Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Review – A promising third-person shooter filled with plenty of positives

The Division 2 came out a while ago and has certainly caught the interest of gamers who love third-person shooters due to its excellent gunplay, decent story missions, superb graphics and much more. If you are interested in knowing more about the game, why not check out our previous interview with the game’s senior game designer first before proceeding to the review.

Check out the trailer:

Story missions

The story missions in The Division 2 are decent and fairly easy to play as well which is great for beginners to get used to the game quickly without any frustration. Guides are there to help so that players don’t get too lost in the game. I’m still quite behind in terms of progression but the few story missions I’ve played so far managed to keep me engrossed and I certainly enjoyed the experience. I wouldn’t rate them as 100% interesting and at the same time, I wouldn’t use the word “boring” either so I’m still hoping for more interesting story missions as I progress further in the game.

Combat system

There is a wide variety of guns in the game which you can store in your seemingly-limitless inventory. However, there are only three weapon slots available in your backpack and one’s already reserved for your secondary pistol (which has infinite ammo) so you will have to do with the other two slots for your primaries. Although primary weapons do not have infinite ammo, players won’t ever have to worry about running out of ammo quickly because one set of loot can already get you tons of resources which will definitely get you through for a long period of time.

The gunplay in The Division 2 is excellent and not complicated at all unlike some other shooter games like CSGO where the recoil is insanely hard to master and the bullet spray for some guns such as the AK-47 isn’t aligned to the crosshair at all. Although I haven’t used all the guns that are available in the game yet but what I can say is, the recoil is easy to learn and control. A single shot to the head doesn’t usually result in an instant headshot kill which makes me assume that the damage dealt is based on distance. Of course, different guns deal different amount of damage so this could be a factor too.

Furthermore, you can actually test your guns to see which are the ones that are most suitable to you, which is good because not every shooter game has this feature. With this, players are able to go into each story mission brimming with confidence, knowing that they’ve got it. Also, guns can be upgraded in the game and thanks to the stats and other details, it’s easy to keep track with the upgrade progression.

Although the enemies are not very difficult to play against, their guns do still pack a punch which means players always have to be wary and take cover whenever it’s necessary. Sometimes during situations where they clearly have the advantage over me due to their numbers, they still wouldn’t come near me which really makes me think that they are either stupid or just a bunch of scaredy-cats. If they were to engage me in close range combat as a cohesive group using melee weapons, I would have been presented with a much tougher challenge, that’s for sure. Also, may I add that bosses are much tougher to kill and I’d advise other players not to take them lightly.

Stealth gameplay in The Division 2 is satisfyingly good and thanks to that, I felt like an invincible marksman who’s invulnerable to enemy fire at most times. Players can literally take cover and peek at almost everywhere such as behind walls and cars, then find the best angles to shoot down enemies. Plus, I became accustomed to it easily thanks to the indicator that always pops up whenever I got close to an obstacle.

Most impressive of all is definitely the unique skill which could benefit players a lot in battle and I chose the one that allows my character to disable enemies’ electronic devices within a specific radius. Although I’ve never really bumped into enemies that are equipped with electronic devices yet, I’m sure it would benefit me greatly in later stages of the game. Same goes for other players, regardless of which skill you decide to choose.

One of the things I dislike about The Division 2‘s combat system is undoubtedly the inability to possess melee weapons that would give players an advantage in close range combat. If the enemies are able to use melee weapons, that feature should be made available to us players as well. Also, the fact that enemies have the capability to literally knock me back with such force that left me vulnerable for a split second is a little bit too overpowered. I know we can still hit the enemies with the back of our guns but the inability to possess melee weapons in a shooter game of this calibre is just absurd.

Next would be the grenade control which I find it weird and very difficult to get used to. In most other shooter games, you just have to press once to throw a grenade but in The Division 2, players have to click on two separate keys to throw a grenade. During edgy situations where you have no time to reload at all and have no other choice but to resort to grenades, this is where it gets really annoying because you can’t quick throw your grenades, causing players to be exposed to enemy fire during crucial moments. Maybe The Division 2 is trying to implement something new with this two-click grenade control but in all honesty, it is unneeded and really should have been left undeployed.

Gameplay

The gameplay is overall good especially with the management of your character’s health which makes the game not frustrating to play. Your health automatically regenerates and the medical kits in the game are basically the tools that help you replenish your armor. Although your armor does not always automatically regenerate like your HP does, it is still pretty tough and can withstand enemy fire for quite a while.

However, there are still some things that I wish would have been added to the game such as jumping and crouching. These two controls are extremely essential in a shooter game and they give more freedom to how we want to play the game, also giving more options on how to execute a gunfight. There were times where I could have just jumped over obstacles to avoid enemy fire but because there wasn’t one, I took a few hits. I was kind of shocked at first, to find out that jumping and crouching are unavailable in the game.

Loot system

The loot system in The Division 2 is pretty good but it depends on luck and randomness as well. Yes, players can gain a lot of resources from just a single set of loot, which will obviously make life much easier especially when it comes to more tedious missions. However, not every enemy you kill will grant you guns and other resources so it’s really unpredictable like in RPGs. Loot boxes are great and will really help you in the middle of a gunfight but they are rarely found in the game.

Verdict

I have never played the first Division before but what I can say is, The Division 2 is overall a great third-person shooter game that is definitely worth playing. If you are a fan of third-person shooters, I would definitely recommend you The Division 2. On top of that, this game is not all just about single-player PVE story missions as there are PVP modes for players to enjoy as well such as the Dark Zones and Conflict game modes, although I’ve never tried them out yet. Lastly, although there’s not much to say, I have to mention the game’s outstanding graphics and good job to Ubisoft on that aspect because for me, it’s definitely up to standard.

Watch our gameplay here:

If you are interested in the game, it’s now available on PC, PS4 and XBox One. For more information on The Division 2, you can visit their official website and Facebook Page.