Tom Clancy’s The Division

Windows, PS4, Xbox One

Developer: Ubisoft Massive , Red Storm Entertainment

Background

One of the most highly anticipated games with the Tom Clancy name attached to it, Tom Clancy’s The Division is a third-person shooter in which the player must help The Division bring order and control back to Manhattan after a virus sweeps through the city. This record-breaking game was developed by Ubisoft Massive and Red Storm Entertainment and released on March 8, 2016.

Story

Tom Clancy’s The Division puts you in the shoes of an agent of the Division. the Division is a group of people tasked with helping to restore a crime-ridden New York city, after a viral plague known as the “Green Poison” decimates the population and throws Manhattan and Brooklyn into anarchy and chaos. You must stop the street gangs and criminal factions from casting NY further into chaos and unrest. Throughout the story you will work with your division to build proper medical facilities, advance technology, and improve security to bring order to the streets and subdue the criminal syndicates such as the Cleaners, and the Rikers. These groups have overtaken parts of the city and are running rampant through the streets. You will head to all sorts of locations throughout New York City such as construction sites and even the sewers. Against all odds you must save the quarantined people of Manhattan.

Gameplay

Tom Clancy’s The Division uses a third person perspective which can often make gameplay difficult but not enough to where it truly hinders the experience. As you defeat enemies and gain experience you will level up and unlock abilities that will aid you in your fight for New York. These abilities include a heal burst which can heal you and your allies and can even be upgraded to revive downed teammates. If your feeling a little more destructive then you can equip the sentry turret which will activate wherever you throw it and will proceed to eliminate and suppress and enemies within its range; its a handy tool for solo players.

You will find new weapons as you progress including shotguns, snipers, and even some pretty intense hand cannons. It is crucial to keep your arsenal upgraded with stronger weapons and attachments, such as a fore grip to keep your shots focused and your recoil controlled, or a scope to extend your range far beyond what the naked eye can see. You will also find gear that will help you passively with stat boosts in your health and skills. As you level up your HQ and build facilities to help the New Yorkers, you will also unlock modifiers that you can turn on and off on your abilities. Plus you will find clothes, which do nothing but offer a nice new aesthetic for your character. Sometime all it takes is a sweet new winter jacket to pull it all together.

Dark Zone

When it comes to true danger, there is no greater threat than your fellow man. The Dark Zone is an area of Manhattan that is so dangerous you better be packing plenty of heat and a strong amount of patience, you'll need it.

When you enter the Dark Zone every other player is free to kill you without a second thought. It is in this area that you will find some of the greatest loot the game has to offer. However, before you may use it, it will need to be sterilized and the only way to do that is for the loot to be extracted from the Dark Zone via helicopter at specific helipad locations around the DZ. You will attach your collected good to the rope that drops from the helicopter, the issue comes in is that only so many goods can be attached and airlifted in one shot so you will have to defend your loot from other players also trying to extract their own loot. If you are not careful people will cut your loot of and you’ll be out of luck.

Verdict: 6/10

If your looking for a game that will be fun and keep you entertained for a little bit then this is the game. Unfortunately it will only be for a little bit. The Division has very repetitive gameplay and mission objectives. I often found myself wondering if I had been replaying the same missions here and there but wasn’t it only felt like that. I wouldn’t even bother playing Tom Clancy’s The Division if i didn’t have someone to play it with. It can become increasingly boring fighting the dangerous criminals and common street rabble over and over again. The Dark Zone will help to keep you playing but you will likely become overcome with frustration as you are constantly cheated out of the hard earned loot you earned The Division had a lot of hype leading up to it’s release and it is one of those cases where the product just couldn’t measure up to the hopes the players had for it. The story never really delivers, and the repetitive gameplay makes solo play very bland and unfulfilling in the worst ways. You never truly feel connected to your character which makes the actions that you take, feel disconnected and that they should mean nothing to you.