The Division Vs. Destiny: What's The Best Shooter Of 2016?

5. Worthwhile Single-Player Content

Following a fairly open-ended introductory sequence that sets you off in a handful of directions, The Division makes a conscious effort to really make you care about taking back New York. Copious amounts of gritty, militaristic dialogue frame your exploits as a 'last ditch effort' to restore order to a city overtaken by various gangs, and whilst the vast majority is only enjoyable in that shlocky, 80s action movie kinda way, there are 16 remarkably well-realised story missions that get the job done better than Destiny's solo content ever did. Environments are packed with detail that shows one of the world's most populated cities being torn from its collective daily routine, and even if you mainline these missions, your Agent will venture everywhere from construction sites to underground bunkers, subway systems, police stations and more. You're called in to take back each borough one bullet at a time, and besides the multiplayer that you could argue breaks some of the immersion (although there are story-related reasons why agents are turning on each other), thematically it fits that you'd indulge in any number of side missions, story beats or anything in between along the way. On the other hand, Destiny has always had narrative problems. It was too sparse to foster interest through curiosity, and too lifeless at its core to make any of its characters truly matter. Being one Guardian in a war effort to turn the tide against various opposing forces works as a general setup, but The Division doesn't require you to connect to others to enjoy it. Therein lies the rub, and although recruiting other players into story missions to tackle higher difficulties is great fun, you never need to truly enter a multiplayer mentality or indulge in communication to get the most out of it, which quite honestly, is a godsend. Winner: The Division