The Division 2 (BETA)

These days, signing up for a BETA even months in advance doesn’t usually mean jack, not when they’re pushing pre-orders to guarantee access or doing key give-aways via social media for promotion. Which is why I was kind of surprised to receive a BETA key for The Division 2. I played the original in BETA and eventually picked up the game in a sale. You can read my review here.

And honestly, after playing my way through this BETA, it feels like I could just repost my review of the original with a few tweaks and get away with it. Everything The Division did well, the Division 2 also does well. And everything The Division didn’t do so well . . .

The Division 2 is set some time after the events of the original. The virus that plagued New York has now spread and society as we know it has almost completely collapsed. The game is set in Washington D.C and like the original, The Division 2 makes good use of its setting. One of the best things about The Division was exploring the world, and the same remains true in the sequel.

The map is broken down into various sectors, each with a level recommendation. The BETA offered a fairly generous quantity of content with three main (story) missions and several side quests to complete. There was no character creator – only a limited randomisation tool – although I must say, I don’t recall the characters in the original looking quite as goofy as they do here.

 

There were three entire sectors to explore, with random events popping up to earn extra experience, and several enemy outposts to capture. Like the original, each sector has a similar pattern of content, so once you’ve completed one, you’ll know exactly what to expect in the next.

And I guess that’s my first real issue with The Division 2 – the lack of surprise. Like the original, the content is structured in a very repetitive manner, as is your progression. This isn’t an issue that’s unique to The Division 2 – I had the same concern about the upcoming Anthem.

The ‘games as a service’ model is about keeping people engaged – keeping them playing. So you build a repetitive gameplay loop which is simple, familiar and fun. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach, but it also means your game, your story and its world can never really surprise the player.

One of my criticisms of the original was that the world never really changed – you never really saw any impact as a result of your actions. And whilst The Division 2 has sought to address this by expanding upon the main base and outpost ‘upgrades’ (which can visually change how those locations appear) the world, as a whole, remains static and unchanged as you progress.

 

Because it has to. Because it’s not just a game but a service model designed to keep you playing and engaged. And you can have fun within that model. It’s mindless and repetitive and you know it’s not really going to surprise you or lead you anywhere particularly exciting, but it can be fun.

The original never really wrapped up its story and I doubt The Division 2 will, either. These aren’t the types of games that are designed to ‘end’. And like the original, The Division 2 seems like it’s going to fall a little flat in the story / character aspects, at least from what I’ve seen in this BETA.

Moving onto something more positive is the combat which, like the original, is pretty fun. There’s nothing special about it – it’s a typical cover based third person shooter. But the shooting feels good, the weapons feel good and the movement feels smooth and responsive. What more can I say? I like the shooty shooty bang bang.

 

As you complete missions and kill bad guys you’ll earn experience and level up allowing you to unlock new skills. You’ll discover or purchase new weapons and equipment which, like the original, are rated on the familiar ‘standard – uncommon – rare – legendary’ style colour coded system. You can also mod weapons, although this felt more restricted in this BETA than I recall in the original.

I’ve probably said ‘like in the original’ a dozen or more times in this post. Sorry about that. But the reality is, from what I’ve seen in this BETA, everything The Division did – both good and bad – the Division 2 does exactly the same. It’s essentially the same game in a new location, and I’m sure that’s going to be enough for many fans of the original.

And – just one more, I promise – like the original, it’s a game I’m sure I’ll eventually pick up on sale, play through the main story so I can have fun shooting bad guys in nice locations and then a week or so later, forget I even played it. It’s The Division 2, ladies and gentlemen – it’s exactly what you expected, nothing more, nothing less.