Tom Clancy’s The Division Review: It’s decent, but where do we go from here?

I can remember the first trailer of Tom Clancy’s The Division from E3 2013 as if it were yesterday. Devastated, derelict – thus very atmospheric – New York; two companions, and that characteristic wristwatch. Since then, I watched closely for every bit of information about the game, and at some point I was under the impression that the conception of the game was changing; that The Division will become a mediocre mix of extreme ideas. After many hours I’ve spent with the game, it turned out that, sadly, I was right to be worried; the more time I spent on the streets of New York, the worse my opinion of the game was.

First, let’s start with answering the question of what this game actually is. Tom Clancy’s The Division is a third-person action game with RPG elements, developed with online multiplayer in mind. Let me emphasize this: online multiplayer. It’s not a single-player game that gives you a possibility of coop. Instead, we have a game designed for online gaming specifically, which yet enables exploration for solo players. We also need to bear in mind that this isn’t a typical MMO either, although one could certainly find some similarities. The Internet is full of Destiny comparisons, but I find this game to be closer to Diablo. Just substitute swords and bows for guns, monsters for gangs, Sanctuary for New York and Deckard Caine for agent Faye Lau.

The game itself starts rather typically. After a short introduction into the plot, we must chose the looks of our avatar. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a total freedom in creating the character as was the case in Black Desert. Instead, we can chose from a couple of presets for both genders. Hopefully I’m wrong, but it seems possible that new faces will soon become available for purchase... Anyway, we are then called to one of the Strategic Homeland Division’s shelters, where we’re informed that we are expected to begin operations in the city, in accordance to Directive 51. We have to finish a couple of quests in Brooklyn in order to get acquainted with the game’s mechanics. Not long after, we get to the main theatre of events – Manhattan.

Upgrading the base is pretty satisfying. Increasing the number of available skills even more so.

At the first glance, it’s not very impressive – just a district of a huge city. But as soon as we start wandering around, it turns out it’s not that bad. Walking (not running) from end to end of the map takes about 35 minutes. Add a considerable number of collectables that we stumble upon every now and then – and which are really worth looking for, too, in order to get to know the past events – and the time of exploration is much longer, thus the size of the map isn’t an issue any more.

The map seems small, but we soon find out it’s anything but small. Luckily, we have a fast-travel system.

Talking about the map, we should mention a couple of things about the virtual New York. The city is really astonishing right from the beginning, and the care and attention paid to the details of the Big Apple is truly impressive. The slightly wintry conditions, piles of rubbish and bodies alike, wrecked cars, the omnipresent emptiness and silence; all these elements create a unique atmosphere. The biological attack, which is the game’s main theme, has left its mark on the city – and in can be felt as well as seen. Most of the buildings look rather similar, but it’s probably due to NY’s architecture – not the laziness of the developers. If you compare pictures from the city with in-game footage, you’ll see that the most characteristic places of Manhattan weren’t the only locations that were meticulously developed.

The amount of information in the interface is sometimes overwhelming, but luckily it can be limited.

Fly high, fly low

The Division is really pretty. You can notice the downgrade as compared to the first presentation (the so-called target-render) but that doesn’t bother me at all. The characters look good, and the lighting effect and shadows are really amazing – especially indoors. The day-night cycle is a huge advantage, as well as the weather conditions – the city, in one moment bathed in sunshine, can be covered in thick fog a second later. But this came at a price of some unpleasant compromises. I was playing on a PC which met the recommended requirements, and the frame rate would often drop on high settings. It’s not a huge problem when you lose 5fps, but when I entered a burning house, the PC struggled to maintain 30. Long story short – the game is not very well optimized. I also encountered some glitches causing an unexpected collision with elements of the environment, or making my character fall under textures.

We’re in New York, in case anyone failed to notice.

The game world was divided into two main parts: PvE, where you can’t encounter other players, except for those you invite to your team, and PvP (Dark Zone) which is instantiated for 24 players simultaneously, where we’re able to get the best equipment. The area designed for playing against AI is further divided into a couple of smaller regions, each containing a safe house that can be used for fast-traveling. However, the most important location for the player is the base of operations, located in the James Farley Post Office. This is the place the player visits in-between the missions; additional wings of the building can be upgraded, you can also trade and craft new gear. The development of the base is strictly related to the development of our character and to the progress you make in the story.

Such views are nothing special for New Yorkers.

I really dig the cover system in this game. Some of you will recognize it from Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. It’s hard to deny that similarity, but here, along with a good cover system come exceptional shooting mechanics. There are 6 classes of weapons, and they indeed differ in more than just statistics. The necessity of compensating the recoil – which isn’t all too realistic – doesn’t spoil the fun of exterminating more and more enemies. If there’s something to complain about, those would obviously be the bosses, who absorb your bullets like a sponge. On the other hand I can’t see a good alternative; dropping a boss with a single headshot wouldn’t be much fun either. Although one could claim that such mechanics stand in opposition to the realism of the city, we need to remember that games have to be balanced – and in this case it was achieved by such mechanics.

Getting new upgrades for the base also improves the building’s visuals.

For those who aren’t too fond of fighting against other players, there’s over a dozen of main quests, and a whole lot of side quests. The main missions can be re-played on three levels of difficulty – normal, hard, and – after reaching level 30 – challenging; the side-quests can be played only once. That’s not really a big disadvantage, since most of side quests were developed upon the copy-paste principle, with minimal diversity, and the only profit of completing them comes in the form of points used for upgrading our base. Clear a bandits’ outpost here; gather some intel about the virus there; disrupt weapon trade and then free the hostages. The water supplies quests were especially disappointing – the interiors were virtually identical, with the only variable being the side from which you approach the location.

The graphical effects have been well polished.

When playing with a couple of friends, you probably won’t notice that receptiveness, but if you want to finish each mission solo, you will probably soon get bored by the side quests. Luckily, the main quests save the day: as parts of the game’s plot they are much more engaging and detailed, be it in terms of the locations or more difficult gun fights. The mission in the Russian embassy, and the attack on the radical sanitation workers particularly stuck in my memory. Getting through the PvE area missions took me over 25 hours, although I didn’t go for all the collectibles; finding all the documents and audio logs etc. should provide another 5–6 hours of playing.

ECHO – reconstruction of past events with the use of cutting-edge technology.

What else is there for solitary soldiers? Is there anything to do after completing main- and sub quests? Well, in theory – yes... You can try to beat main quests on a higher difficulty level, or venture into the Dark Zone – bear in mind that entering PvP alone is rarely a good idea since most of the players – having superior numbers – will attack at once because of that yellow package you have under your backpack. There are also some daily missions, but they boil down to completing main quests on different difficulty levels to obtain certain items or schematics. Can we do anything else then? So far – nope. I’m not so sure either if the upcoming free-of-charge DLC will add any content for those who play solo – this game is about cooperation, and, judging by the initial information, Ubisoft will try to appeal to team players.

The civilians and JTF soldiers don’t have an easy life among the gangs of New York.

The emphasis on the cooperation is apparent virtually at every stage. “Extraction” missions are very common – pick something up, get it to the other end of the hall and insert into some machine. During those missions, while carrying the object, you can only use your handgun – it’s not impossible to get through such quest alone, but the game literally calls for at least one more player, who could give us some covering fire. Killing those bosses who have the ability of continuous suppressing fire is also pretty annoying – again, if there are other squad members with you, they can flank such an enemy and put a couple of rounds into his back (maybe a couple of dozen rounds). If you play alone, though, you can only wait for a boss to stop firing, and try to work something out until he pins you down again. Not to mention that some enemies have shields...

Don’t forget, Ubisoft didn’t forget about exploding barrels.

Two is a company, three is a division

You can’t deny that The Division becomes a much better game when playing as a team. Wandering around with your squad is precisely what makes this game really enjoyable – both when fighting against the AI and real players. There is something captivating about poking around the derelict New York City with a bunch of other agents. If we look back at the first trailers of the game, it’s easy to see that it was this form of gameplay that was emphasized, and that was what we found intriguing in the game, so it’s only fair that people from Massive Entertainment have devoted the most work here.

Dark Zone is the area most severely affected by the virus. Obviously, the best equipment can be found here.

So, what awaits teams of players? First of all, there’s the possibility to do all the PvE quests together. It’s not extremely impressive while playing the side missions, since they are driven by the same principle all the time, but when doing the main quests, it’s worth it – if you feel tough enough – to perform them on the second difficulty level from the beginning. Not only the enemies are more resilient, somewhat by default – more squad members render the enemies stronger – but they also gain a couple of levels, sometimes changing their color-tag for purple or yellow. When you finally reach level 30 (that’s currently the level cap), the last difficulty level is unlocked, and this one can be really challenging – even for well-synchronized teams. If you’re looking for a sensible endgame on PvE that’s it – doing all the quests on the highest difficulty. Fortunately, New York doesn’t end on the PvE.

Team activities will lead you (sooner rather than later) to the Dark Zone, the most contaminated and devastated part of the city, which also offers the best equipment available in the game. It is easy to notice that this is where the developers want us to spend most of our time. It is also the only in-game area, other than the safe houses, where we can, and will, encounter players not belonging to our team. The Dark Zone is filled with AI-controlled opponents, and they are the main obstacle in our quest for the loot hidden in containers scattered throughout the Zone. Occasionally, we will also encounter bosses – mostly characters taken straight from the finals of the story missions. This means that such an opponent is distinguished by a unique name, appearance, and – most importantly – number of health points and damage dealt. Groups of players hunting together for the most difficult opponents are a common sight in the Dark Zone. Just remember that after the boss is down there's no guarantee that your "team mates" won't turn on you next.

Plundering the Dark Zone alone is neither safe, nor advisable.

The problem is that I completely fail to see the benefits of PvP skirmishes in the Dark Zone. Killing other players can only provide us with the items that the other agent had not yet sent back to his base; assuming, of course, that we will survive the period of being branded as "rogue" and then manage to send the items we obtained back to our base. What do we get if we survive? Some coin, the items that we took from the other player's corpse, and... that would be pretty much it. There are, however, no meaningful benefits that would justify risking your life in the Zone – there are other ways to earn money and there's no way of telling what kind of gear you will get. The game does not feature any kind of reputation system, which could allow us to use exclusive items (like the light and dark side of the Force in The Old Republic, giving us access to some special equipment).

Don’t let the nice weather and pretty buildings deceive you – in the Dark Zone, you’re in a constant danger. Also caused by your comrades.

Frankly, we can gather cash and items a lot faster if we focus on computer opponents. I also miss the rivalry between players; something that could be implemented in the form of a leaderboard, granting us special prizes for reaching top positions. The implementation of such skirmishes, perhaps using classic formulas: Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, or even something like the Battlefield's Conquest, may be a little at odds with the setting, but it would certainly extend the game's lifespan. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that hunting other players will get boring at some point, and with no new equipment to search for, there will be nothing left for us to do. The expansions, including free content patches, provide a glimmer of hope, promising to expand the options offered by this particular area of the game.

It’s always calm before the storm…

Which reminds me – there's the issue of procuring new equipment. It seems that the endgame is mostly about grinding to get new gear. You may like it or not, this is not the first game to employ this system, but at some point we will run out of new options and max out our stats – and it won't be long before that happens. Furtheremore, the developers released a patch a few days after the release, which noticeably reduced drop rates of the best equipment. Apparently, it turned out that the players were able to gain new things too quickly, which would translate into a shorter lifespan of the game; and let's not forget that the first major update will only appear in April. Such a content patch (doesn't really deserve to be called an expansion) is, on one hand, a good thing, because it means that the developers are willing to update their work on an ongoing basis, but I have concerns as to how long this policy will last. After two free add-ons we will be getting three paid expansions, which will require considerable money. At the moment the endgame does not look particularily appealing, but the lifespan of the game will become truly measurable after the release of the first major update.

Told you!

Are we truly The Division?

If I had to sum up Tom Clancy's The Division in one sentence, I would say this is a pretty good game that can be played solo, but you should avoid doing it. Why? A good portion of fun in this title stems from cooperating with other players, especially if they are people with whom we can speak using voice communication. Repeating story missions on higher difficulty levels is not too burdensome, because the more work we have dispatching opponents and the faster we can die, the more often we are forced to change cover or look for a new firing position, in other words, stay in motion. The element of team coordination in some way allows us to forget that we've seen this before... for a dozen or so times. The Dark Zone can be quite fun, but in the long run, it falls short in providing a good reason for facing off against other players.

Apartment interiors can be really scary.

The game looks really nice and I was impressed with character animations and the way New York City was presented in-game. Unfortunately, the visuals are not enough to keep people playing the game for a longer period of time. The story is presented in a very accessible way, so if you like putting together history and lore of the world (learned mainly through collectibles) it can be quite fun in its own way. I can see The Division gaining popularity, and it’s very possible that you will spend many hours playing it, but I can’t help feeling that although most of the elements of the game have been designed extremely well, some key aspects give away the fact that the creators lacked sufficient experience. To date, Ubisoft hasn't released a great, large-scale online game, and, albeit with a heavy heart, I have to admit that this game isn't one either. To me, the score I gave in this review seems appropriate for organized groups that will play the game together. However, if you are thinking about visiting New York City alone, you will have to reduce my score by one point.