Tom Clancy’s The Division Review: Destiny for Adults

Tom Clancy’s The Division, by Ubisoft, was released to the world a little less than a week ago, March 8th. In that time there have been bugs, server issues and PC settings that needed the hell tweaked out of em to get optimal performance. The end result is I’ve played the shit out of this game and enjoyed it very much. Even the multiplayer mode and Dark Zones (PVP) which, in the past, I’ve strayed from like it was a smallpox infested sewer.

In Tom Clancy’s The Division you’re a sleeper agent in a realistic environment, who’s been activated as part of the second wave. The first wave of which vanished without much of a clue. So your job Agent, is to find out what the hell happened, as well as find information about the outbreak while shooting at thugs, looters and Cleaners. Piece of Cake.

In Destiny, you’re a sleeper (literally dead) agent in a cartoonish world, who was “activated” to find the source of the Darkness that has killed almost all of humanity while fighting against a variety of factions that are taking advantage of the chaos.

Story

Admittedly I’m not well versed on Tom Clancy’s novels. But I do know he writes some of the best and well researched Government related stories. Fiction that constantly flirts with reality, which in my opinion is where the best fictions arise. It’s a very mature story, centered around a viral outbreak in a big city. The exact scenario a friend of mine was researching for a Doctorate level thesis. Things went down pretty much how the research lead… A big city with millions of people in close proximity spread a new virus strain like wildfire requiring swift action from all forms of government agencies. The survivors are then divided into violent looting gangs, and helpless people trying to scavenge food to survive.

It’s a dark, mature story, deep in setting and exploring the depths of human psychology in times of crisis.

Gameplay

Being as Tom Clancy’s The Division is set in New York City, you’re going to see pretty much the same environment for the duration of the game. It is after all, based on a single city.

Missions, just like in Destiny are all set into a few, endlessly repeating variety. Side missions are: Save captives, Secure supplies, help the JTF, kill the leader.

The Main Missions at least off a little more variety but boil down to the same repetitive yet more difficult gameplay.

The main draw of course is the tactical side of multiplayer. Agents can use any weapon available in the game, but the specialty lies within different skills they can equip. From medical to technical offense. Voice chat is on by default and very much needed. It brings the team together for cooperative resolution of problems, be it against NPC’s or rogue agents in the dark zones. This isn’t your typical Call of Duty game nor the silent partnerships of Destiny.

Environments

Being that Tom Clancy’s The Division is based off of novels by the renowned writer Tom Clancy, the story is very deep, mature and well fleshed out. Phone recordings, “echos” and other records highlight the collapse just as the outbreak was happening. While optional, they highlight the desperation and often times, evil of human nature.

The “event” happened on a Black Friday, so the city is snow covered and decorated for Christmas. But how well established camps and quarantine zones are, it has the appearance of many months to a year have passed since the outbreak. Tires are piled up in makeshift blockades across the city. Litter and junk is everywhere. Trashbags full of biowaste and regular trash are piled up on the streets, sewers, alleys everywhere. Bodies in body bags and freshly dead litter the streets.

Safe houses (equivalent to Destiny’s Tower) have an ongoing podcast, narrating a semi-conspiracy theorist’s take on the outbreak and his bitterness for winning the genetic lottery, while watching everyone he knows unceremoniously dumped into an unmarked mass grave. He gives his take on the events and “agents” trying to fix the problem as well as where it’s believed the outbreak started.

Thug Life

There’s the Riker gang from the Riker island prison. They’re a disjointed band of hooded thugs that will get your skill up to speed for the later, better organized gangs. These unwashed street vermin are mostly good for practicing headshots and present little issues for someone of moderate skill.

The Cleaners are lead by a Sanitation worker who went batshit crazy. He decided (possibly long ago) the best way to clean out the virus, is to burn the city down as well as burn to death anyone they see. They’re the most fun to go up against as their napalm canisters pop for a glorious and always amusing surprise kill.

Then there’s the other Rikers, who are better organized and wear helmets to ward off head shots from marksman rifles.

Graphics

There’s a ton of graphics option for this game (PC Master race). The high settings can bring any non-SLI setup to it’s knees. But the good news is that even moderate settings, this game looks beautiful and runs 30-60fps, which is pretty decent. With hope, Ubisoft optimizes the heck out of the game and brings the specs more in line.

Summary

Tom Clancy’s The Division is 2016’s answer to Bungee’s “Destiny”. The graphics depict a real, living world. The story supports the mature nature of what you’re up against in a very believable way. It’s often times too drawing, pulling you deeper into a scenario this is all too possible and very scary to think of should it become a reality. The background story to The Division really hit home to me, as it cover’s the scenario my friend laid out in their Doctorate thesis. How government would handle an outbreak of this scale and the sweeping day 1 death tolls.

If you’re interested in a very mature, multiplayer game covering a very serious modern day topic, in an almost apocalyptic environment then Tom Clancy’s The Division is the game for you.