Tom Clancy's The Division 2
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 is a 2019 online-only action role-playing video game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. The game, which is the sequel to Tom Clancy's The Division, is set in a near-future Washington, D.C., in the aftermath of the release of a genetically engineered virus known as "Green Poison" and follows an agent of the Strategic Homeland Division as they try to rebuild the city. Like its predecessor, The Division 2 is a third-person shooter in which the player uses weapons and gadgets to fight enemy factions. The game features elements of role-playing games and has cooperative and player-versus-player online multiplayer modes.
Massive Entertainment worked with Ubisoft Reflections, Red Storm Entertainment, and Ubisoft's studios in Annecy, Paris, Bucharest and Shanghai to create the game. The developers evaluated feedback from players of the first game and decided to have more-robust endgame content at launch. They explored other cities as the game's setting, ultimately choosing Washington, D.C., due to its diverse environments, landmarks and monuments that could be recreated. The developers were inspired by real-life disasters while creating the game's post-apocalyptic world and consulted first responders and experts in emergency management. Tom Clancy's The Division 2 was released for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One on March 15, 2019.
Critics gave Tom Clancy's The Division 2 generally favorable reviews, with most noting it as an improvement over the first installment for its setting, gameplay, visuals, combat, level design and wealth of content at launch, though its narrative received criticism. Like its predecessor, the game was a commercial success, selling over 10 million copies worldwide despite not meeting expectations at launch. The game was nominated for Best Multiplayer at the annual The Game Awards and BAFTA Game Awards. As a live service game, Ubisoft supported it with downloadable content packs and free updates, and released two expansion packs, Warlords of New York and Battle for Brooklyn. A sequel titled Tom Clancy's The Division 3 is in development.
Gameplay
The Division 2 is a cover-based third-person shooter in which up to four players can complete missions together. The game takes place in Washington, D.C., seven months after the events of its predecessor Tom Clancy's The Division, in which a civil war between survivors and villainous bands of marauders breaks out. At the beginning of the game, players create their own Division agent by customizing the character's gender and appearance. The agent is equipped with explosives like grenades as well as firearms, including assault rifles, sniper rifles and submachine guns; these weapons are classified into tiers and rarity. High-quality guns are difficult to obtain but have better weapon statistics and "talents" that help boost players' performance. Weapons can be further customized with attachments like firearm optics, iron sights and barrel attachments. The game also features a variety of gear and armor; wearing gear from the same brand gives players a small performance boost.As players complete missions, they gain loot and experience points. With sufficient XP, they level up and gain SHD Tech, a currency that is used to unlock new skills, including the deployment of gun turrets, shields and combat drones, or gaining access to weapons like seeker mines and chemical launchers. Each skill has unique mods that change its functionality. The game introduces new types of enemy, including healers and characters who shoot foam at players. During missions, players can request backup, which allows other players to join their sessions. Players can join a clan that can accommodate up to 50 players. The actions of individual clan members contribute to clan XP, which can be used to upgrade the clan for additional gameplay benefits.
Washington, D.C., is an open world for players to explore. Players can recruit non-playable characters by completing missions and providing supplies to settlements. Recruiting NPCs unlocks projects that reward players with gear, XP and blueprints for crafting. Upgrading settlements enables their expansion to include more facilities and gives players benefits such as access to their gear stash or fast travel. Discovery of a safehouse reveals the location of nearby SHD caches and additional fast travel points. Players can liberate enemies' control points and call civilian reinforcements to assist in battle, participate in world events, such as stopping public executions and capturing resource convoys, and searching for collectibles including comms, relics and Echoes. Players encounter weapon vendors who buy trinkets and unwanted gear in exchange for E-credits, the game's currency, for purchasing new weapons, crafting and appearances changes.
Dark Zones and endgame content
The Division 2 features three Dark Zones, where players defeat tough enemies for valuable and rare loot, though the loot can be taken by other players. Each Dark Zone supports up to 12 players. Upon entering a Dark Zone, players' gear become normalized to ensure all players are on equal terms. Non-contaminated loot belongs to players once it is collected but contaminated loot must be extracted by a helicopter while players defend the extraction point from artificial intelligence enemies and other players. When one player breaks into a Dark-Zone chest or steals a Dark-Zone supply drop, the player and their team will become rogue. Rogue players can attack other players in the same session to steal their loot and gain XP. Once they eliminate another player, they become "disavowed", which alerts other non-rogue players. If the disavowed rogue eliminates more players, they become a "Manhunt Rogue" and players who kill the rogue agent will receive a significant bounty. Rogue status can be removed by surviving in the Dark Zone for a period of time or accessing the Thieves' Dens and Manhunt terminals. The Dark Zone has its own progression system called DZ XP, which is earned by killing enemies and rogues, and can be used to unlock perks and gameplay advantages such as a reduced rogue timer. The Division 2 also includes a traditional competitive multiplayer mode named Conflict, which players can compete against each Skirmish, Domination and other modes. Conflict maps are set in standalone locations that are not contiguous with the main open-world map.When a player reaches level 30 and finishes the game's campaign, the game-world is divided into "world tiers", which serve as thresholds for further increasing the game's difficulty. Player levels are replaced by Gear Score, which is calculated using the statistics, attributes and talents of all of the player's weapons and armor. In the endgame, a new enemy faction named Black Tusk invades D.C. and randomly selects three previously completed missions or strongholds as operational targets, reactivating them as invaded locations. Invaded locations have tougher enemies and correspondingly better loot. By completing Invaded missions and having a sufficient Gear Score, players can liberate a stronghold to unlock the next world tier. Players can encounter 52 bosses, collectively known as the Deck of 52; each boss will drop a collectible card for players once they are defeated. Players can unlock more skills by specializing their character to a specific class. Each specialization has a signature weapon; the Survivalist uses a crossbow, the Sharpshooter wields a TAC-50 anti-materiel sniper rifle, and the Demolitionist uses a M32A1 grenade launcher. Post-launch updates introduced the Gunner, who can use a portable minigun; the Technician, who is equipped with a missile launcher; and the Firewall class, who wields a flamethrower. Players can enter Occupied Dark Zones in which weapons are no longer normalized, friendly fire is activated, AI enemies become more difficult to kill and players are no longer notified when other players turn rogue. The game features raids, which are extended combat challenges that can be completed by up to eight players,
Synopsis
Setting
In 2015, in response to the chaos and unrest caused by the outbreak of the Green Poison epidemic depicted in Tom Clancy's The Division in New York City, the United States government activated a secret contingent of domestic sleeper agents under the Strategic Homeland Division to preserve order and continuity of government. Division agents use advanced technology, have wide autonomy to deal with threats and are supplemented by the Intelligent System Analytic Computer, an advanced AI system that manages their technology and communications nationwide.By 2016, law and order have mostly collapsed after the Green Poison became a global pandemic. Most of the U.S. government's leadership is dead or missing, and the acting U.S. President Andrew Ellis is missing and feared dead after Air Force One is shot down in Washington, D.C. The city is now lawless and has been divided into territories by five factions: the White House-based Joint Task Force, consisting of police, fire and rescue, National Guard, disaster response organizations and volunteers, attempts to protect civilians and re-establish order; the Civilian Militia, a loose militia that supports the JTF and is based in settlements across the city; the Hyenas, a loose coalition of gangs, criminals and anarchists based in the District Union Arena who take advantage of the chaos for amusement and profit; the Outcasts, fanatical survivors of severe quarantines based on Roosevelt Island who seek revenge on those they deem responsible for their imprisonment and eventual infection; and the True Sons, based in the Capitol—an organized, ruthless group of disgruntled and corrupt JTF, U.S. military and paramilitary mutineers who believe order can only be restored through brutal authoritarianism.