The Division 2, the third-person looter shooter set in Washington D.C., had a strong launch out of the gate; it was a game that learnt much from the issues in the first trip to New York City in the original Division game.

And a year later, Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment is taking us back to New York City in the impressively-large Warlords of New York.

While the original release had you take back Washington D.C. from various militias and aggressors, now you return to New York City with a more narrative-focused goal, to take down rogue agent Aaron Keener and his eponymous warlords. It’s a nice excuse to return to the much-requested narrow, dense streets of New York City, which fans of the series should be glad with. Apparently Keener has a new, refined virus to unleash on the world, and it is up to you to stop him.

Now I admit that this story couldn’t have been timed worse with global health events happening right now. It is certainly an odd feeling to be fighting to stop the outbreak of a major new virus right as the world is doing the same. On the flipside, there’s something empowering about being a decked-out Division agent, able to get stuff done. Being able to tackle what’s in front of you and succeed. But I could understand why the story could, right now, put some people off playing this expansion.

The recreation of the city, now set months after the snows that covered the original Division game has melted, is an authentic, detailed and rich recreation of a city that has almost settled into its post-apocalyptic fugue. Streets are decrepit and absolutely filled with garbage and detritus, and the sense of space found on Washington D.C.’s wide boulevards and open park spaces is gone.

Whatever you may think of Ubisoft open world games, they are massive, they are gorgeous, and they are absolutely stuffed to the gills with content, artistic and gameplay.

To take down Keener’s warlords, you’ll need to explore the city, gather evidence and eventually go after the kahunas themselves in a set number of story beats. Massive have introduced a smart “Fog of War” system, which disables your GPS, including directions, until you explore the city manually. It’s a clever way of getting you out onto the streets, peeking into alleyways and abandoned buildings. You can also go after the lieutenants in any order, starting your investigations in any directions from your new base in the middle of Lower Manhattan.

The campaign tries a lot harder than the base game to get you invested in characters, featuring cameos and characters from the first Division to keep you interested. But ultimately the game is going to be what it is – go to here, shoot some guys, walk forward a bit more and shoot some more bad guys. No amount of people in your ear on the radio telling you bad they are is going to fundamentally change or challenge how you actually play the game. It’s also not a long story, which I didn’t mind too much, but some may balk at that for the cost – don’t expect a whole new game’s worth of content here.

One frustrating note – once you fly to New York City the first time, you can’t go back to Washington D.C. until the whole Warlords of New York campaign is completed. That means if you have a friend who wants to play some missions in Washington with you, and doesn’t own the expansion, then you can’t work with them.

It’s an un-intuitive move, and forces you to mainline through the story content if you’re a social player.

In addition to the new environment and missions, an update went live for everyone that drastically changed how gear works. No longer is the most important element simply the gear number (though bigger is still better), but you have to consider a range of other gear attributes.

It’s a more flexible system, easier in some ways but deeper and more complex in others. For committed players I think they will enjoy discovering new builds and scrutinizing gear even more closely. Thankfully the Division 2 now gives you less loot less often, but it is often more impactful and higher quality overall. It sounds strange to want less loot in a looter shooter, but Massive Entertainment have been able to pull this balance off.

Like all live games, it will remain to be seen whether the changes and additional content is going to add significant longevity to the game. Will the new systems and content be enough to bring new players in for the long term while satisfying the (often large) demands of the most hardcore?

In the end, despite the new setting and revised gameplay systems, Warlords of New York is more Division. While that’s not a bad thing, it doesn’t shake up the game in any fundamental ways. There are some new abilities, but I find that I am pretty stuck to my old ways and loadouts, which still served me well throughout the campaign.

I feel like Warlords of New York is a solid start at an attempt to revitalize the Division 2, but one that will need to keep being built upon. Whether this is in new locations (personally I’d like to see a US west coast location), a time jump, or a bigger focus on rebuilding rather than revenge is yet to be seen, but Warlords of New York sets a high bar for what yet may be to come.

The post The Division 2: Warlords of New York (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

What a year it has been for Xbox gamers.

Getting lost in the open ocean with Sea of Thieves, burning rubber in Forza Motorsport 7 and the added subscription based service of Games Pass which allows exclusive Triple AAA titles to be downloaded and played for free. Xbox also did a honourable nod to gamers with special needs with their Adaptive Controller.

With the next year just around the corner, let’s see what’s in store for the world’s most powerful games console as it leads us in to 2019.

Anthem is a shared-world action-RPG, where Freelancers challenge the wilds past the wall, exploring a vast world filled with savage beasts and ruthless marauders, but also teeming with amazing technology and forgotten treasures. Players will be able to join with their friends to unravel the world’s mysteries and defeat the forces plotting to conquer humanity. Throughout their journeys, players can outfit their Freelancers with powerful Javelin exosuits, each of which are equipped with unique weapons and abilities.

Freelancers can customize their Javelin with gear they earn and craft throughout the adventure, and leave a lasting mark on the world. Anthem is due for release from EA Games in 2019.

From the creators of ARK: Survival Evolved comes ATLAS – a massively multiplayer first-and-third-person fantasy pirate adventure. “ATLAS” will host up to 40,000 players exploring the same Globe simultaneously, with an unprecedented scale of cooperation and conflict. Join an endless adventure of piracy & sailing, exploration & combat, roleplaying & progression, settlement & civilization-building, in one of the largest game worlds ever! Explore, Build, Conquer!

This coming February experience the next gen of Crackdown. It’s time to step up your boom and stop crime as a super-powered Agent in Crackdown 3’s sandbox of cooperative mayhem and destruction, plus an all-new multiplayer mode where destruction is your ultimate weapon. “Crackdown 3” is available at launch on February 15^th with Xbox Game Pass and globally on Xbox One and Windows 10.

One of the hotly anticipated games on my list for 2019 is Devil May Cry 5 from Capcom.  brand-new entry in the legendary over-the-top action series comes to Xbox One in spring 2019, complete with its signature blend of high-octane stylized action and otherworldly and original characters the series is known for. Years have passed since the legions of hell have set foot in this world, but now a new demonic invasion has begun, and humanity’s last hope will rest in the hands of three lone demon hunters, each offering a radically different play style. United by fate and a thirst for vengeance, these demon hunters will have to face their demons if they hope to survive.

Also, Ubisoft will have you diving into a transformed vibrant post apocalyptic Hope County, Montana, 17 years after a global nuclear catastrophe in Far Cry New Dawn. Join fellow survivors from Hope County and lead the fight against the dangerous new threat known as the Highwaymen, and their ruthless leaders The Twins, as they seek to destroy and take over the last remaining resources by any means necessary.

Perhaps one of the more intriguing is the expected 2019 release of Gears of War 5, with Gears of War 4 still one of my go to games, having completed it several times over.

As Kait, journey across the biggest, most beautiful Gears world ever created. Play solo or with a friend in local split-screen co-op, or online co-op and experience every mode in 4K Ultra HD resolution with stunning HDR at a smooth 60 frames per second. Called Gears 5 it will be coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2019 and will be available day and date to Xbox Game Pass members.

Keeping in tune with Gears 5 – perhaps the lighter and weirder announcement from Microsoft Studios is their upcoming Gears Pop, a new Arena Brawler mobile game that brings together iconic Gears characters in the distinctive Funko Pop! style. The game is being developed in partnership with Funko and inspired by the Gears of War vinyl collectible figures. It’s the perfect slice of mobile mayhem, available on iOS and Android in 2019.

Jump Force, which we have covered in a news piece before is slated, also for a 2019 release. This BandaiNamco title sees the greatest heroes and villains from the 50-year history of Shueisha’s influential Japanese Weekly Jump manga will battle against each other across iconic locations across Earth in this anime fan’s dream come true! Featuring the world’s most popular and classic manga and anime franchises including DRAGON BALL Z, ONE PIECE, NARUTO, and many others, players will be able to compete in hyper-stylish arena brawls set against familiar backdrops of famous landmarks around the world, including New York City’s Times Square and the Matterhorn.

Then – we have the juggernaut of fantasy cross-over titles; Kingdom Hearts III. Set in a vast array of Disney worlds, Kingdom Hearts follows the journey of Sora, a young boy and unknowing heir to a spectacular power. Sora is joined by Donald and Goofy to stop an evil force known as the Heartless from invading and overtaking the universe. Through the power of positivity and friendship, Sora, Donald and Goofy unite with iconic Disney-Pixar characters old and new to overcome tremendous challenges and persevere against the darkness threatening their worlds.

Next year is also going to see a reprise of the Metro series. Metro Exodus is an epic, story-driven first person shooter from 4A Games that blends deadly combat and stealth with exploration and survival horror in one of the most immersive game worlds ever created. Explore the Russian wilderness across vast, nonlinear Levels and follow a thrilling storyline that spans an entire year through spring, summer and autumn to the depths of nuclear winter. Inspired by the novels of Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro Exodus continues Artyom’s story in the greatest Metro adventure yet.

If all of the above is not to your liking, there’s always Minecraft.

Minecraft: Dungeons is an action adventure game in the classic dungeon crawler style, where up to four players can fight together to defeat a relentless swarm of new mobs in a quest to save the villagers and take down the evil Arch-Illager. As an all new passion project for PC from a small, dedicated team at Mojang, Minecraft: Dungeons will be the first new title in the Minecraft universe when it releases in 2019.

Another one I am excited for, having loved the first Ori, is Ori and the Will of the Wisps. From the creators of Ori and the Blind Forest, winner of over 50 awards and nominations, comes the highly anticipated sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Embark on an adventure with all-new combat and customization options while exploring a vast and exotic world, encountering larger-than-life enemies and challenging puzzles on your path to unravel Ori’s true destiny. “Ori and the Will of the Wisps” will be launching exclusively on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs in 2019 and will be available day and date to Xbox Game Pass members.

The oceans of Sea of Thieves will continue to wash over the Xbox gaming landscape in 2019. Sea of Thieves is changing in a big way with its fifth free content update since launch, ‘The Arena.’ Releasing in early 2019, ‘The Arena’ is an all-new competitive game mode that allows players to test their pirating skills in fast-paced matches against rival crews. Each match is a fun, frenetic and action-packed race to find treasure that brings together all the most exciting elements of “Sea of Thieves” – on demand. “Sea of Thieves” is available with Xbox Game Pass and globally on Xbox One and Windows 10 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title.

The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti is a video game about great expectations, famous folk singers, lingering shadows, space Gods, hallucinogens, individuality, reptile shops, and wild imaginations. It’s an action, adventure, exploration, narrative driven, musical-laser-light-battle kind of game and is the debut release from BEETHOVEN & DINOSAUR.

Kick in some sci-fi action, The Outer Worlds is a new single-player first-person RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Private Division. Lost in transit while on a colonist ship bound for the furthest edge of the galaxy, you awake decades later only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy the Halcyon colony. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable.

Tom Clancy’s: The Division 2 will explode in to 2019. Developed by Ubisoft Massive and the same teams that brought you Tom Clancy’s The Division, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is an online open-world, action-shooter RPG experience set in a collapsing and fractured Washington, D.C. This rich new setting combines a wide variety of beautiful, iconic and realistic environments where the player will experience the series’ trademark for authenticity in world- building, rich RPG systems, and fast-paced action like never before. Play solo or co-op with a team of up to four players to complete a wide range of activities, from the main campaign and adversarial PvP matches to the Dark Zone — where anything can happen.

Throwing a bit of indie goodness in, Tunic from devs Finji is an isometric action adventure about a tiny fox in a big world. Embark on an adventuresome quest-about set in that place just beyond the farthest you’ve ever been! Explore ancient ruins, fight monsters and uncover mysterious secrets. The world is big and scary — so be brave, little one!

And finally in this 2019 Xbox round up is from the creators of Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera comes Wasteland 3! Following the critically acclaimed releases of 2014’s Wasteland 2 and 2015’s Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut, fans have been clamoring for a direct sequel.

Wasteland 3 will feature a deep and engaging story utilizing a newly-revamped dialog tree system from the celebrated writers of Torment: Tides of Numenera, along with a renewed focus on our trademark complex story reactivity and strategic combat that evolves on Wasteland 2’s deep tactical turn-based combat and unique encounter design. Play by yourself or with a friend in story-driven synchronous or asynchronous multiplayer to face difficult moral choices and make sacrifices that will change the game world.

So there we have it Xbox One gamers – here’s what’s in store for the next 12 months from Xbox. A couple of first party surprises and alot of third party goodness to welcome in another year.

The post Xbox to take you in to 2019 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Ubisoft Motion Pictures, the film and television studio of Ubisoft, announced Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan will write and direct the upcoming “The Division” film.

Gaghan won an Academy Award for writing “Traffic” and was nominated for his work on “Syriana,” which he both wrote and directed. His latest directorial effort, “Gold,” comes out January 2017. He joins Academy Award nominees Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal on the project, which is based on the fastest-selling new video game franchise in history.

Stephen Gaghan | Writer & Director of the Upcoming Ubisoft ‘The Division’ Motion Picture

“We are really excited to bring Stephen’s unique vision of the game to film audiences around the globe,” said Gerard Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, Ubisoft Motion Pictures.

“We can’t wait for Stephen’s remarkable passion and talent to bring the astonishing world of  The Division to life,” added Matt Phelps, Vice President and Head of Development, Ubisoft Motion Pictures.

“I’m excited to work with Ubisoft Motion Pictures and collaborate with their team at Massive Entertainment to bring The Division to the big screen, they’re great guys, exceptionally creative, and willing to take risks,” shared writer and director, Stephen Gaghan. “The game has been an enormous success, in large part due to the visual landscape they created, their vision of a mid-apocalyptic Manhattan. It’s immersive, wonderfully strange, and yet familiar, filled with possibilities. It’s also remarkable to be able to collaborate with Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal early in the process. We all feel the story Ubisoft created is more relevant than ever.”

Ubisoft Motion Pictures will develop with Jake Gyllenhaal’s and Riva Marker’s (“Beasts of No Nation”) Nine Stories and Jessica Chastain’s Freckle Films. The announcement comes after the critically-acclaimed Tom Clancy’s The Division video game, developed by Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment studio, sold more copies in its first 24 hours of availability than any previous title in Ubisoft’s history and recorded the biggest first week ever for a new video game franchise.

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Ubisoft Motion Pictures, the film and television studio of Ubisoft, has announced a new project, The Division with Academy Award nominees Jessica Chastain (The Martian, Interstellar, The Help, Zero Dark Thirty) and Jake Gyllenhaal (End of Watch, Nightcrawler, Southpaw).

“We are excited to collaborate with Jessica and Jake, two of Hollywood’s most talented actors  and perfect creative collaborators to help bring Tom Clancy’s The Division to the big screen,” said Gerard Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, Ubisoft Motion Pictures. “Attaching Jake and Jessica is part of our development philosophy of working closely with top talent from the earliest stages to collaborate on a high quality film,” added Matt Phelps, Vice President, Ubisoft Motion Pictures.

Ubisoft Motion Pictures will develop with Gyllenhaal’s and Riva Marker’s (Beasts of No Nation) Nine Stories and Chastain’s Freckle Films. The announcement comes after the critically-acclaimed Tom Clancy’s The Division video game, developed by Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment studio, sold more copies in its first 24 hours of availability than any previous title in Ubisoft’s history and recorded the biggest first week ever for a new video game franchise.

Gyllenhaal can next be seen starring opposite Amy Adams in Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals scheduled to open November 18, 2016.  He recently completed filming on Bong Joon Ho’s Okja and begins filming on Daniel Espinosa’s Life this week.  Through his Nine Stories shingle, Gyllenhaal produced David Gordon Green’s upcoming Stronger, in which he also stars.

Chastain will next be seen in John Madden’s political thriller Miss Sloane and Niki Caro’s adaptation of Diane Ackerman’s novel The Zookeeper’s Wife opposite Daniel Bruhl. She is also set to star in Aaron Sorkin’s film adaptation of Molly Bloom’s memoir Molly’s Game alongside Idris Elba and Susanna White’s period drama Woman Walks Ahead.

Ubisoft Motion Pictures and New Regency’s Assassin’s Creed, starring Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender, has recently completed principal photography. Assassin’s Creed will be released by 20th Century Fox on December 21st, 2016. Other Ubisoft Motion Pictures projects currently in development include: Splinter Cell at New Regency with Tom Hardy attached, Ghost Recon with Warner Brothers, Watch Dogs with Sony Pictures Entertainment and New Regency, as well as Rabbids with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

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Ubisoft takes us into a war-torn post-apocalyptic future in Tom Clancy’s The Division.

Very much in the same vein as Activision’s Destiny, The Division is a third-person shooter-come-role-playing game. It features a persistent online, multiplayer, open world and thus an internet connection is required to play.

When you think about a future where society has crumbled, you think about war, usually nuclear, as the cause. The dystopian world of The Division is a result of a virus, spread by bank notes, across a consumer-obsessed population.

It makes for a nice change, giving us a frightening world on the brink without being set in a clichéd, dusty post-apocalyptic future, or a world where the dead walk. The world of The Division is only a few days’ in the future from our own, and that’s one scary thought.

As an agent, you are a member of an undercover sleeper unit, The Division of the game’s title, brought into action to deal with the aftermath of the deadly pandemic that has claimed so many souls.

A snowy New York, full of abandoned cars, looters and scavengers is your sandbox.This version of New York, laid out for us to explore is full of detail, a living, breathing world of despair. Neighbours bicker for scraps, whilst violent gangs take want they want. Then there’s The Cleaners, with their flame throwers, burning everything in sight.

The Division is Ubisoft’s most original game in years and a major departure from their increasingly contrived efforts of late. The game successfully creates a post-apocalyptic New York on its edge. The atmosphere is helped by the game’s gorgeous visuals. The graphics are top stuff, recreating a believable snowy New York with a full day/night cycle.

As a wandering agent, your mission is to reinstate order in a world fast going downhill. The game is played from an over-the-shoulder viewpoint similar to that of other Tom Clancy shooters like Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. The cover system allows players to dash between points with just one button press to gain ground of get in a better firing position.

The game world is divided up into districts, each with its own difficulty range. Wandering enemies and missions are tied to this range. Within each district is a safe house. Once found you can fast travel to the safe houses, which also act as social hubs for forming groups.

The first task is to get your HQ up and running via three different missions unlocking the Medical, Tech and Security wings. All future missions, side-missions and encounters will provide you with resources allowing players to unlock HQ upgrades and new abilities based on these three groupings.

The Division suffers from the bane of all MMOs- vast beautifully details but sparkly populated environments. Running around picking off random enemies is fun at first, but it soon gets old as the game grabs you and the grind starts. And it is a grind. The reward for your endeavours is loot, loot that’ll allow you to grind faster and beat more powerful enemies.

Your progression relies on constantly upgrading your equipment, which is looted from your victim’s corpses, purchased from vendors or crafted yourself. Whilst powerful enemies drop rare items, you do tend to end up with a lot of mediocre kit that you either discard or trade in for next to nothing.

Good gear is not just required for combat. Some areas are contaminated; requiring an air filter of a certain level to access. You have to constantly be aware of what item’s you’ve got equipped and what you have in your inventory. It’s no good lugging around junk, taking up valuable space in your backpack.

As polished as the game is, there’s still some work to be done. A couple of times I faced annoying glitches which meant starting the mission again. The Division is a very controlled experience. You fight where the developers want you to fight and you jump where they want you to jump.

This was really apparent during a glitched mission where my teammates and myself were trying our best to kill ourselves without success.There really needs to be an option to go back to the previous checkpoint rather than have to throw away an hour’s worth of effort.

The game only wants you to die where it wants you to die, at other times you are pretty safe. No accidentally jumping off buildings to your doom. The Division has you covered.

Thankfully, the combat is fun. Still, I didn’t find it quit as satisfying as Destiny– an altogether better game than The Division. Enemies seem to lack initiative, either staying put or just marching towards you- the difficulty being that you are often given know where to retreat to instead of challenging AI.

Of course, things get more interesting in the tougher PvP Dark Zone. Here, not only are there tougher enemies, there are also rogue agents- other PvP players that have a bounty on their head which in turn other players can collect. It’s a dangerous place, but one that most definitely has appeal if you like a challenge.

It’s not a game you can jump into for a quick go. The main missions are long and the game paces your character level (unless you are a master grinder) so that you soon really need to be part a team to succeed later on.

Multiplayer interactions are advised, as well as making time for extended sessions. Some options are, however, available for the unsociable and time-poor gamer. As well as random interactions with hostile looters and cleaners, there are a number of side missions and encounters scattered about the maps. These short excursions allow for bite-sized gameplay sessions granting a moderate amount of loot and resources for your HQ.

This being a Ubisoft game, there are also loads of collectables in a form of intel, mobile phones and the somewhat interesting echos. Echos provide an 3D AR snapshot in time of an event which can be analysed for more information.

The games’ online-only status means that pausing for a quick wee isn’t going to work for you, unless you are in a safe house. Similarly, having to cut a session short mid-way through a mission will require you to start, again, from the beginning when you are next on.

Whilst at the moment it’s pretty easy to find a co-op team to join on a tough mission, it may not always be the case. It’s clear that the game currently has a lot of players on the PS4, which is really important for a game with one foot in the multiplayer camp. My biggest fear with The Division is that as players level up, new players will find themselves alone and without other players of a similar level to accompany them on the lower level missions. Only time will tell if the game has legs.

The Division is a great game. Right now is a fun shooter with a good multiplayer community. Ubisoft have stepped out of their comfort zone and offered us something a little different from their usual fayre. It is both polished in presentation, but a little rough in execution. It relies less on the sort of narrative adventure that props up the aging mechanics of their Assassin’s Creed series, revealing a few cracks.

Recent patches and the inclusion of incursions, the game’s equivalent of raids, has seen the amount of players using exploits to get top-end gear spike. Ubisoft needs to keep this in check in or to maintain the community else The Division becomes just another great formally great game that nobody plays anymore.

The Division is most certainly worth a look, but it’s future rests with Ubisoft and the quality of its continued support.