Tom Clancy's The Division 2 Reviews
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When Ubisoft's online third-person shooter with RPG elements Tom Clancy's The Division 2 initially launched, we got a chance to check out a number of in-progress reviews for the game. But since it's always better to have the full picture when deciding whether or not you should purchase something, here are a few complete reviews:
PC Gamer 82/100:
This is a very complete-feeling follow-up to The Division, from a team that clearly learned a lot about its audience after a series of successful, high-value updates. Dedicated players know they want this already. For everyone else, this is an exciting, moreish shooter set in an impressive world that already offers tens of hours of enjoyable shooting and cool loot.
Destructoid 8.5/10:
All three are swappable and come with their own skill trees, which you're working toward with endgame level-ups (which, in turn, also earn you a random gear box). Again, there's a real sense of progression here as you're simultaneously unlocking better loot, ways to mod your gear and alter your skills, and specialization optimization. You might be repeating existing content for now (until the first raid drop and subsequent DLC arrives) but I haven't gotten tired of it yet. Witnessing an entire squad full of players who are using completely different abilities in what is essentially a cover-based tactical shooter is quite the sight. It still has that semi-grindy feel, but it's engaging in the sense that the grind is never a chore.
The more I played The Division 2, the more a higher score on our scale made sense. That would be a meaningless statement if it wasn't fun to play up until I reached that decisive apex; but fortunately, it is. I hereby nominate The Division 2 for an honorary BUG (bring-up-your-grades) award for its vast upgrade on the back of its predecessor.
GameInformer 9/10:
Story failings and technical hiccups aside, Ubisoft has a winner on its hands with The Division 2. The strong combat, interesting missions, and compelling loot loop kept me invested through the endgame, and I don’t plan to stop playing anytime soon. For a live-service game just getting out of the gate, that’s quite an achievement.
GamingBolt 9/10:
But the story’s deficiencies, while undeniable, are hardly going to stop you from coming back to The Division 2 for dozens of hours on end. No, in the end, the reason you play these games is for the loot grind, and the build variety, for the combat, and the amount of content on offer, and on those front, The Division 2 is off to an amazing start already. It’s by far the easiest recommendation at launch this genre has had in many, many years- now to see whether or not Ubisoft and Massive continue to capitalize on this foundation in the coming months and years. Right now, The Division 2 is very well positioned to become the definitive looter shooter experience out there, so here’s hoping its post-launch support does justice to the extremely impressive foundation the game itself has laid down.
Metro 7/10:
What’s more questionable though is the loot, which is constrained by both the real-world setting and the dour atmosphere of the game in general. Clothing doesn’t get much more flamboyant than a nice scarf and while the weapons are generally enjoyable to use it’s only really the manually crafted mods that make any interesting difference to how you use them. There are loot boxes for the cosmetics items but their contents are so mundane it’s impossible to feel aggrieved by them.
The Division 2 is not an ambitious sequel but it is a competent one. There are few new ideas but the team has clearly identified the weaknesses in other games and carefully tried to avoid them. All of them except the terrible storytelling that is, which is beginning to seem like a traditional part of the whole sub-genre now.
TechRaptor 8.5/10:
Massive Entertainment’s second attempt at a third-person Destiny competitor offers a substantially more compelling stream of content to dive into. You won’t have to wait for months of patches before plunging yourself into this excellent loot-shooter. There’s plenty to do and the core loop of combat and loot is compelling and remarkably refined. The disappointingly plain writing is a shame, but it’s easy to ignore and doesn’t detract from the tight and polished gameplay experience. If you’re looking for a significant expansion of the first game’s foundation, Division 2 has it in spades.
Twinfinte 4/5:
In an age where it’s become all too common for live service games to release as incomplete products that require a few months’ worth of patches to become the game we were “promised,” The Division 2 is a revitalizing breath of fresh air.
