I don’t know what they’re currently cooking up in Ubisoft Towers but they’re certainly up to something. With Black Flag Resynced, the re-release and glow-up of Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and now a new DLC for The Division 2 – a game that first launched back in 2019 – they seem to be plumbing the back catalogue pretty thoroughly right now. We’ve even got a Rayman remake heading our way. The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park is arguably even more of an expansion than Warlords of New York back in 2020, though, bringing some fundamental changes to the live service experience.
To begin with, there’s a new campaign. How long this will be is yet to be seen, but I played two missions that certainly weren’t set in Central Park, but rather the usual dimly-lit, smoky interior of a shopping mall and an apartment building. Shooting feels at tight as ever, though I missed my own character while using the pre-built, high level guy for the preview duration.
Although the vast majority of the open world was locked off, I did get to go toe-to-toe with the flame-throwing Cleaners, who have taken over the Central Park area after the sightings of strange new antagonists everyone refers to as “monsters” – and no, I didn’t learn what they actually are or are not in the preview build. Suffice to say that, in The Division lore, Central Park was used as a mass gravesite for victims of the Green Poison, so we’re going to a much darker, much more macabre place.
I was a little disappointed to not see any new enemies yet, and I’m not sure if there will be any added. The Cleaners are fine, but they’re more annoying than difficult, especially the bosses, whose flamethrowers can reach across an entire food court and roast you while you’re in cover.
A new endgame and open world area must also remain a mystery for now, but I did get to play alongside the new NPC companions, of which there are currently three. They each slot into an archetype and so there may be more introduced later. For now, there’s a medic, sniper and assault specialist. They come complete with their own backstories tied to missions and events within The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park, so expect some interesting narrative developments. I was a little concerned at how quickly one of them seemed to be resolving a character arc, but again, there could be more to it in the final product.
Praise has to go to Massive Entertainment for the opening mission, in which the lashing rain and tense race through the darkness of the park makes for an incredibly atmospheric intro. Once you’re through that it’s a little bit “business as usual”, but I’ve only seen a fraction so far. One thing that did irritate was the repeated voice lines of the accompanying NPCs. Overlapping issues with the dialogue will no doubt be fixed by launch, but they either need more voice lines or an adjustment to the frequency.
Ultimately the preview build was a little wonky and lacks anything that feels truly new, but the premise behind The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park and its bizarre, frightening new challenge is intriguing. The shooting feels as snappy and responsive as it ever did, and the new NPC characters look like they’ll add some much-needed emotional flavour to proceedings when the DLC launches.
The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park is coming to PC, XBOX, and PS5 on November 3rd.
