Ubisoft’s E3 demo left a lot to the imagination
Time will tell ifThe Division 2adequately builds on where the last game left off or if it’ll come out of the gate a little less refined than fans would hope. The loot-collecting open-world game shifts the fight against bullet-resistant bad men from New York City to a particularly ravaged Washington D.C.
My hands-on demo was not as enlightening as I would’ve liked, but then, it’s hard to showcase a big game like this in just 15 minutes. We didn’t learn anything meaningful about the story — the playable slice ofDivision 2was largely context-free — but I did fire a grenade launcher and let loose a bee-like hive of drones to do my bidding in cover-based skirmishes around the crash site of Air Force One.
The launcher was my particular character’s signature weapon; it took up its own slot, with its own special ammo dropped by enemies, and packed a satisfying punch. When you hit level 30 inThe Division 2, you’ll choose a specialization (others include sharpshooter and survivalist). Ubisoft intends for this to be a “versatile character progression system” in the endgame with new skills, mods, and talents.
It all felt fine. Just fine. you’re able to get a sense for the slice I played in this post-conference footage.
Last week, Ubisoft spoke about eight-player raids and promised “a full year of free story-driven missions, map expansions, and new game features” for the sequel.
There was also talk of “a range of PvP experiences, scalable World Tiers, and a fully redesigned and rebalanced Dark Zone,” which should hopefully keep folks nice and preoccupied with The Grind while they wait for all those free post-launch updates to roll out. I saw none of this at E3.
The marketing machine is just getting started forThe Division 2, so the answers to most of our burning questions will have to wait for a later date. It isn’t due out until July 26, 2025. Let’s hope all of the trials and tribulations from the first game make for a much-improved sequel at launch.
