Post by Tig on May 26, 2019 10:11:38 GMT -5
I scoffed at the first Division when it was announced at E3 several years ago. To me, it marked the death of realism in a Tom Clancy title and turned away from combat simulators to button-mashing action games. I wasn't wrong. A friend talked me into playing and I moped and whined my way through it. Not only was the science fiction setting off but the action wasn't balanced very well. It was a loot shooter, meaning you kept picking up new guns and equipment on every mission and replacing them, reducing any attachment you have a to a kit, not the most fun format. Worse, if you were a lower ranking character or just wasn't the best at action games, like me, then you were doomed to be tied to a higher player's apron strings as they dragged you through the missions and saved you constantly in the free_for-all Dark Zones. I quit in frustration after several hours and almost maxing my character levels. I was there only for my friends and I had no reason to be on when they weren't around.
Division 2 was announced and I scoffed again. Not only was there a continuation of the fantasy over realism pattern but it looked and played exactly the same as the first game. Almost. The same friend talked me into getting it (I've gotta get new friends) and somehow there was a hook. The game just clicked with me. The first major change that Ubi brought about was when you are in a group, it doesn't matter who is leveled at what rank. The missions are balanced to make all players equal, and suddenly teamwork and skill are called into play rather than following the biggest guy in your group around. It's a simple fix, one I don't understand why it wasn't implemented in the first game, but it made all the difference in the world. I've played several of the same missions now and I love them and don't mind the repetition. When my friends that play aren't on, I find myself logging in and jumping in with random strangers, something I typically abhor, just to run around blowing stuff up and dumping 100 rounds from my M60 into a guy so big he fills the screen when he gets too close. The action is faster, deadlier, and has caused several pulse-pounding palm-sweating bouts of "holy cats did you see that", much more so than the first. Fire and explosions are so detailed you can feel the heat, enemies are responsive to the point of being realistic, maps are designed with proper defensive locations and choke points that have to be maintained or else you get run over. Everything just clicks better in this game.
It's still a loot shooter, and that's disappointing to me. I like to customize my character down to his shoelaces and leave it there, but the game forces you to constantly scour the 20 guns and items of loot you picked up in the last mission to raise your armor or damage levels. This frequently sticks you with an odd looking gun or a crappy looking backpack because it has 25% more damage or armor from the last. Just let me upgrade my Police M4 which is kitted out to look exactly like the one I carry in real life (AR15) and leave me alone. No such luck, but it's a small dent in a beautiful machine of a game.
The Snowdrop engine is just gorgeous and the level of detail the set designers put into this game is beyond mind-boggling. I finished the last mission last night which involved the retaking of the Capitol in DC. I paused when we reached the rotunda and looked up. Not only was the interior of the building drawn to scale, but they'd even put the mural at the top interior of the dome. Thousands of players have probably passed through that mission without even noticing it but they took the time to place it there. The first game beautifully depicted NYC in the winter with snow piling on body bags in the post-apocalyptic setting, but Divsion 2's Washington DC is so much more vibrant and glorious. Six months from the first game have passed and the swamp is overtaking the abandoned city so instead of block after block of blankets of snow, there are vines, flowers, and overgrown trees absorbing the desperate landscape of trash, body bags, random individual items of junk, downed airplanes, and torched vehicles. In the last mission there is a giant Gatling gun on a turret that has to be dealt with. At the end of the mission my friend (same friend) and I climbed up to look at it. Gears, engines, hydraulic lines, all kinds of tiny details were packed into this one object that was no doubt consistently passed over by other players during the mission. Astonishing. If anything, Division 2 is worth the purchase just to walk around and enjoy the 3D scenery while people are trying to kill you.
The game is solid. I've encountered maybe two bugs in several hours of play. The replayability in the game is endless. After finishing the "story", the entire map undergoes a change to prompt you to keep playing. They could have easily wiped your character, changed the paint on the enemies and scenery, and forced you to start over saying "hey this is different", but instead you build on what you've already accomplished with a greater sense of urgency now, not that I thought that was possible. Despite the blasphemy of using Tom Clancy's name on the title, Division 2 is a fast, fun, shooter and a great romp across a desperate landscape. It's a 3D action movie with you as the star, and it's a movie where you'll want to stay.
Division 2 was announced and I scoffed again. Not only was there a continuation of the fantasy over realism pattern but it looked and played exactly the same as the first game. Almost. The same friend talked me into getting it (I've gotta get new friends) and somehow there was a hook. The game just clicked with me. The first major change that Ubi brought about was when you are in a group, it doesn't matter who is leveled at what rank. The missions are balanced to make all players equal, and suddenly teamwork and skill are called into play rather than following the biggest guy in your group around. It's a simple fix, one I don't understand why it wasn't implemented in the first game, but it made all the difference in the world. I've played several of the same missions now and I love them and don't mind the repetition. When my friends that play aren't on, I find myself logging in and jumping in with random strangers, something I typically abhor, just to run around blowing stuff up and dumping 100 rounds from my M60 into a guy so big he fills the screen when he gets too close. The action is faster, deadlier, and has caused several pulse-pounding palm-sweating bouts of "holy cats did you see that", much more so than the first. Fire and explosions are so detailed you can feel the heat, enemies are responsive to the point of being realistic, maps are designed with proper defensive locations and choke points that have to be maintained or else you get run over. Everything just clicks better in this game.
It's still a loot shooter, and that's disappointing to me. I like to customize my character down to his shoelaces and leave it there, but the game forces you to constantly scour the 20 guns and items of loot you picked up in the last mission to raise your armor or damage levels. This frequently sticks you with an odd looking gun or a crappy looking backpack because it has 25% more damage or armor from the last. Just let me upgrade my Police M4 which is kitted out to look exactly like the one I carry in real life (AR15) and leave me alone. No such luck, but it's a small dent in a beautiful machine of a game.
The Snowdrop engine is just gorgeous and the level of detail the set designers put into this game is beyond mind-boggling. I finished the last mission last night which involved the retaking of the Capitol in DC. I paused when we reached the rotunda and looked up. Not only was the interior of the building drawn to scale, but they'd even put the mural at the top interior of the dome. Thousands of players have probably passed through that mission without even noticing it but they took the time to place it there. The first game beautifully depicted NYC in the winter with snow piling on body bags in the post-apocalyptic setting, but Divsion 2's Washington DC is so much more vibrant and glorious. Six months from the first game have passed and the swamp is overtaking the abandoned city so instead of block after block of blankets of snow, there are vines, flowers, and overgrown trees absorbing the desperate landscape of trash, body bags, random individual items of junk, downed airplanes, and torched vehicles. In the last mission there is a giant Gatling gun on a turret that has to be dealt with. At the end of the mission my friend (same friend) and I climbed up to look at it. Gears, engines, hydraulic lines, all kinds of tiny details were packed into this one object that was no doubt consistently passed over by other players during the mission. Astonishing. If anything, Division 2 is worth the purchase just to walk around and enjoy the 3D scenery while people are trying to kill you.
The game is solid. I've encountered maybe two bugs in several hours of play. The replayability in the game is endless. After finishing the "story", the entire map undergoes a change to prompt you to keep playing. They could have easily wiped your character, changed the paint on the enemies and scenery, and forced you to start over saying "hey this is different", but instead you build on what you've already accomplished with a greater sense of urgency now, not that I thought that was possible. Despite the blasphemy of using Tom Clancy's name on the title, Division 2 is a fast, fun, shooter and a great romp across a desperate landscape. It's a 3D action movie with you as the star, and it's a movie where you'll want to stay.