The free content period has ended. With tomorrow's episode 3 developer Massive Entertainment delivers the last free content for the time being. But that was just the warm-up phase. Warlords of New York is a € 30 expansion that promises many changes. When we visited the studio in Malmö, we got our first glimpse.
Many players are disappointed with the development that Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 has seen since its release in March 2019. A total of four free extensions appeared between April 2019 and February 2020. New missions included the Washington Zoo and the Pentagon, as well as the first raid for eight players. Entertaining secret orders and new specializations were also part of the expansion. But with the exception of the raid, everything was eaten quickly. Even soloists could easily play through the story and secret missions of each episode in one evening.
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There are longer-term activities, including the temporary missions at Kenly College. But they are not worth it. Because the second big problem with The Division 2 is the loot. If you play regularly, you will always find something, but it is rarely useful. Most players have long since optimized their equipment in all areas, so that all new items are scrapped or sold immediately. For them, the RPG shooter has been at a dead end for a long time because the incentive to play has been lost.
Massive Entertainment has also recognized this. The studio in the tranquil Swedish town of Malmö wants to tear The Division 2 out of its self-created lethargy with the most extensive update to date. The last free DLC episode 3 serves as an introduction. Your path leads back to New York, more precisely Coney Island. The events there lead to the story of Warlords of New York. In order to play the expansion, you must have an agent at level 30 and have reached world rank 5. Newcomers can automatically upgrade a character and tackle the DLC immediately.
Back in New York
The big adversary is an old acquaintance: Aaron Keener, the first rogue agent and potential terrorist, has to be stopped for good. But he doesn't come alone, but is supported by four dangerous ex-agents, whom you also have to put up with. The scene of the new story is Lower Manhattan in the south of the Big Apple. The four warlords occupy the districts of Civic Center, Two Bridges, Financial District and Battery Park. You are free to choose the order in which you will tackle the five main missions.
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In contrast to the faceless comrades you have faced at the end of a mission, you want to give the warlords a certain amount of personality. Each of them has reasons to work for Keener. This also means that each of them has a special ability that shapes his fighting style. If you defeat the respective boss, you can take over their skill. These include the stick grenade known from the first division in two versions, a trip hazard and the ability to distract enemies with a hologram from your agent.
Known shooting
We can already play one of the main missions while visiting Malmö. Our route initially leads through the summer canyons and backyards of Lower Manhattan. Nevertheless, the metropolis does not come to rest, because a hurricane severely damaged many streets, buildings and bridges a few weeks earlier.
With a few stray rikers we warm up our trigger finger. In addition to the Fire Devils of the Cleaners, they are the second fraction from Part 1, which causes unrest again. However, they fight and behave somewhat differently than in the predecessor. Then we collect some information that tells us the location of the first warlord: the empty prison "The Tombs".
In the corridors, cell blocks and common rooms of the detention center, we deliver the well-known lead-based confrontations with smaller and larger groups of enemies, which we attack from cover with our firearms and skills. Our PC demo with high graphics performance runs pretty clean and therefore plays very well. Small bugs rarely appear in the collision or hit query. Like almost every area of The Division 2, thanks to many optical details, the prison is a beautiful and credible backdrop for the action. We like to look around between the shootings and walk around every corner, because everything looks really chic.
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The final fight against sniper Theo Parnell, on the other hand, is a little different than what we are used to. We don't want to give away much, so just so much: He uses his hologram skill to confuse and forces us to change positions. Other enemies also make life difficult for us. None of this is innovative, but it feels fresh enough to make you want to confront the other warlords. In general, it is nice to be back in New York because the cityscape brings back many memories of the first part.
Finally loot and level again!
However, the new campaign is only the start. In addition to eight additional side tasks and the Legendary difficulty for all main missions, the Seasons and Battle Pass in particular should ensure long-term employment. A season will run over a period of three months and include a mini campaign with different tasks and activities.
Season 1 kicks off one week after the expansion release. Various rewards such as exotic equipment, skill mods and cosmetic items promise fresh playful incentives. The Global Events are celebrating a return, with certain modifiers influencing the game world and requiring new approaches. Various rewards can also be unlocked via this.
Ubisoft will soon send you to The Division 2 as part of the next DLC package to Coney Island.
In contrast, the content of the Battle Pass has not yet been presented. But it will certainly work similarly to Rainbow Six Siege or Ghost Recon Breakpoint: There you can unlock new ranks by simply playing or completing certain challenges, which will reward you with cosmetic items.
The Dark Zone would also like to revise Massive. More of the predecessor's atmosphere is expected to return, including increased tension and surprising battles against other agents while extracting collected items. However, the developers have not yet identified specific points in this connection. They were just as calm about the second raid "The Foundry". It just means that you are working on it and aim for a release sometime in the coming spring. In addition, you want to relax the access restriction to the raid so that more players can participate.
Gear 2.0
Regardless of the expansion, the overall equipment and value system of The Division 2 will be revised for all players under the generic term "Gear 2.0". Despite many different weapons and armor, there have been relatively few combinations of items and values with which the players equip their characters for the solo, team and PvP game.
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In the future, this should become easier and more playful, among other things, through stronger bonuses, more clearly defined skills and always useful loot. You can also upgrade your agent beyond the new level cap 40. Each subsequent step up brings you Perks points, with which you improve certain values and bonuses. Massive wants to enable even more diversity in agent equipment. In parallel to the growing number of agents, the levels of the enemies are also to rise permanently.
We noticed differences in the demo, including damage values and skills. However, game time and available items were too limited to draw any conclusions from. There are only facts about the release of the expansion: The Division 2: Warlords of New York will be released on March 3 for the PS4, Xbox One and PC and will cost just under 30 euros. Later in March, the game including all expansions will also be launched on Google Stadia.
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