Tom Clancy's The Division 2

How the Washington-set shooter sequel hopes to improve its endgame.

The Division 2 is about “saving the soul of America”, in the words of creative director Julian Gerighty, and what it means by “soul” is essentially “loot”. Set in a plague-ridden Washington DC seven months after the first game’s virus outbreak, it’s an always-online shooter in which government agents fight to reclaim a ravaged world while profiting from its disorder – a portrait of a fallen society whose ideals of self-reliance and unchecked consumption are alive and well in the game’s own progression systems.

It’s an experience in which the main characters aren’t really people, but weapons: a procession of exquisitely recreated shotguns, drones, riot shields and crossbows, bristling with modifiers such as toxic ammo or faster reloads for every critical hit. The game’s acquisitiveness is complemented by the pleasing heft of its third-person combat, each player scurrying from cover point to cover point under the weight of a bulging backpack. That this doesn’t expand in proportion to your rapidly filling inventory feels like a missed comic opportunity.