From one major city to the next, another outbreak has popped up on the grid in wiping out civilization, peace, and order as we know it for the great people residing “The Nation’s Captial” to the point Washington D.C. has fallen to chaos and destruction to the gangs and mercenaries that hold national security at risk. Here is our review of Tom Clancys The Division 2.
The Outbreak & Chaos Continues…
Sometime later after the Green Virus epidemic in New York City, the aftermath of the Green Poison virus has now infected millions in Washington D.C., “Law & Order” has collapsed to the gangs and mercenary groups that hold the Nation’s Capital in a citywide stronghold and panic, all resources in the city are now in scarcity for needs of survival, and the DC-62 chemical that was supposed to be the antibody to the Green Virus has now become the newest “viral threat” that has infected the outer skirts of the city to being used in more ways than one as a biological weapon.
Now the only survivals left have taken refuge in a number of guarded settlements that separate the crazy outlaws that live for chaos and murder from the people who are wanting the streets to be cleaned up in order for the city to return back to the way it was..
Defending “The Choke” control point after taking it over in the Southwest district of D.C. in The Division 2
Within The Division 2, each city section of Washington DC is being patrolled by a number of mercenaries and gangs that want to dominate and keep the city at “Ground Zero” as much as possible.
The Hyenas are the first mentioned enemy faction in the game that is proven to be the “weakest” group and are considered ill-equipped to being unorganized from a combat standpoint where they try to overwhelm their enemies in numbers rather than using tactics the average mercenary uses in the game…instead the Hyenas are only good at snorting their own hallucinating drugs than fighting.
The Outcasts are another faction walking the streets that would one-up the Hyenas on the organizational and preparation side of it’s “disgruntled” members. The Outcasts use snipers that are armed with bow-and-arrows except they use explosive arrows to stick to their enemies and they have their own “suicide” bombers that will arm their C4 bombs strapped to their chests and rush hoping to take you to hell with them…just make sure you send them to hell only!
Other than the Hyenas and Outcasts walking the streets, the True Sons are another rough-and-tumble hostile group that are against the Division agents and SHD.
Encountering True Son reinforcements at the conclusion of the “American History Museum” campaign mission
The True Sons combine ex-military cut-outs and JTF military members into one organized mercenary group with the combat and tactical training, military technology, and self-awareness to pose a greater threat than the Hyenas and Outcasts combined to the Division agents…or so they thought.
The True Sons aren’t the only mercenary group that can dominant “The Nations Captial”…tell that to the private military contractors known as the Black Tusks (we’ll discuss more about them further down the page) which one-up the True Sons as far as fire-power to advanced warfare behind the technology they use to get what they want.
The Black Tusks increase the challenge to Division agents by implementing seeker drone technology from the air to using armored UGV’s that would distract Division agents in a firefight.
Liberating the Capital – The Division 2 Gameplay
Whether it’s walking around the East Mall district or roaming around both the Downtown East and West sides of the city, there is plenty of tasks to be done in order to fully liberate Washington D.C. in The Division 2.
Besides ambushing any enemy patrols that you come across on the streets that are convoying resources and weapons, The Division 2 gives you as the SHD agent the opportunity to dig into the game’s backstory to find clues behind the Green Virus/DC-62 attack to discovering backlogs into the leadership of each gang and from individuals as they play some role within the game.
Odessa Sawyer heads up the Theater Settlement and it’s civilian militia.
The first side ops game mode in The Division 2 is the Contaminated Zones areas in the city which were quarantine zones at one time until they became abandoned…in these side ops, you would have the opportunity to put on your P.I. cap in finding and pick up a number of “comms” that would piece together what happened in these contaminated zones from the eyes of other people. This is the only side op mode that you would not have to deal with enemy factions.
Fighting on the frontlines of taking backing territories that should belong to the cause of the rebels, you as the Division agent get the opportunity to take back any of the 30 enemy control points around the city.
However, you’ll never fight alone as you can call in reinforcements from the rebel civilians when you set off a flare that would back you up in fighting to take back these control points while providing a distraction for you to take down the Hyenas, Outcasts, or True Sons that are occupying a particular control point.
On point of donating supplies, old and outdated gear that you may have on you (old gloves, holsters, armor vests, weapons, gas masks, etc.) can be donated towards “Projects” at each of the 4 safe-zone settlements to be redeemed for additional XP rewards and for a possible weapons blueprint.
For completing each control point, you will be rewarded by having a supply room unlocked for you that will give you crafting materials, weapons, and possible weapon/gadget upgrades…make sure to open the big yellow cache box in the supply room.
The Division 2 provides a simple weapons perk system that provides a way to equip barrel, magazine, and scope attachments
Also, each control point would now be controlled by the civilian rebels/allies with a leading officer for each site at which point you can donate your supplies (components, food, and water) to keep each control point healthy for the rebels.
If you really want to carry out your duty as Washington D.C’s new Sheriff, how about nabbing some high value targets or in this case claiming the “Bounty” that has been placed a number of lieutenants or right-hand men that are under the leaders of the Hyenas, Outcasts, and True Sons.
In the bounty side-ops, you have a 15-minute time limit to get to the bounty sighting…you might want to recruit some friends in your clan to help you take down each bounty since each bounty target are Elite targets that are very tough to defeat.
At the end of each bounty, you’ll get rewarded with new gear (weapons, holsters, armor, etc.) and most importantly completing each bounty would give you an edge on upping your gear score (we’ll talk more about this down the page).
Bungling In the Dark – The Division 2 Dark Zones
Found on the corners of Washington D.C. are 3 different “Dark Zones” or DZ sectors that were formally considered temporary military bases and storage sites that tested the DC-62 chemical against the Green Poison virus; but, these sites went dark as quarantined arears and walled off sites after the DC-62 proved lethal…making each zone a contamination site requiring all Division agents who enters to wear a gas masks.
In order to use contaminated gear from the dark zones in D.C., you would have to call extraction of the gear in the Division 2.
In each of the Dark Zones around the Captial, the map of each zone must be initially scanned to determine where all extraction points are located along with where each checkpoint is located on the map that would determine exit points out of the DZ.
With a Dark Zone now available and open, it is all fair game on what you do in the Dark Zone whether it’s being a “Good Boy” in continuing your cooperation with SHD or turning into a “Bad Boy” to turning into a “Rogue Agent” that would like to put some bullets into the backs of other Division agents as a part of the PvP game environment(Player vs Player).
Some of the activities that can be done in each of the Dark Zones consists of hacking into a number of SHD terminals which would initiate the rogue protocol sequence for the particular Division agent. The more SHD terminals you hack, the higher the Thieves’ Den Triangulation percentage increases for you that would help you unlock a number of Thieves’ Dens within the Dark Zone that are just “Safe Rooms” for you to take a break or in a way find the hidden vendors that would have better weapons with specialized perks that can help out on the main map or in the Dark Zone against the AI and other rogue agents
Within the Dark Zone as well, there are number of loot boxes that can be found where you can pick up your contaminated gear and weapons that would need to be extracted from the DZ before they can be added to your inventory…just make sure not to pick the lock on these loot boxes, otherwise you will turn into a rogue agent. There are a number of Dark Zone Keys scattered around the DZ that can be used to unlock these loot boxes, so it is recommended to find these keys if you don’t want to pop up on another player’s radar as a rogue agent.
Finally, each Division agent can take part in the “Landmark” activities which would put you up against a wave of enemies depending on the difficulty level of the landmark ranging from normal to expert (normal landmarks having only 1 wave of enemies to expert pushing 3 waves of enemies against the Division agent).
Invasion of the Black Tusks in D.C…
Previously mentioned above, the Black Tusks are the most challenging faction for the Division agents around D.C. as they are not considered just an ordinary faction; but, as a more equipped and skillful group of military contractors working with the United States government that want to take control of the Nations Capital while the state is at it’s weakest with no other enemy factions in the running.
The Black Tusks only come to the Capital when you as the player complete all the campaign missions (final Level 30 mission) and strongholds within Washington D.C. As a result of completing the main campaign, each previous mission locations found from the main campaign to each stronghold and some control points in the vicinity of the strongholds would be taken back from the Black Tusks that the True Sons, Outcasts, and Hyenas failed to hold against the Division agents.
The Black Tusks can lock down a settlement after invading D.C. unless you can take over the blockade that would re-open the settlement
Since your character level and score from the campaign are not used during the Invasion missions, a “Gear Score” is used for unlocking each stronghold where you as the agent must swap in and out with different weapons that would meet the required gear score…remember that the gear score is based on the average of what you have equipped not by a single factor.
As a recommendation and tip, it would be a great idea to visit vendors to buy weapons and gear that would have a higher gear score. If not up to putting the credits into buying weapons, you can revisit any of the dark zones to find contaminated gear and weapons that could be used towards possibly increasing the gear score you have for your character (don’t forget the secret vendors that would have weapons and gear that could boost that gear score) as well as completing bounties that would permit you to picking up weapons the high-value targets drop after defeating them.
Another way of increasing the gear score can be “recalibrating” weapons and gear which can be done by using the recalibration station at the White House that would allow you to swap over individual perks from your gear that would also increase the gear score…this can be older gear that you’ve held onto that you may not want to deconstruct or sell off to the vendors.
Echoes of DC – The Division 2 Collectibles
Around Washington D.C., there are a total of 294 collectibles that can be found with the first collectible type being ECHO collectibles that reveal backstory in the form of a freeze-frame holographic cutscene grid with audio from a number of characters during or before the Green Virus epidemic happened in the city. In other ways, an ECHO can reveal additional intel about the leaders of each of the factions to intel related to learning about locations and the environment.
The Bill of Rights is one of the most important documents in American history; but, also a collectible in The Division 2
The majority of the collectibles found in D.C. are the 143 “Comm” collectibles that are walkie-talkie radios and smartphones that reveal only audio logs from each faction, general communications from the Government and the Division, communications from each of the 4 settlements, and “Dead Drop” comms that add in on the backstory to the Division 2. Some comms are easy to pickup off the ground while others require an alternate route in order to be retrieved.
On the addition to finding all the “Comm” collectibles, there are a number of “Unknown Comms” that are encrypted dialog messages that cannot be revealed until you complete all of the main campaign missions in the game…we’ll let you find out what the encrypted messages are in the game, I’m not telling!!!
Getting away from the backstory to the game, there are a number of physical collectibles in the form of artifacts and relics that tell a story of their own…that is revealing the history lesson of our “Founding Fathers” to collectible items telling the story other Americans that made their own history in the 19th Century and before that. Alongside the American artifacts and relics, the other physical collectibles to found around the city are priceless legendary artwork made from some of the world’s best artists…some artwork possibly stolen and later misplaced from the National Gallery of Art.
Personal Views about Tom Clancys: The Division 2
To be more realistic about my review of the Division 2, walking through the game felt like any other “open world” video game out there. There is always something to do around Washington D.C. whether it’s clearing out the daily bounties or choosing to go off and cause trouble in the Dark Zones with other online players by going rogue to shoot them in the back or what not.
On a side note, I did not care about the multiplayer game modes (my reason for not mentioning anything about the Conflict or Raids game modes) since I’m considered a “Solo” gamer when it comes to open-world that wants to do everything my way rather than on a team or in a clan; but, in my opinion on the same subject with the multiplayer aspects in the game…it is nice to get some random people in your co-op group to help you complete bounties and replay any of the campaign missions on a harder difficulty (especially on the Challenge difficulty) if you want better rewards.
As for how the Division 2 turned out in general, the game to me had some minor optimization problems with some bugs still present within the graphics that affect the performance of the game on the PC platform that Ubisoft really needs to address and comb out before going ahead to dive into a 3rd Division video game.
The main campaign and story of the Division 2 was straight forward and well explained; but, I felt the deal with the Black Tusks Invasion needed to be improved to add onto the Campaign further instead of creating a mini-campaign. It would have been better to see the Black Tusks Invasion…say get folded towards a bonus unlockable mission or two that has to do with the Campaign instead of having the players replay previous main missions.
The looting system in the game was state-of-the-art and how it should be to keeping needing supplies for survival in a video game that features some sort of wide-spread epidemic outbreak and the perk system within the game makes the Character upgrades scalable up and down allowing for easy customization of the weapons, gear, and environment that makes playing the Division 2 worth the time to play for hours and months down the road until another Division game releases.
