in future expansions.

Now all of these things so far sound great, but what is really important is how good the core part of the 50+ hour game can be. Shooting stuff. What feels like a mix between Gears of War in its cover mechanics and Ghost Recon:Advanced Warfighter in its gunplay, the game achieves that satisfaction through and through. If Gears of War invented the cover system, the Division simply improved it. Little touches like being able to move to a different piece of cover by simply holding a button is very welcome. Weapons all have a nice weight to them and you will have to learn how each weapon type handles to maximize your effectiveness. Simply holding down the trigger will have you aiming at the sky and likely dead asking for a revive. But a shooter wouldn't be complete without attachments and they play an even more important role as it is an RPG. From grips, scopes, barrel attachments, and magazine types all of these will aid you in improving your ability to fight through any situation. Since the game focuses on realism, the weapons will be your standard fare. Assault rifles, SMGs, LMGs, marksman rifles and shotguns round out your arsenal as well as several side arms. Since the game's main draw revolves around acquiring new loot, each weapon type has multiple options within their own category. There are plenty of options to find out which is your favorite depending on the situation. Unfortunately, guns themselves rarely change appearance regardless of level. I don't find this to be a big issue though since again this isn't an unrealistic sci-fi shooter. It is grounded in a realistic setting, however, more distinction to show off a legendary or high end weapon would have been welcome. In traditional shoot n' loot fashion each weapon or gear drop is associated with a color. Green is common, blue is rare, purple is legendary, and gold is high end. Early on, you will want to grab every single item since most low level drops will be an improvement on your gear. As a money hungry player, I sold everything in order to purchase items from vendors. After beating the game, I realize that was a bad choice because most of the best weapons and gear are crafted from weapon components rather than store bought. In order to craft you should take advantage of the deconstruct function which breaks down any weapons and gear into their respective materials.

Guns won't be the only thing aiding you in cleaning up New York City. At your base of operations there are three distinct wings you can upgrade by completing story or side missions. These wings are Tech, Security, and Medical. Tech will earn you offensive upgrades such as sticky bomb or a BB-8 like drone that will seek out enemies then explode on impact. Security will earn you more defensive upgrades such as a shield or a cover option you can deploy on the fly. Medical is not as exciting as other options but is highly appreciated by group members, the abilities are literally life savers. You begin by being able to heal a large portion of your own health but through upgrades, you will be able to heal your entire party or even bring them back from bleeding out. One thing I have noticed is that I often change my load out in order to accommodate the current task. It was both surprising and welcome that I didn't settle into a specific role. The teamwork and gameplay is best when everyone understands how and when to use certain skills in order to turn an impossible task into a simple one.

There are many different types of missions and side activities. Story missions are essentially the dungeons of this RPG, and the meat of the content in the endgame. Story missions will have you taking out the leaders that run the different factions throughout the city and piecing together evidence about the origination of the virus. The factions include the Rikers, which were former prisoners and vow to never return to their cells. The Cleaners, which believe by setting everything on fire, including you, they can purge the city of the outbreak. Then there is the Last Man Battalion which, without spoiling anything, are a lot more advanced and pose the greatest threat. Side missions are less impressive. Its unfortunate that with so much time and attention put into the story missions, especially the video that plays post completion, the side missions feel less thought out. They range from securing supply drops, activating decontamination boxes while you race against the clock, and powering on electrical boxes in a point to point formula. Luckily the gameplay is so much fun that doing the same repetitious side mission for the fifth or sixth time does not feel boring. It doesn't help that you will hear the same repeated dialogue word for word, even in the same voice. The day I don't have to hear "I'm taking small arms fire," cannot come soon enough. The rewards for doing these are substantial, however, as you will gain materials necessary to upgrade the wings at your BoO as well as XP to level your character.

So you've defeated every crime leader, rescued every JTF officer from small arms fire, and found the perfect puffy jacket that compliments your beanie, now what? At level 30 you will unlock the option to play Daily Challenge missions. Each of these missions will net you a new currency called Phoenix Credits. These can be spent at the new Special Gear vendor in the Tech Wing or the northeast Dark Zone vendor. This will get you the best weapons and gear in the game and will be crucial to your success while running the Challenge missions. If you are tired of playing the story missions and prefer to enter into a PvP space, then the Dark Zone will be your next stop. The Dark Zone is a quarantined area in the middle of the map where the rules are thrown out the window and you find out who your true friends are. The basis of the DZ allows you and three friends to explore the sectioned off piece of the city in search of bosses and random encounters to acquire rare but contaminated loot. When you acquire said loot you must rush to an extraction zone and wait for an intense minute and a half for the chopper. Only when your loot bag is secure on the rope are you sure that the loot is officially yours. At any point you acquire your new loot up to loading it onto the rope at the extraction point, any player in the Dark Zone can decide to go rogue and kill you. You drop your precious loot and they steal whatever you had. It is a fun game mode, especially during the Beta, where it seemed closer to the developers vision for PvP combat. During the Beta, people weren't attached to their loot and therefore went crazy. Now that the game is out and people are invested in equipping their character with the best gear, guns, and attachments, going rogue isn't seen as much of a benefit. Quite simply, it its just not worth it. The bonus for surviving your rogue status is nowhere near what you would get actually helping other players. Plus, in order to purchase anything at Dark Zone vendors you need to be certain levels and if you die while rogue you lose DZ experience points, wiping away hours of work. Massive has become aware of this and already acknowledge they will be working to make the Dark Zone more PvP centric although they have not revealed any specific details.

The Division earned more money than any other new franchise in the first five days of its launch week with a staggering $330 million. The question is not whether gamers are interested but what is Massive going to do to keep us engaged. A game in this genre lives and dies by the community. The end game content in its current state is not enough to hook a lot of players long term but a free raid type update in April looks to remedy that. They also have been pretty forthcoming with their plans for future content and assuming it all pans out as described it should be worth the wait and asking price. I can easily recommend this game to those who understand what they're getting. Its for sure one of the most fun coop games I have played in a long time and understanding this is a long term investment versus a weekend rental, I think you'll see the value in the overall product.

8/10