The Division, now that’s a runaway success if there ever was one. Not only did this game break records internally and externally, but it easily stands as one of the best games of its year. That’s not to say that things were perfect, far from it. In fact, Ubisoft spent a considerable amount of time post-launch, fine tuning the experience to ensure that it maintained its impressive player base. It took a while, but The Division today is an entirely different beast in comparison to the state of the game way back in 2016.
These quality of life changes, grouped with Ubisoft’s promise that feedback from the first game will be implemented into the sequel, makes for an interesting return. Though, when all is said and done, there’s still a number of concerns and some glaring omissions that, if addressed, would make for one hell of a refined journey. So, without further ado, here’s five things we would love to see in The Division 2 and five things we believe either needs dropping or seriously addressing. Naturally, this is all subjective and a matter of opinion.
Five Things We Want to See in The Division 2
Better Damage input and output
One thing that really hit me hard with The Division is the bullet-sponge AI. Even after Ubisoft’s strenuous attempts to refine the experience, The Division – most notably the Dark Zone – remains ankle-grab city. I don’t recall the last game that I played were the AI can take four shotgun slugs to the chest without flinching, all whilst continuing to run at you undeterred. It’s moments like this that truly breaks immersion, which is a shame. Hopefully The Division 2 has a better damage input/output system across the board.
Better Gear
It doesn’t matter what game I’m playing. If there’s a gear system in place, it already has my interest. There’s nothing quite like grinding your ass off in the hopes of bettering the appearance and power capability of your character. Though, despite its well set gear system, I cant wholeheartedly say that I thoroughly enjoyed chasing The Division’s high-end gear. The Division 2 would do well to accommodate a wider range of styles and gear-sets to truly stand apart from its predecessor. We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.
More PvP Modes
The Dark Zone, for me at least, is marmite. I loved the “don’t trust anyone” tension that came with stepping into this PvP-specific area. Though, outside of the game’s DLC and its Dark Zone, there really wasn’t that much to do as far as PvP is concerned. Instead of limiting its PvP elements to one section, The Division 2 needs to have a collection of PvP modes from the get-go. Including these modes via DLC was a poor post-launch structure that only split up the community. This, in my humble opinion, simply needs sorting out in the sequel.
Improved World Structure
The Dollar Flu was a good enough excuse to empty the world in The Division, though, perhaps it was a little “too” empty for the game’s good. Sure, we had the enemy AI and a few events dotted throughout the city, but outside of that it was shockingly desolate. The Division 2 would do well to improve here and fill the world with more events and activities. The same can be said about many of the buildings within, being that most of them were absent of any life or meaning. More interaction and engagement is an absolute must.
Additional Enemy Variants
There’s only so much you can do when you’re limited to human opposition. The Division did a great job at providing a diverse pool of enemies to tackle; Last Man Battalion, Cleaners and so on and so forth. Though, when all is said and done, it did become somewhat repetitive near the end-game. The Division 2 would do well to throw in some more variation and refine their behaviors. It would also be great to see these enemies moving against one another or forming temporary dynamic alliances, just to spice things up a bit.
Five Things We Don’t Want to See in The Division 2
Lack of Raid Activities
When The Division’s first post-launch raid-esque activity was announced, many thought that it would be a lot more complex and a lot more in-depth than it was. Credit to Ubisoft, subsequent activities did become deeper in due course, but nothing quite as bulky or intricate as (let’s say) Destiny’s raids. The Division 2 needs to get a handle on this glaring omission and dish up content that’s really meaningful and lengthy. That, for me, was one of The Division’s most notable downsides. This lack of raid-like content needs addressing.
Vehicles
Now, vehicles haven’t been announced or confirmed for The Division 2. Though given Ubisoft’s general history of improving the depth and size of content when it comes to their sequels, I wouldn’t be surprised if this hasn’t at least been spoken about internally. In my opinion, vehicles need leaving out of it. One of the most alluring and tension-fueled aspects of the game is making your way from A to B on foot. Throw in vehicles and it chips away at that immersion and theme. Furthermore, can you imagine the hell in the Dark Zone?
Toxicity/Cut the Rope
This in particular is bound to split the crowd, but as a solo-player, I cant quite say that I’ve enjoyed my time in the Dark Zone as much as group players. There’s far too much toxicity when it comes to group players vs lone wolves. I guess that’s part and parcel of the Dark Zone, but there’s nothing fun about spending north of two hours, only to be killed and have it all robbed. The cut the rope feature doesn’t help matters. It would be nice, for players such as myself, to at least have the option to play a solo-only variation of the Dark Zone.
Poor Drop Rates
There’s nothing quite like spending three hours in a game to walk away with little more than a marginally better beanie. Poor drop rates are hardly few and far between in The Division. More often than not I would leave my experience with The Division feeling underwhelmed, especially when I was climbing higher in rank. These poor drop rates need booting for the sequel, which can easily be alleviated by having a wider pool of loot to chase after. That is, if Dark Zone gankers don’t rob me of all my goods before I can extract it all safely.
Accidental Rogue Status
Going Rogue in The Division’s Dark Zone is the equivalent of walking into a bar and cracking “your mamma” jokes to an angry mob of drunks. It puts a warrant on your head, complete with a nice bulky over-head notification so that other players can see you for what you are. Nine times out of ten, this is usually a deserved fate. However, there’s nothing more annoying than going Rogue accidentally, simply because someone else stood in the way of your bullets. Ubisoft would do well to readjust this function for the sequel.
Do you agree? Do you disagree? Is there anything you want to add? Perhaps a feature or two you would like to see thrown in? Feel free to sound off in the comments below.
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