The Division Resurgence

While I wouldn't class myself as much of a mobile gamer, it has been fascinating to witness as the platform and its software has evolved particularly in the past few years. We've gone from seeing mobile games that wholeheartedly buy into the almost dismal landscape of timed-activities, a tsunami of cheap and basic life-simulation options, and an extreme array of trivia and puzzle projects all to alternatives like Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile, and even excellent ports including Fortnite, Minecraft, Balatro, the list goes on. While there may be a stigma among the PC and console audience that mobile is somewhat inferior, it's a far more impressive and admirable landscape than it used to be.

I bring this up because the next major expansion into the world of mobile gaming comes from Ubisoft, who after delivering Rainbow Six Mobile is now ready to offer up The Division Resurgence, a mobile-only take on the popular series that attempts to preserve the authenticity of the franchise without the platform advantages PC and console provides. And do you know what? This isn't a poor effort to achieve such lofty ambitions.

For one, if you look at The Division Resurgence from a macro level it offers up the core pillars of what constitutes a The Division experience. There's tight and thrilling third-person action-oriented gunplay that allows the player to approach a combat situation in their own way. There's a big focus on looting and becoming more powerful by acquiring better gear and improving what you have in your inventory, which is tied to a coloured-tier system. There's an open-world to explore where you can run into enemies on the streets while navigating to and from key and thematic story missions. There's still an extraction-like element tied to the Dark Zone where you can win big or leave empty-handed. There's a focus on social gameplay where you can take on different missions alone or in a squad with friends. The point is there's a lot here that makes you immediately notice this is a The Division game without any doubt or question in your mind, even despite the platform limitations of going mobile.

The development team at Ubisoft has done an excellent job at delivering a game that plays smoothly (even if it is far from visually stunning...) and that offers up challenging yet rewarding gameplay. Regardless of whether you are playing with the touch controls, which reflect most mobile shooters by seeing the left side of the screen reserved mostly for moving while the right is how you aim and select key inputs like reloading and ability usage, or using a connected controller, the action is thrilling and explosive, with a clear focus on offering gameplay that is not a walk in the park. The enemy AI is smart and will test you, with flanking targets and armoured or shield-using threats rushing you so you can't hide behind cover safe from danger. You have to be on your toes in this game, using the level design and your abilities and resources to full effect to survive some of the encounters, which is more than many mobile games can say. Likewise, while I won't tell you that I adore touchscreen aiming controls, they do work quite well here even if controller-based action is noticeably better.

When you take core gameplay that works effectively, matched up with the freedom of an open-world, which for mobile standards is quite impressive, add a complete story, detailed looter-shooter systems, progression, and buildcrafting, and offer this all up for free, it's hard not to see the brilliance of The Division Resurgence from a consumer perspective. This isn't to say there's no room for improvement as there is, including slightly less aggressive enemies, as the combat (as much as I love a challenge) is currently rather demanding, as just one example. But in a similar vein to Diablo Immortal, if we can't persuade established PC and console developers to use resources on the more-gamer centric platforms, then getting a project like The Division Resurgence is pretty much the next best thing, as without needing to spend a dime you can access what's effectively a rudimentary version of the main series. That's not a bad trade off for a game that you can play on a seven-inch device on the train.

However, this does bring me to some of the more serious issues with the game, namely that The Division is a complex affair both in presentation and gameplay structure. Wandering around New York and being locked in combat loses much of its brilliance on a smartphone screen, especially if you're not using an 'Ultra' or 'Max' model device. My experience on an iPhone 16 Pro is that the game ran wonderfully but I couldn't exactly see everything that was going on due to the small screen that was also being clogged by two thumbs attempting to intricately aim and snipe enemies 30+ metres away. There's just a lot going on to be crammed into such a small display.

Likewise, touching on the gameplay structure, this hasn't been quite incorporated in a way that those familiar with the series will appreciate. New York is an open-world and that's impressive for mobile gadgets, but we're not talking about an engaging open-world here, rather it's a series of lifeless blocks and streets that you wander down on the way to the next mission, occasionally stopping to deal with some enemies that have popped in 20 metres in from of you. The missions then require you to load into separate areas where batches of enemies are thrown at you as you move through unique 'arenas'. The best way I can describe the gameplay is that it almost reflects 2000s action games, where everything was very methodical and formulaic. It works and credit to mobile for already reaching this point in its evolution, but it's a far-cry from modern gaming standards elsewhere.

Finally, we have my biggest gripe, which is that The Division is already a complex series requiring a lot of effort, time, and thought to get the best out of your builds and to learn about where to get the right items and how to 'abuse' the gameplay systems. Now imagine this is combined with a flurry of features found in free-to-play mobile titles, be this tons of menus dedicated to daily and weekly quests, stores with soul-crushing monetisation, battle passes, way too many currencies and resources that simply clog the experience, you get the gist. The point is there's always a catch and a game like The Division Resurgence with all of its gameplay variation and reflections of The Division formula cannot be offered for free without systems like these that are simply anti-player.

Ultimately what we get with The Division Resurgence is very similar to Diablo Immortal. At its core, this is a very ambitious and impressive video game that's a massive improvement on much of what the mobile platform offers, but it's weighed down and held back by the inclusion of the intrusive and demoralising mobile elements that continue to give the platform a bad rap. Does it work as a game to log into for 20 minutes a time while commuting to work? Without question. But could you sit down and play The Division Resurgence for hours, eventually clocking hundreds of hours into the gameplay as is easily the case with its console and PC counterpart projects? No, it does not have the structure or legs to be such a title. So, we're talking about a better than average mobile game but also another clear example that mobile is still inferior to the other platforms.