Anthem vs. The Division 2: What Anthem Should Have Been and Why The Division Succeeds

     On February 22nd, 2019, the game development company, Bioware, released the game Anthem. Anthem had so much hype built up so everyone expected it to be an amazing game. But when the player base actually got to play the game, Bioware received some very unwelcome feedback. All the talk about Anthem being a good game had evaporated. Everybody hated the game; Anthem was not what was expected at all. The game has gone downhill, and talk about the game has ended, because the hype about Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 was beginning.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is a game made by the game development company, Ubisoft. Ubisoft is widely known for games such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is the sequel to the popular game by Ubisoft, The Division. The Division 2, which released on March 15th, 2019 had lots of hype around it. Critics were giving it great reviews, IGN gave it an 8.5/10 and Metacritic gave it an 8.2/10. But unlike Anthem where the player base hates the game, the player base loves The Division 2. The player base gave it amazing reviews as well, Google Users gave it a 9.4/10. Overall, the Division 2 is a much better game, which can clearly be seen by the amount of love people have for it, and the amount of hate people have for Anthem. Anthem and The Division 2 are aiming to be similar games, but Anthem is lacking on so many levels.

Anthem Division 2
Pros: Pros:
A new fun flying mechanic that allows for some fun movement which still manages to have downsides (as do most of the things in Anthem.) Has a very long and engaging story that keeps the player motivated with great gameplay and missions that always vary in style and general feel. Past the main story, there are many side missions and activities throughout the HUGE map of Washington DC that keep Division 2 feeling adventurous and action-packed. Considering the many different activities that all seem to hit hard, stay fun and give great loot Division 2 keeps players constantly coming back for more.
A class system that actually gives meaning to choosing a  Javelin (mech suit) which all give highly varying play styles and abilities far past those of Destiny 2, another looter shooter game in the landscape. Having already made Division 1, which has a dedicated fan base, Ubisoft released the Division 2 having been able to successfully improve on almost anything that the first installment of the series fell flat on.
Cons: Cons:
A short story with repetitive gameplay and no real impact on the player with really no stand-out character development or strong plot. Also after finishing the main story, there is really no important content to keep a player base coming back. The movement and controls could be a little more fluid and faster.
A very annoyingly noticeable lack of weapons and abilities that makes the endgame content feel useless. The new addition of a PvP mode feels like it needs some of the love and care of the rest of the game which could definitely be made possible in a future update.

In closing, Division 2 did what Anthem never will in being a fun, fresh and all-around great game that will stay feeling great with Ubisoft’s frequent updates.

 

by Spencer Kim ’24 & Lyle Goldader ’24

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