Stars: 3.5/5

“Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” takes everything from the first game and improves upon it exponentially.

“Tom Clancy’s The Division” was released in 2016 and was somewhat successful. However, many people had bad things to say, and much of the game was improved through post-release updates. However, Tom Clancy’s “The Division 2” takes all of “Tom Clancy’s The Division’s” post-release updates and puts them in “Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” from the start.

“Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” takes place seven months after the events of the first game, after a smallpox outbreak in Manhattan on Black Friday led to the island being quarantined. The government activated The Division, a group of sleep agents placed within the general population to assist with evacuation and protection from looters.

“Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” moves the setting from Manhattan to Washington D.C., where the outbreak has now spread. The Division is active in D.C. and is busy helping protect citizens from gangs of looters and criminals taking advantage of the outbreak while also trying to help reestablish the government of the United States.

The world of “Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” is a much more immersive world than that of the first game. The first game was dull and gray and snowy. But “Tom Clancy’s The Division 2’s” world is colorful and varied and full of plants and wildlife that interact with your character in a way that feels much more real than that of the first game.

All of the gameplay of “Tom Clancy’s The Division” feels exactly like the tactical shooter it is supposed to be. The gunplay is tight and controlled and the use of cover and flank maneuvers forces the player to actually move during fights as opposed to staying behind cover and systematically picking off enemies.

The game also benefits greatly from its increased amount of content. Along with the standard main and side missions, players can spend time reclaiming numerous control points for the people of D.C., or they can try their luck in the Dark Zone, areas of the map where player vs. player combat is allowed and the best items spawn. 

Much of this content becomes much more available toward the end of the game, which is a large improvement over the original. This way, the game remains intriguing instead of devolving into a game where the play is so over leveled that the final hours are too easy. 

Overall, “Tom Clancy’s The Division 2” is a massive improvement over the original game. It very well could be the game that helps begin a successful franchise.