The Division First Impressions

Ubisoft’s newest title, The Division, has been the source of much controversy amongst gamers. Many people have been skeptical of the third person shooter MMO, and reviews range from stellar to horrible. In my opinion, though, The Division isn’t good, but it has some redeeming qualities.

Probably the biggest disappointment is the story structure. In this world, a strain of a new virus that was unleashed on Black Friday forced New York to be quarantined.

The player is a member of The Division, an underground branch of the government that is only ever called into action when every other possible option has failed. A fairly good setup for the story, however, there is no coherent direction after that.

The story is broken up into missions that don’t have to be played in any particular order, making the side stories that compose a large part of the game's narrative fragmented and incoherent since most of those story missions can simply be skipped.

However, the gameplay is some of the best from this year. The gunplay feels smooth and incredibly satisfying. The guns, combined with the various skills available, called “talents”, create an all around fun experience.

That is, when you have good equipment available to use. The Division is an MMO, and grinding for loot is a core piece of progression. However, there is no direction to the next best place to look for equipment besides the Dark Zone, making progression after a certain point awkard.

In my time playing The Division, the Dark Zone was easily the most interesting experience I encountered. The Dark Zone is an

area located in the center of the map that can only be accessed through checkpoints. Once inside, the player can work to loot high quality gear from chests scattered around or work on increasing their Dark Zone rank.

However, in addition to the normal dangers the player faces, they will now have to battle it out with other players in order to steal their loot and protect their own.

The most important thing to understand about The Division is that it’s an enjoyable experience so long as it isn’t taken too seriously. It’s the perfect game to play with friends and kill some time.

“The Division is an incredible game. It does have its minor flaws but it makes up for it in so many ways,” junior Jonathan Baffo said.