093REVIEW
EDITOR’S
AWARDINFO
FORMAT PS4
ETA OUT NOW
PUB UBISOFT
DEV MASSIVE
ENTERTAINMENT
W
hite House aaalllll
the way down. If
you thought Roland
Emmerich’s crappy,
alarmist action film
showed the US capital
at its worst, you ain’t
see nothing yet. While
its predecessor’s New York was a snowy slum,
this MMO shooter sequel somehow makes
that dystopian take on the Big Apple look like
a winter wonderland. Still, at least shooting
dudes amid all the DC detritus can be a hoot.Well, occasionally. Like the original, The Division
2 is functional rather than inspiring. With an
ugly art direction blighted by glaring texture
pop-in and plasticky character models, Massive’s
online adventure looks a generation away from
the Greek splendour of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
And not in the right direction. Yet in spite of
this overt fugliness, there’s an assuredness to the
game’s shootouts the likes of Anthem and its
eye-arousing Frostbite 3 action could only have
the naughtiest of dreams about.CAPITOL NO CHILL
Is the art design lacking? Absolutely. Are mission
objectives phoned-in? You bet your apocalyptic
arse. Prepare to hold down r a looooot as you
hack satellites, relays, and all manner of boring
tech terminals. Even in its blandest moments,
though, The Division 2 can consistently fall back
on one killer quality: its AI is really fun to battle.
Though gangs of Hyenas – one of the game’s
dastardly military factions – are generic, they’re
elevated by fiendishly aggressive AI. It’s a good
thing The Division 2 has such a buttery, elegant
cover system because these enemies never
give you a moment’s rest. Constantly trying to
outflank you and appearing from all angles, the
game’s murderous AI puts up one hell of a fight.THE
DIVISION 2
Capitol-set sequel loots for the
stars but doesn’t fully deliver
WAIT AND DC @McMeiks