When I saw how faithful the recreation of DC is, I created a new game for myself by trying to see as much of the city as I could while avoiding combat. (I’ll have more to say about this in a future article.) Firefights with roaming bands are a blast when they happen in streets I know so well. I live inside the Washington DC beltway and was very impressed with how well Ubisoft recreated the limited part of the city seen in the beta. I enjoy high-quality graphics and The Division 2 on an Xbox One X looks even better than the first game. If the Settlements have some story-driven mission chains, it will go a long way toward solving the problem of storytelling in loot shooters.
I also think introducing the first settlement with a basic save-the-girl quest is a move in the right direction for the series. The process of improving your home base is more involved than it was in the first game and building up settlements to attract personnel to your home in the White House appeals to me.
Combat is challenging and fun although I don’t know why these morons without shields keep charging me with melee weapons. The Division 2 has everything I liked about the first game and more.
