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.

The Division 2 is another of Ubisoft’s military shooter to posthumously carry the Tom Clancy name. As with the first game the late novelist had zero input with this post-apocalyptic looter-shooter. But that doesn’t necessarily make it bad. In fact, The Division 2 takes what was good about the first game and makes it a whole lot better.

Seven months have passed since the Black Friday terrorist attack that released the smallpox virus via infected banknotes. Whilst the virus has been contained, America’s leadership is no more. Washington D.C. is in the middle of a civil war between the criminal Hyenas, the fanatical Outcasts and the paramilitary True Sons.

The game starts with the player’s Division agent having journeyed to Washington to aid the Joint Task Force who have set up their base of operations in the White House. Players get straight into the action, unlike many games that force the player to endure twenty minutes of painful exposition at the start. The Division 2 has players create their character and get dropped straight into a sunny summer morning in post-apocalyptic Washington D.C.

And what a glorious backdrop Ubisoft have given us for this third-person sandbox looter-shooter. The US capital has been meticulously modelled at one-to-one scale. Not all of the city is available, but it’s still a sizeable map. The attention to detail is incredible.

The city has seen better days. The streets are littered with faded and torn Christmas decorations. This all looks disturbingly out-of-place in the summer sun. It’s stark reminder that just a few short months ago everything was OK, and now things have gone to hell.

It’s not just the streets that Ubisoft have modelled with intricate detail. Interior locations like the National Aeronautical Museum and the National Museum of American History look absolutely jaw-droppingly good.

The game looks stunning on PS4, but on PC the environment comes alive. The game has a day / night cycle with weather, as well, affecting visibility. It’s very easy to accidentally wander pasts a group of enemies, if you are not careful, and having all hell break loose.

The basic gameplay is identical to the first game. Players inhabit a local instance of the city, effectively a solo experience. The whole campaign game can be played this way. This is the backbone of the game. The player’s agent has arrived in Washington to aid the local population against the enemy elements vying to take over the city.

Starting with the White House as the base of operations, other settlements are unlocked as the game progresses, each with their own missions. As missions are completed, the settlements upgrade opening up new characters and opportunities.

Interactions with other players are 100% down to player choice. If you want to play on your own, you can. You can take on missions solo, or matchmake to find a team. If things get tricky, you can call for support and have other players drop into your game. Similarly, you can respond to other agents’ calls for help and join their game. This makes for a very believable multiplayer scenario that doesn’t break the game’s narrative. It’s entirely logical that Division agents would come to each other’s aid.

Even if you choose to play alone, you can still get non-player character assistance when liberating command posts. Firing the flare gun signals to the local militia that you request assistance, but at the same time alerts the enemy that they are about to be attacked. Liberated command points unlock supply rooms and fast travel points.

Main story missions radiate out from the settlements, with increasing difficulty. The map is divided up into zones corresponding to different level ranges. A low-level player chancing a shortcut though an area with higher level enemies risks certain death. Unlocking safe houses and traversing between fast travel points is the best way to quickly (and safety) get about.

The game features plenty of side missions, enemy encounters- such as disrupting executions, and SHC tech crates to collect. There’s plenty of these little jobs to do between some of the more involved missions, that make it easy to jump on for a quick go without getting tied up for too long. This is handy, as the persistent nature of the game means that there’s no pause button.

Whilst the campaign propels the story, the game is really all about obtaining and maintaining your gear and weapons as you advance your character to the current level 30 cap. Upgrading equipment and provides a satisfying sense of achievement that also alters your character’s look.

Weapons can be modded as you unlock these abilities progressing the game. Adding a reflex sight to a rifle increase accuracy in the middle distance, whilst adding an optical zoom to a sniper rifle allows for some spectacular long-distance one-shot kills. Division agencies also have a fair amount of tech available to them such as automated armed drones and automatic-targeting turrets. All this tech, like everything else can be upgraded allowing players the ability to customise their characters in the way that they want to play.

Players wanting to go up against other players will be pleased to know that there are two Dark Zones in The Division 2. In these multiplayer shared-world areas the kid gloves are off anyone and everyone, other Division agents included, may well be after you. Unlike in the last game, this time players get a tutorial, neatly disguised as an introductory recon mission.

All this would be for nought if the actual gunplay sucked. Well, it doesn’t. In fact (especially on the Nvidia RTX-powered PC version running at 144hz) the firefights are smooth, fun and very rewarding. Enemies duck for cover, flank and try to out manoeuvre you. Unlike many other games, I never once found the AI to be anything but superb. The different enemies in each faction allow for some variety. It’s even not unusual to come across two factions fighting each other. The Division 2 is all about gunfights, so it’s good that they’ve got this aspect licked.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is one of the most superb tactical shooters that I’ve played. Without a doubt, it’s the best looter-shooter I’ve experienced. The subtle way it blends a solo campaign with an optional multiplayer experience is how all multiplayer games should be.

And with a year’s worth of free content updates ahead of us and plenty of endgame activities, The Division 2 is a game that I’ll be returning to in the months ahead.

The post Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (PS4 / PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Ubisoft, in collaboration with DDB Paris and Make Me Pulse, revealed to us here at STG The Division 2 Echo Experience, a unique digital and immersive experience leveraging augmented reality and geolocation technologies, that will embark users into the world of The Division 2.

Accessible through a dedicated experience available exclusively on Messenger, The Division 2 Echo Experience allows fans to dig deeper into the game narrative. Through more than 50 different stories users will discover the everyday lives of the civilians of Washington D.C. seven months after the virus outbreak that hit New York City. Multiple Points of Interest such as grocery stores, schools, gas stations or banks, can be found in each of the cities integrating the experience. Users will be provided their location coordinates thanks to an integrated GPS. While users unlock the Echo stories they will collect rewards and in-game items that will automatically be unlocked when The Division 2 launches via the Ubisoft Club.

Led by Massive Entertainment in collaboration with seven other studios around the world, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is the next evolution in the open-world online shooter RPG genre that the first game helped establish. Set seven months after a deadly virus was released in New York City, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 will bring players into a fractured and collapsing Washington D.C.

The world is on the brink, its people living through the biggest crisis ever faced in human history. As veteran Division agents, players are the last hope against the complete fall of society as enemy factions vie for control of the city. If Washington D.C. is lost, the entire nation falls. Building upon more than two years of listening to and learnings from The Division community, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 will offer a substantial campaign that organically flows into a robust endgame, to create a cohesive and meaningful experience for all types of players.

Users can access The Division 2 Echo Experience on their mobile HERE.

The post The Echo Experience appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

During the Microsoft Xbox E3 2018 press conference, Ubisoft revealed more details about the newest iteration of one of its most critically acclaimed and best-selling franchises, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. Developed on an updated version of the Snowdrop Engine, the game will be released worldwide on March 15, 2019, on the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC.

Set seven months after a deadly virus was released in New York City, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 will bring players into a fractured and collapsing Washington D.C. The world is on the brink, its people living through the biggest crisis ever faced in human history. As veteran Division agents, players are the last hope against the complete fall of society as enemy factions vie for control of the city. If Washington DC is lost, the entire nation falls.

Led by Massive Entertainment in collaboration with seven other studios around the world, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is the next evolution in the open-world online shooter RPG genre that the first game helped establish. Building upon more than two years of listening to and learnings from The Division community, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 will offer a substantial campaign that organically flows into a robust endgame, to create a cohesive and meaningful experience for all types of players.

The post TOM CLANCY’S THE DIVISION 2 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.