Ubisoft’s celebrated online shooter The Division (the 2016 original, not its 2018 sequel, clarification fans) is currently free to download and keep on PC.
The Division, if you’re unfamiliar, casts players out onto the snow-covered streets of Manhattan, now a Quarantine Zone following a viral pandemic, in order to help restore order. All of which sounded considerably more fanciful back in 2016.
What follows is an open-world action-RPG that bolsters its thrilling third-person cover-based shooting (of both the PvE and PvP variety) with all the loot, load-outs, perks, and XP you’d expect to be showered with in an online-focussed game these days.
Tom Clancy’s The Division – Launch Trailer Watch on YouTube
And it’s good! What started solidly (Martin called The Division a “vast, scrappy yet endearingly ambitious adventure” in his original review) evolved considerably following its launch thanks to Ubisoft and developer Massive Entertainment continued efforts, and the game still has a decently sized following some four years on – despite the arrival of its aforementioned sequel.