Top 10 Things You Need To Know About The Division 2

The “Division” took place on the cold, wintery Streets of New York City after the “Dollar Flu” quarantined Manhattan. But, for the second game, we’re heading to The Nation’s Capitol in Washington D.C. roughly seven months later. What’s more, the new map of Washington D.C. is apparently twenty-percent bigger than the first game’s map, and it was created to be a nearly 1-to-1 re-creation of the actual city for players to explore. Seeing as we’re heading to Washington D.C., expect to see a lot more variation in “The Division 2’s” biomes as well (for example: green spaces, watered areas, city streets, and sleepy suburbs) as opposed to just the cold streets of New York City.

Shortly before the game's launch, Epic announced that Division 2 would be coming to Epic's new gaming marketplace and not Steam. This doesn't mean that it will be exclusive to the Epic store, it just means that Steam is getting shafted. Ubisoft has said that it respects Epic's initiatives and wants to support its new marketplace. Ubisoft hasn't officially stated WHY they are skipping steam, only saying that “We have no plans currently on releasing Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on Steam.” With partial exclusivity deals like this beginning to pop up, some PC gamers fear that competition might just lead to an abundance of game launchers that will clog up their systems.

Depending on who you talked to, there were two camps of people when it came to “The Division’s” shooting mechanics – those who hated how spongy the enemies were and those who looked passed it for the greater good of the game. Though, the game’s bullet sponge mechanics were highly criticized overall (just ask Google!).
Luckily, both Massive and Ubisoft heard the criticism and decided to make the enemies in “The Division 2” slightly more realistic – “slightly” in that it’s still going to take more bullets to kill enemies than it would in more realistic shooting games, but the improvement over the first game should be clearly noticeable.

In “The Division,” Dark Zones were challenging areas filled with rare loot and other goodies. They were also packed with higher-level AI enemies as well as online players too. So, your odds of walking into these zones and returning with said loot were pretty low, but the risk-reward is what made the Dark Zones so fun to play. Well, thankfully, these areas are back in the second game and will be available to loot, plunder and pillage on Day One – if you’re good enough to survive the onslaught of enemy bullets, that is. Our advice? Start playing “The Division” again and “git gud” before March 15th!

As mentioned, “The Division 2” picks up seven months after the first game ends, so it’ll be summertime as we roam our way through an infected Washington D.C., as a yet unknown virus has brought the city to its knees. Further, a civil war has broken out amongst the survivors of the virus, with multiple factions looking to secure citywide power. It’s into this mess that we’re interjected as a veteran Division agent, tasked with defusing any attempted governmental coups. While there’s not much more known about the storyline at the moment, this all sounds pretty badass and has us jacked to jump back into the world of the “Division” for some more epic gunplay.

The first game was set in an open world, but there wasn’t a whole lot of interaction within said world with the environment, factions or civilians, but that’s all about to change in “The Division 2.” Do we know how exactly? Well, no, not really, but we’re guessing based on news leaks and key words that the world will be more alive and that civilian NPCs will have an increased role, helping influence the world around you, and that the environment itself will also change according to these actions. This isn’t much of a guess considering that large Triple A titles are increasingly heading toward more interactive worlds, but it’s still nice to know that the open world won’t be so flat this time around.

Seeing as the first “Division” game was criticized for its lack of endgame content, Ubisoft has gone all out this time around to make sure this doesn’t happen again. One of the features that will help give life to the game after the main campaign is finished is eight-person raids, which the company claims to be the ultimate way of playing “The Division 2,” combining the best gameplay mechanics into one definitive experience. This feature won’t be available until the endgame, however, because it’ll require the best players and the best gear to succeed. Sounds challenging. We’re in!

Ubisoft promises better player customization this time around, claiming “The Division 2” will have a more personalized feel to it. One such example is cosmetic items that can be worn by players only AFTER completing certain in-game achievements and accomplishments. Consider these items to be, on the one hand, a fashion statement and, on the other, a subtle way of bragging to your friends who’s the better shot. Also, there will be more clothing options available this time around. But, perhaps most important are the endgame specializations that will take characters down one of three play styles: Survivalist, armed with a crossbow; Sharpshooter, equipped with a sniper rifle; and Demolitionist, readied with a grenade launcher.

One of the things that saved “The Division’s” lack of launch-ready content and empty endgame was DLC packs that offered new game modes. The second game will also release post-launch DLC packs as well, and the kicker is that they’re free this time around! This free content will come in the form of maps, missions, items, features and story updates for a full year after launch. That’s pretty generous seeing as how Ubisoft is already packing so much into this game already for its Day One Release. It’s clear to us that they mean to make “The Division 2” a top-contender in the online, multiplayer world and that they are learning from other games’ launch mistakes, namely “Destiny 2.”

You wanted it and you got it! The single biggest complaint about the first game has been addressed, so “The Division 2” will have a much more fleshed-out endgame with more content and options available for not only co-op players, but solo gamers as well (though there’s obviously more endgame content for co-op players). Once you hit the level cap, the game is far from over, seeing as players will be rewarded with a specialization, the opportunity to take part in raids, continual progression systems, and plot twists. In fact, it looks like some of the more exciting things in “The Division 2” will only happen after the game is technically finished, and that’s very exciting news.