The Division 2 Review: 10 Ups & 4 Downs

4. Side Content Is Surprisingly Meaningful

Side content is where so many games of this type fall down, relying on excess repetition and basically making it clear that the developer couldn't be bothered to populate the world with things actually worth playing.

Thankfully, that isn't the case at all here.

There is so much to do in this world, from the XP-rich side missions, to growing settlements, taking on assassination bounties, wrestling control points away from enemy factions, "random" events you'll stumble across out in the wild and hoovering up collectables.

The result is a rare game of this kind where getting to the level cap of 30 isn't remotely boring or frustrating. XP rewards are extremely generous, and as mentioned, main mission gating doesn't force players into hours and hours of repeating the same old missions.

In addition to all this, there's also the Dark Zone PvE/PvP multiplayer, which presents a unique challenge to players but can also reward them with epic, rare loot. And furthermore, there's Conflict PVP, which represents a more conventional, 8-player shoot 'em up experience.

It's tough to imagine anyone complaining that the game doesn't give you enough to do, and surprisingly, precious little of it feels like busy-work.

Given that this is a Ubisoft game, and they've got a history of forcing chore-like collect-a-thon tasks on players, The Division 2's peripheral material is fun and engaging.