Tom Clancy’s The Division
Ubisoft’s ambitious third-person shooter The Division is an online only, open world military game set in Manhattan following a biological terrorist attack. Players create their own avatar, a member of the titular Division, team up with their friends and try to bring order back to the rapidly deteriorating city.
In The Division, ‘bringing order’ roughly translates to ‘gunning down looters,’ as the people impacted the most by the attack have organized into various enemy factions. These factions function as different enemy types and often require specialized tactics to bring them down, which can make your enemies seem like comic book henchman rather than actual people.
The Cleaners in particular, sanitation workers who believe they need to burn the virus away, seem to have borrowed the most from the Gotham City book of criminality, and adopted flamethrowers and thematically appropriate attire. It’s a little silly if you analyze it too deeply, but considering how well the shooting mechanics feel it’s easy to forgive the narrative quirks.
While you can play solo, The Division really shines when played with friends. There’s a definite sense of satisfaction when you and your squad kill a particularly difficult boss, find a powerful new weapon or repel an invading enemy force. Even walking around the well realized world and taking in the sights and sounds of a city in turmoil can be thoroughly immersive. Without a doubt, The Division is an experience worth having, and one worth sharing with your closest squad mates.
