Bespoke boss mechanics are a staple of the shared-world shooter and action RPG genres, so I was expecting to see some more elaborate encounters, especially in The Division 2вЂ™s strongholds, but came up empty. The only one who (barely) breaks this rule is Diesel, from the District Union Arena, who briefly takes control of a turret on a stationary armored car but then just turns out to be another armor-clad Hyena machine gunner. This deprives the PvE encounters of sorely needed stand-out moments and mechanical intricacy. ItвЂ™s a pity that these unique elements arenвЂ™t incorporated into The Division 2вЂ™s lackluster boss fights because they certainly could have used the variety.ДЄll main-mission and stronghold bosses, on all difficulty levels, just seem to be normal enemy archetypes with more health. Some missions, like the Federal Bunker or Lincoln Memorial, even introduce welcome new mission-specific mechanics like shooting a valve to douse flames, or tracing a power cord to a destructible circuit in order to open a door. The Jefferson Trade Center mission, for example, effectively establishes the stakes: a Division agent has been taken hostage, and then it executes on that premise. The missions themselves are well crafted, and many succeed in delivering a bitesize storyline.

However, new activities, like battling roaming patrols of elite enemies, are introduced as you progress and the freedom to tackle your laundry list of tasks in any order you wish keeps it from feeling like an obligatory grind. вЂњThere is a clearly similar progression structure to each of the 11 PvE zones as youвЂ™re leveling up: youвЂ™ll find a safe house or settlement, scour the landscape for Strategic Homeland Defense (S.H.D.) caches, run missions, and capture the handful of control points. It all comes together to provide a space that makes it okay to stop and smell the roses, I never regretted indulging my inner explorer. The seriesвЂ™ familiar and predictable urban grid gives way to lush, open vistas and iconic monuments overtaken by vines. The capital is painstakingly populated with a fanatical amount of detail and boasts much more in the way of environmental variance than the first gameвЂ™s depiction of New York City. There are chests and collectibles around every corner, and this generous distribution of loot goes a long way in the context of The Division 2вЂ™s phenomenally well-realized recreation of Washington D.C. Gunplay is impactful вЂ“ enemies react to being shot sooner and die faster, and the world is teeming with enticing reasons to explore it. Things in The Division 2 seem to pick up right where the original post-pandemic story left off in terms of both plotline and cover-based shooting, but it quickly becomes clear that many aspects of the gameplay have improved in meaningful ways.

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