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At first I hated The Division, but I’ll admit it’s really growing on me

Thomas Leo Clancy, Jr.’s The Division didn’t get off to a good start. Credit to Ubisoft for resolving the shambolic server issues that rendered it unplayable for a couple of hours upon the U.S. launch, but that’s still an unacceptable state of affairs. A poor initiation for a game that, truthfully, I didn’t think I’d like.

Settling in for a lengthy exploratory session, my initial instincts proved correct. Yet, during the first six hours, I’ve gone to from despising the concept to seeing The Division as something I could embrace. Maybe.

Teaming up with Stevivor comrades Steve Wright and Hamish Lindsay, I was clearly the odd one out. Steve and Hamish are long-time Destiny weirdos players. They have a rapport as squad-mates and thrive spending an entire evening shooting sponges to eventually earn a new hat embellished by a slightly higher number than the old hat.

I don’t.

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I hate grinding for loot and completing missions I’ve already finished just to get more XP. More to the point, I see Destiny for the vile garbage that it is, which is in large why I assumed I wouldn’t take to The Division. Logic dictates I shouldn’t have bothered to try, but I’m here to tell you, fellow gamers able to see Destiny for what it really is, that it needn’t mean you’ll harbour equal disdain for The Division. But I also can’t guarantee that it’s actually good, after barely scratching the surface.

The opening hours are messy. By Ubisoft standards, the map isn’t too bad. It’s certainly not as cluttered as the almost unusable guides to Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs and The Crew; but I can see it getting worse as more options become available. However, the disarray has been imposed on the main screen, which is littered with convoluted directions.

I’m surprised I stuck it out. It hurt trying to comprehend the blur of orange lines, button prompts, gaggle of [ot-link url=”https://stevivor.com/2016/03/division-dont-let-clowns-block-doorways-get/idiots standing in doorways[/ot-link], inundation of numbers everywhere and, worst of all, constant tutorials at all the wrong times. I didn’t know where to look. With time, the disorder blends into the background, but it’s a deeply uninviting interface.

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The story, at least in these early hours, holds up as well as Maria Sharapova’s excuse for doping. Despite a humdrum beginning, there is actually some potential here – Ubisoft Massive must have done what Bungie didn’t by hiring a writer – but it’s merely serviceable and easily skippable from what I’ve played, and desperately needs to step up if I’m to continue. The characters are bland, the set pieces are as creative as the script for the worst Transformers movie, and there’s nothing that has made me care about the plight of mid-crisis New York. But at least this provides workable context for the gameplay.

It’s gameplay that, expectedly, didn’t grab me at first. Being stormed by the same group of cloned generic goons on repeat is why I don’t normally play PvE shooters. It doesn’t emit a sense of genuine progress, my preference in contrast to Steve and Hamish’s passion for gaining gear. Frankly, an early encounter against a barrage of baddies in a blocked tunnel was reminiscent of a B-grade PS2 licensed shooter.

As all hope appeared lost, it began to change. I suddenly found what I was looking for, and didn’t mind the grind of “more hostiles detected”. Completing lengthy, against the odds, main missions culminating in boss battles demanding of strong teamwork made it all worthwhile. Murdering hundreds of imbeciles suddenly had meaning, and I felt like I – we – had accomplished something.

It took most of the night, but I started having serious fun.

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In that fleeting moment, The Division gave me the sense of achievement and progression I seek in time-consuming RPGs, and why I normally favour single-player quests. I enjoyed being part of a team learning together – something I know won’t last because I won’t keep pace with my new teammates – and I’m beginning to see why such a grind-fest cultivates a massive community.

Ultimately I’m still not sold, predominately because the enemies are terrible. I’m not as forgiving as Steve and Hamish for murdering copy and pastes of the same three goons for six hours, and don’t find joy in crafting new weapons to convert them into slightly weaker sponges. Yet, when it hits its stride, The Division takes me back to highs I’ve not experience in a co-op shooter since Halo 3. It mightn’t be my preferred genre, and I’ll never understand committing months to unlock a new gun, but I’m surprised to say I’ll be returning to Tom Clancy’s The Division tonight – an inconceivable consideration this time yesterday.


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About the author

Ben Salter

Ben has been writing about games in a professional capacity since 2008. He even did it full-time for a while, but his mum never really understood what that meant. He's been part of the Stevivor team since 2016. You will find his work across all sections of the site (if you look hard enough). Gamertag / PSN ID: Gryllis.