Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
Going home can be hard for a lot of reasons . Sometimes returning somewhere intimate can bring up risky memories , or a position can exchange so much that it ’s unrecognizable . Or maybe , as is the case inThe partition 2 : warlord of New York , the quondam stomping grounds have been taken over by a cell of elite operatives with weapon system training and an axe to drudge who are bent on add the city to its knees . warlord of New Yorkfeatures some of the safe missions inThe Division 2and paves the way for Modern seasonal content , but just like a hometown sojourn over the holiday , the newfangled expansion will in all likelihood remind a wad of retrogress players why they allow for in the first lieu .
warlord of New Yorktakes players back to Manhattan , the setting of the firstDivisiongame , where they ’re tasked with tracking down the game ’s antagonist - on - the - ravel , Aaron Keener . This time , he ’s gathered four lieutenants to assist himunleash a new biological weaponto contender the Green Poison that position the series in movement , and it ’s up to the Division to stop him .
interrelate : Division 2 : Everything You involve for The Warlords of New York
The big marketing stage here is the manhunt - trailing down each of Keener ’s agents on the way to the ringleader . Upon go far in New York , role player will discover their maps obscured by the “ fog of war , ” which can only be removed by hoof it through the fogged parts of the map . Between the fog of warfare and the manhunt body structure , Warlords of New Yorkat first seems like it will be about comb the urban center for clues , tardily bring out pieces of the map and conclude the snare on Keener . In practice , neither concept come to much . Despite the haze of warfare , the in - game GPS still points forthwith to the next foreign mission objective , and the manhunt does n’t playact out any differently from any other series of deputation . One nice touch is that players are capable to harness the four warlord quest crease in any order , even bouncing back and forth between them , since foe now surmount to the actor ’s storey .
With a clear destination from the start , Warlords of New Yorkis much more tightly structured than the mainDivision 2campaign . Each warlord gets four tale missions of vary length , and once they ’ve all been dealt with , a last mission to take down Keener becomes available . It does keep the independent account in focus , but also means that there ’s not much time to really research the revamp New York mathematical function or to get a sensory faculty of it as a real city full of secret and power struggle .
It ’s a shame that the urban center fade from the glare in the expansion , because the raw Manhattan mathematical function is gorgeous . It features a flock more circumscribe , claustrophobic spaces than the wide street ofThe Division ’s Midtown rig and it does lose some of that map ’s appeal with the thaw of the snow , but it still carries the series ’ panache for making rubble and garbage look beautiful . WhileThe part 2turned its attention to Washington , D.C. , rogue engineering projects by the Cleaners and a massive hurricane have reshaped part of Manhattan into virtual stone pit and swampland , respectively , do it really experience like a city under direful menace . The effort takes players to some unbelievable hardened pieces as well , including an oil - report beach that ’s awe - revolutionize in the graduated table of its ruination .
WhileWarlords of New York ’s mission social structure does n’t do anything new , the missions themselves are still great , if a bit too intimate . The boss fights are the clear centerpieces . Each one has a unique set of mechanics to contend with , and they reward coordinate teamwork to a degree that ’s not really present untilhigher - horizontal surface meeting in The Division 2 basis game .
defeat each warlord will reward the player with a new skill , in the contour of a Modern while of Division tech , and get them one step nigher to determine Keener . The Modern skills are a assorted travelling bag of offensive and justificative tool , contain a shock trap , gummy bomb , incendiary dud , and the most interesting of the bunch , a holographic lure . They ’re all fun to work around with and represent some newfangled tactical options , but none really mixes things up too much or stands far above what was already on pass .
BeforeWarlords of New York ’s expiration , there was talk about how it might regenerate the game much in the same way thatThe Taken Kingdid forDestiny 2orA Realm Reborndid forFinal Fantasy XIV . Having finished the story , it ’s hard to see any way of that bump . It ’s a good campaign , for sure , but it ’s nothingDivisionplayers have n’t seen before , and the other changes that do along with the expanding upon and its associated patch are hardly revolutionary . Gear has been totally reworked , both in the stats it carries and how the game displays those stats in the inventory , and any particularly enticing dimension can now be permanently lay in in a library to affix to other equipment . On top of that , the Dark Zone is catch a revamp to appeal more to hardcore PvP fanatic , and earning XP preceding level 40 will earn SHD point to be spend for further stat progress . These are all welcome changes , but nothing that even compare to how other sputter live games have evolve over the years .
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The bragging modification coming forThe Division 2is the increase of seasonal content . sleep together them or hate them , season whirl are now a part ofThe Division 2 , offering actor a track to earn better rewards as they gain XP throughout the season . Along with seasonal rewards , The Division 2is also get seasonal manhunts modeled after theWarlords of New Yorkcampaign . Each time of year , a cell of rogue agents will be let loose for players to hunt over the course of 12 week . It rest to be seen how successful the seasonal poser is forThe Division 2 , but it at least ascertain a unfaltering stream of young bad guys to run and shiny things to amass .
That is , after all , whatThe Division 2is all about . As much as the secret plan try out to deal itself as a serious tale of post - apocalyptical survival and black ops intrigue , its story has always been weak andWarlords of New Yorkdoes short to charge that trend . Friendly NPCs are either blank slate or cliches and the enlargement ’s closure feel even less like actual communities than those in the base game .
The only interesting new character inWarlords of New Yorkare the warlords themselves . In gameplay footing , they ’re essentially just bosses await at the remainder of each quest line , but they ’re fleshed out by a wealthiness of audio log find throughout the campaign . These recordings paint a picture of a divers group of people all brought together to aid Keener for their own reasons . In these logs , they seem to have genuinely understandable motivations for serve him , and one is explicitly being forced into his service under scourge of death for an entire community of interests . As the storey come along , it leans harder on the tension that ’s always been present inThe Division- that it ’s perfectly fair for some the great unwashed to see the titulary shadowy organization as the villain of the story . But just like the series has always done , it pulls back from make that logical conclusion at the last moment , instead painting anyone who opposes the extrajudicial secret police with a license to stamp out as conspiracy theoretician , obstructer , and villains . That it comes so close to actually landing its criticism this time and force players and their characters to actually consider whether the world would be better off without the Division only makes it more frustrating and unsatisfying when the tops bull cease up the unquestionable heroes once again .
Ongoing game likeThe Divisionultimately live or become flat on whether they ’re able to keep their actor engaged between big content drop . Warlords of New Yorkis definitely a good addition to the plot , but it does n’t volunteer much to propose that it will keep player around for more than a few week . In the lag , the fun but predictable campaign and Manhattan function makeThe Division 2 : Warlords of New Yorka worthwhile expansion , but one that might not exist up to its own pre - release hype .
Next : Division 2 : How to nail the Firewall Specialization
The Division 2 – Warlords of New Yorkis available for PC , PlayStation 4 , and Xbox One . Screen Rant was allow for with a digital PS4 copy for the purpose of this review .
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