For #8 on the list, we have a game that had to pull itself out of a bit of trouble, but could become huge depending on what comes next.
#8: The Division
The Division may have the Tom Clancy brand attached to it, but the gameplay is anything from a realistic military shooter. Taking elements of MMOs, Borderlands, and third person shooting, The Division provides a very unique experience.
The game combines your standard cover-based shooting with the loot and powers that you see in an MMO. Instead of having a huge leveling curve, the game moves you through the different story missions until you hit the level cap of 30, and then focuses on a gear rating system.
Just like with Borderlands, taking skill-based shooting and the RPG progression of leveling and gear does a lot to keep you playing. The foundation of mechanics is really great to provide an almost “action MMO” experience.
With the limited abilities that you can pick, you’re able to define your “build” very quickly, and then find guns and equipment to work around it.
Things haven’t been perfect with the game. The developers had issues of hacks and problems with their progression at the end-game. With patch 1.4, things have improved in terms of providing an end-game that can keep growing. The big challenge that The Division now face is where to go from here.
The main thing that keeps it from being higher up on the list is that the end-game right now is still lacking. The Dark zone was an interesting idea, but not the kind of end-game that I and a lot of people were looking for. The Division needs more variety in terms of challenges and gear at the end-game if they want people to come back to it.
Not quite a shooter or a RPG, the Division sits between the two to create an interesting experience.
For #7, we have one of the strongest first games from a company I’ve seen yet.
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