The Division was a strange beast to me. Not something I really paid any attention to at the time of release, it wasn’t till over a year later that I picked up a cheap copy and decided to give it a go with a couple of friends.
I came in long after the first few updates that apparently “fixed” the game, and I’ve got to say I had a damn good time with it. Exploring an interesting decrepit version of New York City was a fun time, and was a refreshing change from all the other post-incident looks for the city where everything is normal looking overall; just on fire in a few places as though a team of archers from Age of Empires 2 have been though the place. Though it was fun for a time, there clearly came a point where I put the game down and never picked it up again; I can’t say for sure why but I’ve never really missed it.
Jump forward a few months and here we are now with The Division 2 almost upon us, bringing in a tsunami of advertising just to make sure every person on the planet alive or dead knows this game is a fucking thing. I might be a bit annoyed by that, but I won’t let it bog me down since I hate most advertising anyway, so it’s nothing new! Anyway, back to the matter at hand; am I hyped for The Division 2? For the longest time I really wasn’t at all – Sure I had fun in the first game, but that doesn’t mean the second game will bring the same joy right off the bat. We also have to remember that Ubisoft has a habit of releasing a game only to gradually update it over time to make it better and better till it almost doesn’t resemble its original – normally mediocre – form (Like R6: Siege or For Honor)… So I’ve got to say that picking up The Division 2 from release is a bit of a worry, seeing as it’ll maybe have a few teething problems…
All that being said though, there is still the “Ubisoft Phenomenon” to consider with the second game in any franchise normally being the stand out title. Look at the history if you don’t believe me; Assassins Creed 2, Watch Dogs 2, For Honor Marching Fire (It fucking counts okay?!)… So being that this is the numuero twono of the series, there’s a good chance we could be impressed from the get go! We’ve got to assume that Ubisoft realised at least some of the issues that plagued the first year of The Division’s release – We can hope for better matchmaking, more filling in the pie that is the Washington D.C map, and probably a better loot system seeing as it was a piss-take back in the original when you’d kill an armoured column of baddies only to end up receiving a pair… Of… Fucking… Gloves…
With everything I’ve seen about this game and all the positive praise it’s been receiving from the early reviews and the beta players, I could probably do with being less suspicious, but here I am. Staring at the game sat in my basket having a vicious internal debate about whether I should fork out my hard earned money on a game I MIGHT enjoy. I mean it’s an over the shoulder shoot fest which normally gets me going faster than Usain Bolt on crack, but still I wonder if I’m just getting caught up in other people’s hype! So I finally settled and decided I wasn’t going to bother, sure it looks promising and a good laugh, but I’ve been burned before and with my uncertainty why should I take that risk?
Then Luke happened…
The big boss of Respawning explained how he and fellow writer Javier would be getting the game, and I should definitely join them to wander around the broken Washington D.C and have a jolly old time shooting bandits… And you know what? That’s what this game is all about; having a laugh with your friends. All my doubts were about playing the game alone, so with a team at my side I’m sure I’ll have a good time even if the game has issues from the get go!