What We Hated

 

Clunky Controls

Awkward cover mechanics plague The Division. For example, often as you attempt to dash to cover you end up dive rolling right into enemy fire. In the fast pace of the gunplay it seems like the inputs very easily get mixed up. When you’re in cover, turning a corner feels clunky and often stops working during a fire fight where it’s needed most. Another downside is the recoil on many of the guns. The enemies are walking bullet sponges, but when your assault rifle is bouncing around it makes it frustrating to attack enemies with precision.

 

Repetitive Encounters

To upgrade your base of operations you can complete encounters in order to earn supplies for one of three upgradable wings. Most of these are pretty underwhelming activities like virus scan where you have to comb through an area to scan objects. It feels monotonous rather than engaging. Otherwise you’re doing hostage rescue situations, defending an objective or carrying something to a destination. There could have been more variety in these activities because after farming base supplies it begins to feel like a chore.

 

Lack Of Diversity In Enemies

Given the context of the story line, I can understand the reason for the type of enemies thrown at you but it still feels like you’re shooting the same ones. Each encounter has you facing off against rioters, cleaners (flamethrowers), or charging baseball bats, and it makes the game feel repetitive at times. Most levels require you to defend a spot from incoming waves against these same groups of foes. If you want to view The Division from a MMO standpoint, often these games have a wide variety of different foes to take down. Destiny for example, as a similar shared open world style game, had many different enemy types based on the planet you visited which really helped to flesh out the universe.

 

Conclusion – Should You Bother?

After weighing the pros and cons of The Division and you’re still uncertain, let me give you my opinion to help tip the scales — if you enjoy Destiny’s shared open world concept, RPGs, or any tactical shooter then get up immediately and go buy The Division. While the encounters are lacklustre at times, the meat of the game is in the missions, side missions and the DZ content which offer a great mix of variety and challenge. Matchmaking is a breeze and I’ve never experienced a crash once (which I tip my hat to Ubisoft for). Constant upgrading of equipment and weapons gives you that feeling of satisfaction when you loot that next piece of high level gear. There is so much content to keep you busy, and Ubisoft did a fantastic job of creating a seamless world from solo play to multiplayer.