Tom Clancy's The Division 2

Tom Clancy's The Division 2 is an online-only action role-playing video game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. The sequel to Tom Clancy's The Division (2016), it is set in a near-future Washington, D.C., in the aftermath of a genetically engineered virus known as "Green Poison" being released, and follows an agent of the Strategic Homeland Division as they try to rebuild the city. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on March 15, 2019.
It received generally favorable reviews from critics, with most noting it as an improvement over the first installment for its setting, gameplay, visuals, combat and soundtrack, though the endgame content polarised critics. Like its predecessor, it was a commercial success, selling over 10 million copies worldwide despite not meeting expectations at launch.
A spinoff, Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland, is in development.
Gameplay
Played from a third-person perspective, The Division 2 is a cover-based third-person shooter with up to four players being able to complete missions together. The game takes place in Washington, D.C., seven months after its predecessor, in which a civil war between survivors and villainous bands of marauders breaks out. In the beginning of the game, players create their own Division agent by customizing the character's gender and appearance. In the game, players are equipped with different firearms, including assault rifles, sniper rifles and submachine guns, and explosives like grenades to defeat enemies. These weapons are classified into different tiers and rarity. High-quality guns are difficult to obtain, but they have better weapon stats and "talents" that further help boost players' performance. The weapon stats include the following 7 domains: Damage, Rounds Per Minute, Magazine Size, Accuracy, Stability, Reload Time, and Damage Drop Off. These weapons can be further customized with different attachments like firearm optics, iron sights and barrel attachments. The game 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 (XP). With sufficient XP, they level up and gain SHD Tech, a currency to unlock new skills. These skills include deploying gun turrets, shields and combat drones, or gaining access to weapons like seeker mines and chem launchers. Each skill has unique mods that change its functionality. The game introduces new enemy types, including healers and characters that shoot foam at players. Players can request backup during missions, which allows other players to join their sessions. Players can join a clan, which can accommodate up to 50 players. The actions of individual members of a clan 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 different settlements. Recruiting them unlocks new features, including projects, which are fetch quests that reward players with gear, XP, and blueprints for crafting, which can be accessed in the base of operation, the White House. Upgrading settlements enables their expansion to include more facilities and gives players gameplay benefits such as access to their gear stash or fast travel. Another way to fast travel is to use the safehouses players have discovered. Discovering a safehouse reveals the location of nearby SHD caches, which can be used to unlock new perks that further enhance players' combat performance as well as granting advantages such as XP bonuses. 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 different collectibles including comms, relics and artifacts, and Echoes. Players encounter different weapon vendors, which buy trinkets (unusable "junk" items that players collect), and unwanted gear in exchange for E-credits, the game's currency, which can used to purchase new weapons, crafting and appearances changes.
The Division 2 features three Dark Zones, each of which supports up to 12 players. Dark Zones are areas in which players defeat tough enemies for valuable and rare loot, though the loot can be taken by other players. Upon entering a Dark Zone, players' gear become normalized to ensure that all players are in a level playing field. Non-contaminated loot belongs to players once collected, but contaminated loot must first be extracted by a helicopter while players defend the extraction point from AI 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're designated a "Manhunt Rogue"; 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 (for rogues) and Manhunt terminals (for Manhunt rogues). The Dark Zone has its own progression system, DZ XP, which are earned by killing enemies and rogues, and can be used to unlock perks and gameplay advantages such as a reduced rogue timer.
When a player reaches level 30 and finishes the game's campaign, the game-world is divided into "world tiers," which serve as different chapters and thresholds for further increasing the game's difficulty. Levels are replaced by Gear Score, which is calculated based on the stats, attributes, and talents of all the weapons and armor players have. In the endgame, a new enemy faction named Black Tusk invades DC via a large hovercraft, and randomly selects three previously completed missions or strongholds as operational targets, which reactivate as "invaded" locations., which feature tougher enemies and correspondingly better loot. By completing Invaded missions and having sufficient Gear Score, players can liberate a stronghold, which then unlocks 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 to collect once they are defeated. When players reach the endgame, they can unlock more skills by specializing their character to a specific class: the Sharpshooter, the Demolitionist, and the Survivalist. Each specialization has its own signature weapon; a Survivalist with a crossbow, a Sharpshooter with a TAC-50 anti-materiel sniper rifle, and a Demolitionist with a M32A1 grenade launcher. 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 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 in New York City, the United States government activated a secret contingent of domestic sleeper agents under the Strategic Homeland Division (SHD; or "the Division") to preserve order and continuity of government. Division agents leverage advanced technology and wide autonomy to deal with threats as they see fit, and are supplemented by the Intelligent System Analytic Computer (ISAC), an advanced AI system that manages their technology and communications nationwide.
However, by 2016, the Green Poison has sparked a global pandemic, and most sense of law and order has collapsed. Most of the federal government's leadership is dead or missing, including Acting U.S. President Andrew Ellis, feared missing or dead after Air Force One crash-landed in Washington, D.C. The city itself is now lawless and has been divided into territories across five factions: the Joint Task Force (JTF), a combined task force of police, fire and rescue, National Guard, disaster response organizations, and volunteers that attempts to protect civilians and reestablish order, based in the White House; the Civilian Militia, a loose militia that supports the JTF, based in settlements across the city; the Hyenas, a loose coalition of gangs, criminals, and anarchists taking advantage of the chaos for amusement and profit, based in the District Union Arena; the Outcasts, fanatical survivors of severe quarantines that seek revenge on those they deem responsible for their imprisonment and eventual infection, based on Roosevelt Island; and the True Sons, an organized and ruthless group of disgruntled and corrupt JTF, U.S. military, and paramilitary mutineers who believe order can only be restored through brutal authoritarianism, based in the Capitol.
Plot
Seven months after the Green Poison outbreak, several Division agents are defending a civilian settlement from a bandit attack when ISAC suddenly shuts down. The player Agent receives a Division distress call from Washington, D.C., as a new and larger force begins to attack the JTF's settlement. At a fellow agent's urging, they abandon the battle to travel to D.C. and help the JTF fend off an attack by the Hyenas. The Agent is briefed by Manny Ortega, the city's Division controller, who informs them of the situation in the city. Ortega instructs the Agent to work with fellow agent Alani Kelso to assist civilian settlements, liberate the city from criminal factions, and restore ISAC.
Ortega and Kelso uncover information that a cure to Green Poison might be located somewhere in the city, and that President Ellis may have survived the crash but is being held prisoner. Kelso is reluctant to waste time and resources to find Ellis, but Ortega notes his security clearance may be needed to access the cure. The Agent eventually rescues Ellis from the Hyenas. Ellis confirms that broad spectrum antivirals to cure not just Green Poison, but all viral infections, exist; however, he can only access them with a special briefcase in the Capitol, which is occupied by the True Sons. After the Agent fully restores ISAC, reconnecting Division agents across the country, Ellis vows to restore the United States, no matter the cost. The Agent, JTF, and the Civilian Militia assault the strongholds of the Hyenas, True Sons, and Outcasts, killing most of their leadership and allowing the recovery of Ellis' briefcase.
As the Agent and the Division celebrate their victory, a new faction, the technologically advanced private military company Black Tusk, invades the city. Many of D.C.'s landmarks are quickly seized and Ellis suddenly goes missing with his briefcase, forcing the Agent to head out to find Ellis and repel Black Tusk. The Agent eventually learns that Black Tusk supplied weapons to the gangs of D.C. and were responsible for sabotaging ISAC, Ellis has been working with Black Tusk all along, and that Ellis' predecessor, President Mendez, did not commit suicide as previously believed, but was assassinated by his own Secret Service detail on Black Tusk's orders. Thanks to Ellis, Black Tusk gains possession of the broad spectrum antivirals, planning to transport them out of the city. The Agent successfully raids Black Tusk's stronghold at Tidal Basin, retrieving the antivirals and preventing a missile strike on the White House, but Ellis' location remains unknown.
Downloadable content
Episode 1 – D.C. Outskirts: Expedition
Further investigation reveals that Outcast leader Emeline Shaw survived the Division's assault at the stronghold, and that she is at her new hideout at the Manning National Zoo. After fighting their way through the Zoo, the Agent manages to destroy Shaw's heavily armed monorail car and kill her.
The Agent joins a large JTF force in an attack on Camp White Oaks, a heavily wooded former presidential retreat in Maryland that has since been taken over by Black Tusk, with the objective of locating and capturing President Ellis. The main force is annihilated when the bridge they are crossing is destroyed by Black Tusk, and the remnants are overrun while trying to secure the main helipad to prevent Ellis' escape, leaving the Agent to continue the mission alone. The Agent fights through the Black Tusk forces and manages to reach the helipad too late as Ellis is evacuated by a Black Tusk helicopter, disappearing again.
The Agent later travels to Kenly College to investigate the recent disappearance of a JTF squad there. They find the Outcasts have taken over the campus and severed communications. The Agent removes the Outcasts securing stolen supplies at the College Library, infiltrates the Metro Station and water treatment facility underneath, and destroys the Outcasts' base in the Student Union building.
Episode 2 – Pentagon: The Last Castle
The Agent is sent to investigate the Pentagon after the Division detects heavy Black Tusk activity at the facility. Upon reaching the site, the Agent discovers that Black Tusk is setting up a massive drilling operation in order to access the DARPA laboratories underneath the Pentagon, which hold numerous experimental technologies. The Agent sabotages the drilling operation to delay Black Tusk before stealing data from their servers to figure out what they are after. It is revealed that Black Tusk are after a perfusion bioreactor, capable of mass producing the antivirals the Division possesses.
The Agent proceeds into the DARPA lab and finds Black Tusk attempting to smuggle the bioreactor out through the tunnel network beneath the Pentagon. The Agent is able to seize the bioreactor and transport it to a nearby helipad, eliminating the Black Tusk forces so the bioreactor can be extracted. Kelso congratulates the Agent, stating that though they do not have staff qualified to operate the bioreactor yet, they are one step closer to curing Green Poison.
Episode 3 – Coney Island: The Hunt
The Agent is sent to the ruins of Coney Island in New York City to rescue Vitaly Tchernenko, a virologist kidnapped by rogue Division agent Aaron Keener a year prior. Keener intends to hand Tchernenko over to Black Tusk at Coney Island in exchange for assistance with an unknown project. The Agent is tasked with rescuing Tchernenko to ensure his knowledge does not fall into Black Tusk's hands, and enlist his help in creating a vaccine. The Agent successfully infiltrates Black Tusk's defenses and has Tchernenko evacuated to Washington, D.C.
It becomes apparent that Keener never intended to allow Black Tusk to leave with Tchernenko, as the island comes under attack by the Cleaners, a gang of delusional pyromaniac New York City Department of Sanitation workers who were sent there by Keener. The Agent fights their way through the Cleaners and Black Tusk, but finds that Keener has escaped.
Warlords of New York expansion
The Agent and Kelso travel to New York City, answering a distress call from Faye Lau, leader of local Division operations. They find the JTF and Division's base in City Hall devastated by "Eclipse", a highly-lethal variant of Green Poison created by Keener and his allies. The Agent, Kelso, Lau, and JTF leader Roy Benitez regroup at Haven, a civilian settlement run by Paul Rhodes, who reluctantly permits their presence. The settlement is under constant attack and harassment from the Cleaners and the Rikers, a group of sadistic Rikers Island escapees that now work as arms traffickers.
As Keener's whereabouts are unknown, the group goes after his four lieutenants, rogue Division agents who act as warlords in Lower Manhattan, operating from The Tombs, Two Bridges, Battery Park, and the New York Stock Exchange, respectively. The Agent eliminates the four warlords and recovers intelligence placing Keener on Liberty Island. The Agent and Kelso commandeer a ferry to Liberty Island, but are attacked by Black Tusk, who have arrived in Manhattan to attack Keener and confiscate his work. The Agent fights off Black Tusk to reach Keener inside the Statue of Liberty Museum, where they learn Keener plans to use a surface-to-surface missile to infect all of Manhattan with Eclipse, killing everyone to allow Keener's own new society to flourish. The agent successfully destroys the system and mortally wounds Keener, who activates a signal on his modified Division wristwatch before dying.
Keener's signal activates ANNA, an AI analogue to ISAC developed by Parnell to network and coordinate rogue Division agents across the country. Lau, revealed to have betrayed the Division to ally with Black Tusk, assures Black Tusk commander Bardon Schaeffer that ANNA will help them defeat the Division. Back in Haven, Rhodes and Benitez thank and congratulate the Agent, but lament Lau's betrayal. Kelso informs the Agent of a rogue agent cell activated in Washington, D.C.
Manhunt
The Agent returns to Washington, D.C., to defeat the four rogue cells, led by Molly "Jupiter" Henderson, tasked with attacking D.C.; Carter "Hornet" Leroux, tasked with creating more Eclipse; Bardon Schaeffer, commander of Black Tusk forces in D.C.; and Faye Lau, who plans to meet with President Ellis. As the Agent goes after the rogue cells, they are pursued by a mysterious Hunter, but they manage to kill Henderson and Leroux and capture Schaeffer. After killing Lau's subordinates, the Agent attempts to intercept her as she meets with Ellis; however, she kills Ellis and is in turn killed by the Agent, who learns she joined Black Tusk to assassinate Ellis and overthrow the U.S. government.
After Lau is killed, the Agent sets out to stop a new threat from the True Sons, who have reorganized under the leadership of General Peter Anderson and Captain Fredrick Lewis. After killing Lewis's lieutenants, the Agent teams up with him to defeat an attacking Black Tusk force. Kelso eventually decrypts Lau's files, revealing Lau and Schaeffer both betrayed Black Tusk and attempted to warn the Division of an even bigger threat headed by Black Tusk founder Natalya Sokolova and Secretary of Homeland Security Calvin McManus. Lewis warns Ortega that General Anderson has allied the True Sons with Black Tusk and offers to defect with his faction to the Division's side. After killing some Black Tusk officials sent to secure the alliance, the True Sons capture Lewis, and the Agent is sent to a nuclear power plant to rescue him. The mission is successful, but Anderson escapes with Black Tusk.
Sokolova soon sets up a ruse, creating false intelligence of being in possession of a dirty bomb, forcing the Agent into a trap, while The Black Tusk attacks the White House. During the attack, Black Tusk reacquire the bioreactor and kill Lewis, but fail to get Schaeffer. Despite the loss, Sokolova retaliates against Ortega and the Division by capturing civilians, including Ortega's pregnant wife Mari Singh. The Agent rescues the captured civilians, and eventually Mari as well. After being reunited with Mari, Ortega questions why Sokolova would abduct her. Mari states it was to pressure Ortega into capitulating to Sokolova, hand over the White House, and install Black Tusk as the "rightful military force". Ortega suggests giving into Sokolova's demands, which Wally and Mari both strongly oppose, insisting it will not end well and the only way forward is to fight. Mari and Wall depart, leaving Ortega standing alone before departing as well. A Black Tusk drone overhead is shown recording the entire interaction with Sokolova watching.
Development
The game was developed by Massive Entertainment. Evaluating the feedback from players regarding the first game, Massive Entertainment planned to include more game content at launch and improve the endgame. The game's endgame development was prioritized by Massive Entertainment after hearing players' complaints from the first game. The developers said the game's main campaign would take around 40 hours to complete, making it twice as long as the original game.
The game was announced on March 9, 2018, by Ubisoft, with the first gameplay footage being premiered at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 in June 2018. At the Expo, Ubisoft confirmed that the game would be released on March 15, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. A private beta was launched prior to the game's release, starting on February 7, 2019 and ending four days later on February 11. After the game's release, three episodes of downloadable content, which add new story content and gameplay modes, would be released for all players for free.
To set The Division 2 apart from the first game in the series, Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft spent part of the development process revamping the game's weapons based on player feedback. The development team also spent a great deal of time reworking the game's mod system, alongside class specializations. In an interview, director Mathias Karlson said that the development team wanted the game's rendition of Washington, D.C., to "feel as realistic as possible", and that architectural accuracy and realistic weapon sounds played a large role in their efforts. He said the team hired and used a number of professional military technical advisors to help them recreate Washington, D.C., and key sections of the game.
An expansion, Warlords of New York, was announced by Ubisoft on February 11, 2020, with a release date of March 3, 2020. Warlords of New York features new story and exploration activities in the ruins of Lower Manhattan. The narrative focus of the expansion is the Agent's hunt for rogue Division agent Aaron Keener, after the Episode 3 downloadable content.
The game, including all expansions to date, launched on Stadia on March 17, 2020. The Stadia version shares cross-platform play with Microsoft Windows users along with shared progression between those platforms. The game was also released for Amazon Luna on November 23, 2020.
Ubisoft released a new game mode named "The Summit" on September 22, 2020. In this mode, up to four players work as a team and ascend a 100-story skyscraper, combating increasingly difficult enemy forces.
On January 21, 2021, Capcom announced that they were working with Ubisoft on a The Division 2 collaboration with the Resident Evil series, which consists of Leon's RPD uniform from the Resident Evil 2 remake, S.T.A.R.S. uniforms used by Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers, and HUNK's U.S.S. uniform. Leon's Resident Evil 4 jacket and Claire's Resident Evil 2 clothes are also available. The event is available to players who completed the Warlords of New York event.
On February 2, 2021, Ubisoft released an update that would allow the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S to run the game at 60 frames per second while maintaining a 4K resolution.
Reception
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Destructoid praised the game for its tight, satisfying gameplay, summarizing its review with: "Impressive effort with a few noticeable problems holding it back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash." In its 9/10 review, Game Informer wrote that "Thrilling combat, a great loot loop, and a strong endgame elevate this Tom Clancy shooter to new heights."
PC Gamer gave it a score of 82/100, calling it a "packed, rewarding, and frequently thrilling looter shooter that should have a bright future." In its 4.5/5 review, GamesRadar+ wrote: "The Division 2 is a seriously accomplished looter-shooter, with a gameplay loop that keeps on giving, and an endgame that will keep you playing for months (or years) to come." GameSpot praised the world design, reward system and variation of enemies, giving the game a 9/10. IGN gave the game a rating of 8.5/10. They praised the "wonderful recreation of Washington, D.C." and were impressed by the gunplay and loot systems which were well thought out and offered player choice. Although the endgame was thought "disappointing", this was considered likely a "temporary problem" and overall the game was said to be "one of the strongest launches the genre has seen yet."
Sales
The Division 2 was the UK's best-selling game the week it was released, although its sales figures were 20% of the original game's launch-week sales. In Japan, approximately 63,817 physical units for PlayStation 4 were sold during its launch week becoming the number one selling game of any format. The game topped the PS4 download charts.
The game's sales on consoles failed to meet Ubisoft's expectations, with Ubisoft citing increased competition in the genre as a factor leading to the game's disappointing performance. Ubisoft added that the sales on PC were similar to that of the first game. The game sold more than 10 million copies during the eighth generation of video game consoles.
It was revealed during testimony in the Epic Games v. Apple antitrust lawsuit that, between 9–11 May, 70–90% of the online transactions for the game's download were fraudulent, as scammers were using stolen credit card numbers to buy Ubisoft games in the Epic Games Store, which prompted a "profuse" email apology from Epic CEO Tim Sweeny to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. "Fraud rates for other Epic games store titles are under 2% and Fortnite is under 1%. So 70% fraud was an extraordinary situation."
Awards
Future
Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland, a free-to-play spin-off, has been under development since 2020.
Tom Clancy's The Division Resurgence, a free-to-play game for Android and iOS will be released in the future.
On September 22, 2023, Ubisoft announced that Division 3 is in development with Julian Gerighty appointed as the game's executive producer.
Notes
References
External links
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