With the Underground expansion, The Division has introduced Underground missions into the game. They have high replayability – but do you really want to play them that often?
Before the launch of the Underground DLC, the developers emphasized at every opportunity the high replayability of the Underground missions: No mission should be the same as the previous one. They are completely randomly generated.
And indeed: The missions differ from each other every time. However, not to the extent that many agents would have wished. Therefore, some users express disappointment rather than excessive enthusiasm in their reviews of the Underground.
The Underground missions lack flavor
The YouTuber MarcoStyle shares his thoughts on the Underground update with the community. He is not impressed by the new missions.
What the Underground missions in The Division are all about, you can read here. In brief: You take the elevator down to the Underground, select the missions with the modifiers, and run to the train that takes you to the activity. Then you complete the task and return to the base with a bit more loot and experience. And it all starts over again.
The missions are not completely randomly generated. You can recognize certain structures. According to MarcoStyle, the developers probably created around 40-50 rooms, which are then shuffled together. For each mission, you run through about 6-7 of them, with the rooms and the order of the rooms based on randomness. But already after completing a few missions, you find yourself in rooms that feel familiar.
Nonetheless, the Underground missions are a clever move by Massive: Essentially, they have taken the content of 5-6 missions and cut it up, with the individual sections now being randomly reassembled. This indeed achieves a higher replayability than if agents were to complete 5-6 missions once and then say: “So, I’ve seen everything. What’s next?” In this way, it likely takes several dozen runs before monotony sets in – at least with regards to the scenery.
But what these missions lack are other important things: They have no depth. There is absolutely no lore to be found. There are no engaging dialogues or ECHOs that would come with “normal” story missions. There are also no cool cutscenes where something explodes or, for example, a helicopter crashes:
Moreover, there is a lack of variety in terms of mission objectives. Most of the time, you only have to take out a random target, destroy an object, or defend a JTF officer. It simply feels like you’re only playing side missions. The Underground missions cannot compete with story missions in terms of quality. The locations do make a good impression, but the overall package is not coherent.
However, the Underground also introduced a new ranking system that sets new goals for many agents and keeps them engaged. And when you go into the Underground with a group and have fun together, these missions can also be enjoyable in the long run.
Nevertheless, the missions lack spice, that certain something. There are no unique mission objectives that would trigger “wow” effects. Although they have high replayability, they feel empty.
How do you like the Underground missions? Do they still bring you joy every time? Or do you mostly play them to rank up?
In this article, we present a video that shows the Underground in its best light.
