Ubisoft’s The Division was a game I once spent hundreds of hours on, across parts 1 and 2. With its combination of a loot-based grind system, cover shooting mechanics, and a PvPvE core, it was a great time solo but even better with friends. It would be fair to say that a mobile port of the game would have been the logical next step, but with The Division Resurgence coming out this year, it feels like it is coming a bit too late to the party.

Simply put, The Division Resurgence is a full-fledged Division experience in mobile form, bringing all its quirks and qualities, for better or worse. Whether that prospect intrigues you is something you’ll have to check out for yourself, but after playing it for a number of hours over the past few days, it feels like a pretty competent mobile port that could entice lapsed players to give it another shot.

The Division Resurgence Impressions

It has to be said that The Division Resurgence does resemble its namesake quite well. In fact, it is a pretty impressive port, all things considered. Playing on an iPhone 17 Pro, playing on high settings was no problem at all, and it looked good overall. There are some basic settings to toggle like texture and resolution and shadows, but there are also some advanced options like bloom, volumetric lighting, and dynamic resolution.

Ubisoft made it so that if you improve your frame rate (standard, medium, high), the game automatically lowers the graphics settings to avoid too much strain on the device. Playing at high frame rate mode allowed me 60fps, but textures and shadows were definitely muddier, with noticeable texture pop-in. While I was pretty confident about the capabilities of my phone, maybe the game will let players go ham on the settings later down the line, but even at a standard 30fps, the gameplay felt steady.

Even more impressive is how Ubisoft managed to make the controls feel natural despite being touch controls. Running around Manhattan, sliding from cover to cover, it felt good to control your character and take on the bad guys, and it’s nice how it closely resembles the console versions. Moment-to-moment combat in The Division Resurgence is spot on, and console players will certainly love how faithful this mobile version plays.

The Division Resurgence even manages to make sniper rifles feel good, with pressing and holding down the button to activate the scope, and then releasing to fire. Despite this, some may still prefer a controller, so its good to know that the game does support controller input and even attachments like the Backbone.

Despite the use of a controller, navigating the UI is still a challenge, as the game just lets players control a cursor that basically acts as a mouse, instead of a fully optimized interface.

The Division Resurgence classified players into specializations, and much like its console counterpart, the abilities are faithfully translated for the most part. Each specialization (Demolitionist, Field Medic, Bulwark, Vanguard) will have 2 combat skills and a signature ability, which can be used over and over again.

For example, the Demolitionist will have their artillery turret, an explosive seeker mine, and an M32A1 grenade launcher at their disposal. Each will have their own rather straightforward skill trees, which further improves their combat prowess and emphasizes playstyles.

Of course, as it is a mobile game, The Division Resurgence does streamline a lot of things. Loot is easier to pick up, upgrades are straightforward, and at least from the early hours, these systems do not seem overly complicated, and your main goal is simply to improve your gear score that allows you to take on the tougher challenges of the game.

There’s a welcome familiarity, with a mostly linear storyline and missions to complete at first, which then opens up to an open-world setup later on. Elements such as safe houses, crafting vendors, and the like also make an appearance, making it something that veteran players would appreciate.

As with mobile games of the sort, Ubisoft doesn’t let you forget about the fact, offering systems like log-in bonuses, missions and objectives, daily quests, friends and clans, open-world events, and other typical mobile game features.

The Division Resurgence has a full campaign to go through, which is a great way to gear up and get familiarized with all of its features. Missions are straightforward and mostly serve as a tool to get you to its endgame, which is basically the Dark Zone.

For the uninitiated, the Dark Zone is where tensions rise, as it is basically a PVP zone where the loot you pick up can be lost unless you extract safely. Stepping into this arena assumes you’ve already mastered the basics, so proceed with caution.

Overall, The Division Resurgence looks like a commendable port that successfully manages to capture the feeling of the original while translating its core elements to mobile. The game has pretty spot-on controls with an option for controller support, loot progression, and even the Dark Zone, so it will feel very familiar to previous players. It’s still too early to tell, but from the time we’ve spent with it, the game is definitely worth a look, and it would be interesting to see how Ubisoft will support this further down the line.

*The Division Resurgence was tested on an iPhone 17 Pro Max with access provided by the publisher.