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I just got my hands on Division 2!
It was okay, as expected. I was happy enough.

There’s a reason why The Division 2 is called “The Division 2”.
It is not an army reference as one might think at first glance. It instead reflects on the game’s premise: the United States of America are divided into two factions (…and a half – I’ll explain later on).

Good on one side, Evil on the other. Classic.

The Division 2 takes place 7 months after Ubisoft’s 2016’s controversial success The Division. Unlike the original title which was set in a very snowy New York, this one is set in Washington D.C.

The reason for this change, according to the developers, is that, besides the political aspects – that the franchise seems to enjoy tackling – the city of Washington allows them to expand the playable map into new types of areas.

Green spaces, wide open regions, open rooftops and suburban zones that are harder to depict in the much more urban New York. Wider roads also allow for much more interesting combat with more room for flanking maneuvres.

What has changed?

Not that much! Is it a better game than its predecessor? Sure is. Here’s why:

Gaming development cycles dictate when you’re getting a sequel and whether it is going to be good or bad, innovative or unsurprising.
With a bunch of new releases and solid sequels, 2019 is expected to be a good year for the gaming industry.

When a new franchise pops up, it usually delivers a brand new game engine. That was the case with The Division.
It had a rough start – it was riddled with bugs and people were complaining about everything from server instability, bugs, weapons getting stuck all the way down to violence and political concerns.

Technical issues tend to occur more often with new game engines. These obstacles take time to fix, rebalance and adjust. When a developer starts working on a sequel, they don’t design a whole new engine from scratch. Instead, they upgrade the one they’ve got from the previous game, which makes it sturdier and feature-rich. It is also much more cost-effective to build and market.

That is why the first sequel to a successful game tends to be technically better than the original (even though narratives are likely to be worse as they’re harder to connect with the previous one).
Check out my previous post on Warhammer: Vermintide 2 and how it improved upon its predecessor.

This is the case with The Division 2. It is a solid, expanded and well-polished game, but kind of …unsurprising.

The biggest changes

The game seems like a meatier, tougher, more solid version of the original rather than a brand new sequel – but it introduces a series of small but rather interesting changes.

• Scenery: the most obvious change. It has moved from snowy New York to summer Washington D.C. It is still an American urban region that looks somewhat similar to its predecessor. There’s so much more garbage on the streets now!
• Lighting has been improved with more detailed light sources and reflections. It also feels less saturated and dramatic when compared to its predecessor. Water effects and glass reflections look brilliant.
• Specializations have been added to the game. Three skill trees are now able to be unlocked once you reach the level cap.
• Photo mode is a new feature with which you’re able to take the prettiest selfies – it even includes filters that make your eyes pop!
• New gadgets available, namely barricade-standing turrets and rolling seeking mines, among others.
• Spongier enemies: They seem to absorb bullets! Low-level enemies seem to require a huge amount of bullets to die. It doesn’t really break the game, but it affects immersion and realism and drives the player into much longer (often slightly boring) fights.

• Smarter enemies – with the new wider combat zones, you’ll see them perform flanking and cover maneuvres as a group. This makes combat much more interesting as it forces you to retreat and move to cover more often.
• NPC settlements form in newly liberated areas. It is actually pretty cool to see them go out and fetch supplies, food, etc. Adds immersion.
• NPC Backup – they seem to request and offer backup in sporadic fights across town.
• “Free” DLCs for a year. No further comments.
• GUI is definitely different, but the changes are mostly cosmetic as the core features are all there from the previous game.
• New faction. Once you finish the campaign the game will reshuffle and redraw by introducing a whole new faction called the Black Tusk. They will occupy previously liberated areas with their drones and robotic dogs and gadgets. Exciting!

Got issues?

It is worth mentioning that the character creator was awful in the public beta, only allowing you to pick randomly generated characters.

All of them looked like hillbillies…
And they’ve occupied the White house…
Hmm…
…

Sure. There are still problems to be fixed – as expected – but in terms of core gameplay, The Division 2 sure is well-built.

A couple of issues stand out from my (limited) experience in the public beta:

• Enemies seem to suddenly spawn right in front of the player, preventing a stealth approach on occasion.
• All melee enemies are female – why not add more variety?
• The yelling sounds by the enemy faction seem repetitive and very limited
• Game crashes every hour – apparently due to desynch between the server and the client

I’m pretty confident that all of these issues will be fixed before the release on March 15th.

Should I get it?

Here are some more bullets for you:

• Did you enjoy The Division and want some more of that? Then yes – definitely. Get it now with my referral link!
• Have you never played The Division? Then get it at a cheaper price and with a Season Pass discount here! It is still well worth playing the first one before The Division 2 is released!
• Did you not enjoy The Division at all? Then this might not be the game for you as it only feels like an improvement to the first one! Or instead… try playing it with friends… They make everything more fun!

In the end, I have to admit that I had a lot of fun with the private beta and I can’t wait to play with my friends tonight! The game is fun and it is actually pretty cool to see all the little details that set it apart from the 2016 title.

I’m curious about the story behind it, but I’m sure it won’t be the main reason why I’ll be playing this game. Guaranteed buy though.

I look forward to publishing a lengthier and updated review once the game is finally released! Stay tuned (subscribe to my blog or follow me on Twitter for updates)!

I’ll see you in my squad,
-ViLa4480