After having played most of what's possible in Tom Clancy's The Division 2, I can say one thing - the assessment of the latest Massive Entertainment game is very difficult. The reason for this is not that writing reviews of titles based on the "game as a service" system is quite a breakneck task, and it would be best to judge them when the dust settles after the first raptures. All the more so because the comparisons to other games of this genre come to mind after the failures of the predecessors. On the other hand, it was the first Division that was supposed to learn from the mistakes at the time of the premiere.... In the final analysis, we had to deal with them as well. Was it possible to avoid a slip-up this time?
A peaceful village, a happy village... Agent SHD comes out of the shed in one of the bridgeheads defended by the title Squadron - a group set up by the President of the United States to respond quickly to emergencies made up of people in society. However, an attack on the resources in the area from an unknown forest group is fast and the player's task is to fight back the enemy. All this serves as a quick and simple tutorial - without performing slow tasks or registering in the database, as was the case in the first part of The Division. After the fight is over and the preparations for the next battle are finished, the signal comes from Washington. The capital city needs immediate support.
The agent moves to Washington, helps to counter the threat around the White House, and then praises the new sheriff for cleaning up the entire city. He will also be able to find out what role the mysterious powder DC-62 plays in all of this and whether the ruling class had any interest in the flu epidemic that broke out on Black Friday.
The whole game in The Division 2 can be divided into several stages. The first one is the main plot, which is divided into three different parts. Breaking through all the role-playing missions, the reflection of the faction's fortresses (including the Capitol Hill) and the subsequent defense of the threat from the Black Fang is a game for about 40-50 hours depending on whether you prefer a quick sprint, or like sightseeing tours in search of finds. I must admit, however, that I liked The Division 2 much more. There's room for small twists, the whole story also seems to be much more consistent. It's not a masterpiece, but you can feel the soul of the games with the note "Tom Clancy's" in it. Even in inconspicuous tasks there is a certain injection of information about what has been going on in Washington for the last few months.
It's hard to find empty runs when there's something going on in most of the streets. On one side, civilians in sweaters are fighting with units of one of the factions. In another place we find a group of Black Fang holding hostages, and sneaking through the nooks and crannies of the city we find ourselves in a retreating unit, which without much thought opens fire on a defenceless agent. This time it's hard to be bored, and the climate of isolated Manhattan is being replaced by Washington, literally bathed in fire. In this respect, The Division 2 introduces a breath of fresh air not only by opting for a completely new approach to the open world, but also by letting you experience a city that hasn't been used so often in games. This is all the more so as Massive has once again risen to the top in terms of how the city is represented in the game. There was a reason why The Division was great in terms of enviroment storytelling and it's also great in the sequel - it's impressive!
The Division 2 could not miss what is most important in looter shooters - collecting tons of equipment. What's interesting, during all these hours I didn't feel much trouble with getting promoted to the next levels or conquering my Gear Score. And theoretically for some people it can be great news if you don't like to spend tens of hours on punching points. Others, however, will be pleased that the rest is breaking up about statistics, skills and fashion, which gives a lot of possibilities for possible combinations and builds.
What is important, however, despite dialing more and more numbers, while playing PvE, the level of difficulty was relatively even and sometimes posed a challenge. Regardless of whether I was playing alone or looking for other players through matchmaking. One could discuss whether elite opponents should be as strong as the others (even if the tools allow to increase the damage dealt to them), but ultimately the balance of the game is at a very good level. It wasn't until I had finished the currently available fortresses in the campaign related to the siege of Washington by a new faction that I actually started to measure my forces against intentions and compare the Gear Score points with whether the equipment is suitable for my building.
What is also striking is the relative simplification of the statistics, and the whole thing seems to be much more readable and understandable. There are many more opportunities to win the loot this time, and the whole thing is not limited to mechanically repeating the same missions. Everyone will surely find their own style, whether it's in the game world, Conflict mode, or going the wrong way in one of the three Twilight Zones. All this is based on the well-known system and modifications, some of which are unlocked permanently (those related to weapons) and others are found in various loot (those related to equipment and skills). In combination with eight different skill sets, in which we have several different variants each, we can say that the Swedes from Massive went crazy healthy. And while I was skeptical about quantity thinking "I'm going to use some of them anyway", I finally caught myself thinking that I started to combine and use those gadgets that would work best in the current situation. Regardless of whether it's a grenade launcher weakening the enemy's armor or a sniper cannon - there's a lot of combinations here and the hardcore players will surely start looking for specific builds in all this. Additionally, instead of "supers" there are specialties in the game. And here, on the one hand, I'm glad that they give way to popular special skills, because let's be honest - for The Division they fit a bit like a fist to the nose.
On the other hand, I have the impression that some of the attributes assigned to the specialty are either wrong or too strong in combination with some of the settings. I'm rather complaining about the first case, because I don't actually see the need to reduce the possibility of regeneration of my own armor and gain faster extinguishing of various effects, if being a shooter my task is mainly to cover my companions in the back. These little things need to be worked out in such a way that they give measurable benefits.
The subject of exotic weapons, whose parts must be collected slowly, also looks different. Is that a good thing? You can see the inspiration of the system, which also appeared in Warframe, and some of the raw materials can be obtained in specific activities on the appropriate difficulty levels and put them together. Others are random. And honestly? I buy it. Whatever you say, it's great to show off your friends with your new, unique gun, which is available in a specific way. Add to that a whole bunch of hidden missions and activities scattered all over Washington, D.C., that the players have found out very well. However, I won't reveal all the secrets. If you want, look for surprises on your own.
I have a big dilemma here. I've been waiting long enough to see how the rest of the content scheduled for the first months of The Division 2 will go. While Tital Basin has finally been unlocked and with it the possibility to fight on the next World Tier, a few additional and controversial changes have also been made.
First and foremost, what is available in the game is a really good basis for logging in to the game and getting the equipment from time to time. If you don't have a lot of time for a typical farm, there aren't so many problems with catching up with the rest. Especially since the game itself tells you what you really need to do. Weekly invasions are a set of several different missions leading to one of the fortresses and the final battle with Black Tusk. What's more, it's daily and weekly tasks, projects, orders for specific opponents in Washington and deflecting posts on slightly different rules than before.
The whole map is alive, and that means that you can decide which of the activities suits you best in the so-called "light zone". On the other hand, however, I have an impression that thanks to this, the interest in player versus player modes has fallen dramatically according to the rule - if you can get something easier and without risk, then why bother?
Dark Zone in The Division 2 is still at the same level in terms of climate. All three locations tell slightly different stories about the fall of Washington and it's kind of beautiful. It's gloomy, sometimes deadly calm. But it no longer makes the impression of the Twilight Zone of New York - a place where the devil actually says good night and all the tricks are actually allowed.
In The Division 2, everyone knows what, where and why, and a note of mystery disappears. A level playing field between players (or no level playing field for the occupied version) will always have its supporters and opponents. Overall, Dark Zone becomes an option rather than a place where everyone has to go if they need more powerful equipment. But the funny fact is that out of dozens of contaminated items and cleaned areas sent out, I was killed mainly by AI's opponents because of my recklessness, rather than by enemy agents. Ultimately, yes - the climate is there, some challenge is also (especially if you're going to explore the dark zone alone), but you're missing the "wow" that appeared in the one at the first entrance to the Dark Zone.
Ultimately, if we were to sum it all up, it's a solid basis for cool endgame content undoubtedly in The Division 2. It all depends, in fact, on what next steps Massive will take to keep players entertained - whether in the form of special events or in the form of new content (weapons, missions, maps for pvp battles). The first year's schedule in The Division 2 looks quite decent. I hope that the creators will deliver much better content than in the case of one.
