Save Washington: The Division’s task this game will be to save Capitol Hill from collapsing
Unlike in the original game, The Division 2 takes place in a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. The players will take control of an elite Division agent who is tasked to take back control of Washington D.C. and protect the capital against those factions who are planning a coup.
The Division 2 Release Date:
The Division 2 was announced back earlier this year on March 8th, 2018. Following that announcement, at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 2018, Massive Entertainment released a first look at the gameplay. Fans can expect The Division 2 to be released on March 15th, 2019, with its beta release some time before the launch date.
The Division 2 Gameplay:
The world premiere gameplay walkthrough from E3
The Division 2 is an online third-person shooter RPG situated in an open-world that centers around players working together to acquire loot and complete missions towards the goal of saving the capital and preventing the United States from falling. In the gameplay footage from E3 2018, we see a group of four friends attempting to complete a side mission to retake control of a downed plane. The footage shows off innovative weaponry like the foam gun, chem launcher, mini-hive missiles, and seeker mines.
From what it looked like, the side mission seemed more like a raid from given how difficult it looked for four players to take out so many enemies and the juggernaut. Thankfully, it was announced that raids will now allow up to eight players divided amongst two teams. This will not only add more difficult enemies but increase the rare loot that players can acquire by completing these raids.
The heavy emphasis on multiplayer does sound somewhat concerning to players who prefer a story-driven campaign mode and the fact that the campaign mode in The Division was rather mediocre, doesn’t speak well either. However, the Creative Director, Chadi El-Zibaoui, has stated in an interview that they have worked on “a very robust campaign, a broad narrative, lots of mysteries; and, if you’re a solo player, you’ll have a lot to explore in the campaign. From day one we’ll be delivering content for all kinds of gear, not just for the hardcore fans, but even if you’re a solo player.” Hopefully, the sequel delivers on one of the major falling points of the original game.
Some extra info from the post-show interview
In the post-show gameplay show, we see a different team attempting the same mission as shown in the E3 presentation. This gameplay footage gives us a view of the three classes/specializations in the game: demolition, sharpshooter, and survivalist. According to the conference, these classes will have weapons that they center around:
•The Demolitionist will have access to the grenade launcher for disruption and control damage - perfect for flushing enemies out of cover and applying AoE damage.
•The Sharpshooter will have access to a .50 caliber sniper rifle that is capable of piercing through several targets. They can also see the weak points of enemies (marked by the big red box when snipers are scoped).
•The Survivalist will have access to a crossbow that fires explosive bolts. Their skills prevent enemies from regenerating health after being hit.
Another new feature of this game is that NPC reinforcements can be called in as backup. The NPCs will be based on the survivors that players can help out through the game.
The Division 2 Trailer:
Aside from the gameplay preview released at E3 2018, not much has been revealed about the game in terms of trailers. Only a cinematic and narrative trailer was released since the game premiered.
The official cinematic trailer
The cinematic trailer starts off setting the story in, what looks like, a peaceful city until the camera pans out across the outskirts where the streets are polluted with dirty water and dead animals, buildings are ruined and destroyed, people are being stolen from and executed by outside forces. We see three Division members at the end of the cinematic trailer looking out towards a ruined Washington, D.C.
The Aftermath shows what's happening with D.C. after the events of the first title
The Aftermath trailer recalls the situations that occurred during The Division and sets the stage for what is going on in Washington, D.C. 6 months after the plague. It implies that The Division 2 will have a heavy emphasis on the survivors of the plague that happened in the first game, a request by many original players as there was no true story in The Division.
The Division 2 Development:
The game is currently in development by Massive Entertainment, a studio that Ubisoft acquired back in 2008. It is being led by Swedish Game Director, Mathias Karlson - who was the Lead Game Designer for The Division and has been with the studio for almost a decade.
The Creative Director will also be Chadi El-Zibaoui. He was the Mission Design Director of The Division and has been with Ubisoft since 2010. Chadi has worked on multiple Assassin’s Creed games before being assigned to The Division in 2015.
Similar to its predecessor, The Division 2 will be developed on an updated version of Ubisoft’s Snowdrop Engine.
Due to the acquisition, Massive Entertainment has been receiving assistance from other Ubisoft-associated studios like Redstorm, Reflections, Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Bucharest, and Ubisoft Shanghai. While the rumors are unconfirmed, it was sited that Ubisoft is dedicating over 1,000 employees to develop this game - and with the sheer number of studios pitching in to help, it doesn’t seem like an over-the-top statement.
The Division 2 News:
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Made for Friends: It’s no surprise that The Division 2 will be more fun with groups of friends, given the emphasis on multiplayer.
•Beta sign-ups are live, and players can submit their applications in the link below. Platform preference and a UPlay account are required when submitting.
•It was announced that Ubisoft is releasing all of their first-year expansions for free. Unfortunately, this means that the company will need to make up the lack of monetization in one way or another (i.e., the dreaded microtransactions that we all hate).
•Mathias Karlson stated in an interview that the Dark Zone (the PvP area) would be returning, but he didn’t reveal the changes for the sequel.
•While characters from The Division can’t be imported to the sequel - like the Mass Effect series - the developers are planning to reward loyalists of the series by offering challenges for players to complete in the original game to unlock specific content in the sequel.
•The game map will be approximately 20% larger than The Division’s map.
•Due to player feedback on The Division, Massive Entertainment is spending additional time creating end-game content to fill the void that many players complained about from the first title.
