As cheesy as the various cinematic trailers and gameplay demonstrations were at times - and I'm not just saying that as a repressed Englishman; did you hear that awful attempt at convincing team banter during the world premier? - one thing became crystal clear as The Division 2 presentation wore on: Ubisoft has tried really hard to build upon the, reasonably, solid foundations of the original and deliver the king of tactical shooter-RPG hybrid fans were looking for in 2016.
Now, the original wasn't a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, garnering high praise from PSU's Garri Bagdasarov in his review for its satisfying gameplay loop and immaculate recreation of post-pandemic Manhattan. However, even the most devoted fan would have to concede The Division was severely lacking in certain areas.
Fortunately for the sequel, as I alluded to above, Ubisoft appears to have learned from its past mistakes.
Increased player agency
Transferring the action from New York City to the lawless ruins of Washington DC, The Division 2 begins seven months after the initial outbreak with players once again taking up the mantle of a highly-trained agent of the eponymous organisation: The Division. Their primary objective, to eliminate the various factions that currently rule the streets and stand in the way of the rebirth of US society.
“This setting”, says creative director Julian Gerighty, “lays the groundwork for a compelling story-based campaign in which your actions have a clear impact on the lives of civilians”. And, although exact details are thin on the ground at this stage (a recurring theme as you'll see shortly), it seems this increased sense of player agency manifests itself in a number of new ways in The Division 2.
NPCs offer more than just minor titbits of story exposition and world lore, this time around, or a slightly spoiled beanie; but will actually assist the player in combat once their loyalty is earned. More intriguingly, there's also a new system called ‘Settlements'. Again, Ubisoft has remained tight-lipped about this so far, but, taking both Gerighty's earlier comments and the player's ability to reclaim entire districts of Washington DC over the course of the game into consideration, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Settlements in The Division 2 operated in a similar way to its similarly titled counterpart in Fallout 4.
Advanced end game content and Raids
Once a player or team of players has reached the end of the new and improved main campaign, meanwhile, The Division 2, by virtue of its ‘Specialisation' system, offers a significantly refined end-game experience.
Separated into three distinct sub-classes - Sharpshooter, Demolitionist, and Survivalist - each with their own unique weapons and abilities that work to work in tandem with the rest of the player's loadout, Specialisations open up an exciting new progression path designed to appeal directly to the most hardcore players who relish the opportunity to master the game's mechanics, test themselves against the toughest enemies, and fine-tune their tactics.
Therefore, I'm expecting Specialisation to be the key to completing the game's most demanding raids which, building upon the somewhat rudimentary ‘Incursions' featured in The Division, will provide a more compelling and rewarding challenge for squads of up to 8 players.
Still, whether that proves to be true or not, the most important thing is that proper Raids will be a part of The Division 2 from the very beginning, and that is pretty exciting in and of itself.
A year's worth of free, post-launch content
The biggest and most exciting news, as far as the majority of players are concerned, however, has to be Gerighty's promise of a year's worth of free DLC updates following the game's launch in Q1 of next year, which themselves represent just one part of a comprehensive, post-release support plan.
Initially, The Division 2 will be bolstered by three significant - and I reiterate, completely free - expansions called ‘Episodes', each of which introduces additional story content, activities, and areas to explore.
How the “frequent, major content updates” that follow will be rolled out remains to be seen, but given that an optional premium pass providing another raft of exclusive add-ons is also available, it may well be that the largest of The Division 2's future expansions will come at a price.
The Division 2 launch date and availability
Releasing on the 15th March 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, The Division 2 avoids a hectic Q1 2019 and the likes of Kingdom Hearts 3 and Days Gone.
There's still a fair wait ahead of us, in other words, so in the meantime, stay tuned to PSU for breaking news on raids, specialisations, post-launch support, and everything else you need to know about The Division 2.