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Positional awareness is key. If you want
to ensure you’re not the victim of a pincer
movement, you have to stay on the move. Rest
behind cover too long, and you’ll either be
treated to invasive stomach surgery courtesy of
a grenade or eat buckshot after a shotgunner
gets the drop on you. Whether it’s a boss who
rains grenade rounds down on you from afar or
later villains who call in drones and walking gun
turrets, the level of challenge enemies provide
will constantly keep you engaged.
Whether you tackle missions on your
lonesome, with a clan, or as part of a ragtag
foursome of randomly paired players, the ultra-
aggressive AI means you constantly have to be
mindful of your loadout. Unlike in Anthem,
which guns you carry into battle is crucial.
Equipping a varied arsenal that’s of a high enough
level to take out the game’s ever-improving foes
is a perpetual balancing act.
Pairing a gut-punch shotgun with a 100-mag
LMG can make your survivor deadly at any range,
while fiddling with perks and skills is crucial. Doyou go in with a portable shield
to keep enemy fire at bay paired
with a killer drone sidekick? Or
perhaps you’d rather opt for a
smart mine that seeks the bad
guys out, then complement
that with a gadget which scans
and highlights your targets?
The Division 2’s forever-fierce
challenges give gun choices
huge weight, and it’s all the
better for this tactical tension.SECOND DIVISION
It’s too bad this AI excellence
is let down by lacklustre design
choices. Not only are the
environments hard to read –
certain objective markers can be
maddingly confusing – but the
look of the world is uninspired.
The Divison 2 clearly took a
crash course in ‘I Am Legend
101’ because its apocalyptic take
on Washington, DC is about as
generic a doomsday wasteland
as you’ll find on PS4. Out-of-
control shrubbery chokes every
street corner; clapped-out cars
clog each road your guerrillafighter travels down; flooded
swamplands frame iconic
landmarks with damp dread.
All that’s missing is Big Willie’s
Alsatian. Although to be fair,
the game has a lot of stray
dogs... and deer... and racoons.
Though the art design is
dreary, DC’s landmarks provide
pleasing window dressing.
Duking it out on the streets
surrounding the Washington
Monument or tweaking your
soldier’s perks at the White
House – 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue acts as the game’s
main base – serves up gaudy
virtual tourism. Certain
missions make cute use of the
setting, too. One of the most
memorable side-quests involves
your recruit ‘borrowing’ the
Declaration Of Independence
from the National Archives.
To Massive’s credit, the
interior environments outstrip
their samey open-world
wrapping. A decent collection
of story missions shows the
developer has a real eye for“DESPITE ITS OVERTLY
POLITICAL SETTING, THIS IS A
GAME WITH NOTHING TO SAY.”
Right DC is
suffering a
water crisis,
despite all those
suspicious
swamps.Roaming
patrols hunt you
relentlessly, so
you’d best bring
a pal with you.Left Use skill
points to buy
a drone which
loves to murder
on your behalf.