Tom Clancy’s The Division is one of the best games in recent times

WE all like to think we are equipped to deal with end-of-the-world scenarios, but now there is a way to test our skills.

WE all like to think we are equipped to deal with end-of-the-world scenarios, but now there is a way to test our skills.

In Tom Clancy’s The Division, someone has deliberately infected banknotes during the pre-Christmas sales, unleashing a weaponised, modified form of the smallpox virus on New York.

A few months later, 90 per cent of NYC is dead and armed gangs are roaming the streets.

Determined not to let the situation descend irrevocably into anarchy, the US Government activates its units of sleeper agents kept in reserve for just such a scenario — they are known as The Division.

As a member of The Division, you are tasked with helping what remains of the government to find a cure for the virus and stop the city’s further ruin.

The game is an interesting combination of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) and single-player role-playing game (RPG).

You’re given an open-world based on part of Manhattan Island to explore and complete missions. As you kill enemies you gain experience, enhance your base, level up and acquire better gear.

The Division’s main story is interesting and at about 20-30 hours long, there’s definitely enough to keep you poking around Manhattan.

There’s a real Escape From New York/I Am Legend/The Walking Dead-type vibe about the city, with the difference that it’s not totally abandoned — there are still quarantined civilians wandering around, trying escape the virus or being shot in the crossfire between the gangs and what remains of the government.

There’s also a sealed-off part of the city known as The Dark Zone — ostensibly it was too badly virus-hit to save, but in gameplay terms it provides an extremely challenging player-vs.-player-vs.-AI environment where recovering loot requires summoning a helicopter at an extraction point and waiting a very tense 90 seconds as you come under fire from every nearby enemy — all of whom are considerably tougher than outside the zone.

To celebrate the release of The Division, our gaming correspondent Royce Wilson and tech editor Matthew Dunn gave us their thoughts on the game.

ROYCE WILSON — PC

The combination of impressive graphics, atmospheric setting and frantic gunplay creates a thoroughly engaging experience.

There’s a vast quantity of weapons and gear to recover — although at times it does seem rather meta to be shooting looters so you can obtain ... loot.

The AI is surprisingly good too, moving to flank the player, actually taking cover, and providing suppressing fire for its allies.

The game isn’t without its faults, however — the enemies are bullet-sponges, which detracts from the realistic atmosphere the game works so hard to create.

There have also been issues with players having to queue up to use the activation laptop in the initial safe house; and some of the opposing factions aren’t well introduced either.

The safe house commanders also have their own quirks which were obviously intended to be humorous but also fall a bit flat against the bleak atmosphere of quarantined New York.

Make no mistake: The Division is challenging. You’ll be extremely glad for fire support — and the game’s well-implemented cover system and plethora of extensively modifiable real-world firearms.

I found playing it with a mouse and keyboard also provided the precision to reliably headshot enemies and control muzzle climb in automatic fire too; the controls were generally intuitive and responsive.

Overall, The Division is immersive, atmospheric, action-packed and a lot of fun.

Given its MMO/RPG nature there’s also plenty of scope for further expansion; I’m certainly looking forward to exploring and experiencing more of quarantined New York.

MATTHEW DUNN — CONSOLE

I have never been one to embrace the MMO/RPG gaming style, but there was something about the premise that really appealed to me.

And with a father who plays video games, the opportunity to team up with him to complete mission was a real added bonus.

The game itself is pretty difficult and I was a little annoyed that head shots were not enough to drop enemies in early missions.

I learnt as the game progresses you get better skills and weapons, which makes the task of taking down AI slightly easier.

After a few hours of playing, I found the game addictive and wanted to keep entering the environment.

The open world makes for a diverse and immersive experience, but I quickly got annoyed with having to travel between missions.

While there are select “fast track” components, a great deal of time is spent walking the streets to get to your next mission.

At first this is fun, but after a while the novelty wears off and it becomes a chore.

I understand the storyline of the game means cars are out of operation, but would it have been too much to ask for a bicycle to speed things along?

Another concept I found hard to grasp was the crafting, selling, buying system in place to help deal with your inventory.

It seemed very complex, but really this was a minor detail in the scheme of things.

Overall, The Division is one of the best multiplayer games I have played in recent times and nitpicking aside, it’s a worthy addition to your collection.