At Gamescom 2018, visitors had the opportunity to test The Division 2 and get an impression. Our author Tarek, a Division veteran with over 1000 hours of playtime, was on site and had the chance to take a trip to Washington D.C. This is how the demo of The Division feels
After we had already seen the first gameplay of The Division 2 from E3, I was eager to find out how the online shooter plays. The scenes looked good and gave me hope.
That’s why I could hardly wait to test The Division 2 myself and get an impression. Now I finally got my hands on it at this year’s Gamescom and was able to try out a demo of the online shooter.
Note: This is a first impression of The Division 2. The demo only includes a minimal part of the game, and I didn’t have time to look at deeper things like inventory management in detail.
How extensive was the demo? Anyone who has already seen E3 gameplay of The Division 2 will have a rough idea of what we got to sample. The content of the Gamescom demo was pretty much identical.
In a 4-player team, we were to free a checkpoint for a group of civilians from the “True Sons.” This checkpoint happened to be the wreckage of Air Force One, the plane of the US President.
How was it played? The Xbox One X served as the test platform, so we played with a controller. That worked out well for me since I mainly played the first part on PS4. I can’t assess how the PC controls might have changed.
This is how The Division 2 controls with a controller: Anyone already familiar with the controls of the first part will feel right at home in The Division 2. The controls were as they have always been, making it easier to find your way around.
The gunplay has been revised and feels better
Fresh gunplay: All tested weapons felt similar, yet fresh. It’s difficult to describe the difference, but I see the weapon handling as a clear improvement.
The weapons I played with were slightly harder to control, which benefits the more tactical orientation of The Division 2.
Although there are still a few dumb moments, these are comparatively limited compared to The Division 1. If the factions truly differ in their tactics as announced, that could bring more variety.
Specializations expand tactical options
Specializations in testing: I was so excited about the announcement of the specializations. After the demo, I can now say: Justifiably! They have a very positive impact on gameplay and give players more options to react to certain situations.
In the demo, we had two snipers, a demolition expert with a grenade launcher, and a survival expert with a crossbow.
I was particularly curious about the Cal.50 sniper rifle. Finally, I can play as a real sniper! I was not disappointed. When the first heavily armored elite enemy appeared in our demo, my teammate and I immediately pulled out our snipers and took the brute down relatively quickly.
Our other team members could also cause quite a bit of damage with their weapons. While the grenade launcher is well suited for controlling enemy groups, the crossbow can take down enemy armor with its bolts.
To ensure that it is not too strong, Massive limits the ammunition for these weapons. During the demo, we first had to loot these from enemies.
Graphics and performance make a good impression
Graphics are cohesive: Graphically, The Division 2 makes a few steps forward. Plants, water, and player animations were pleasing to me and create a believable, atmospheric game world. The criticized running animations did not bother me while playing.
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to take a closer look at the level section of the demo. However, from my first impression, I am sure that the new setting will be designed with just as much attention to detail and variety as Manhattan.
I also did not notice any glitches regarding performance. I couldn’t spot any frame drops or graphical errors.
This is what I noticed negatively
Unreliable throwing assistance: Like in The Division 1, throwing grenades is supported by a throwing assist. The arc you throw and where the grenades will land were useful means to throw them precisely.
In the demo, this worked only in 50% of the cases, often no indicator was visible at all. This made it difficult to determine where the next grenade would land. I assume this is a bug of the demo version and will be fixed in the finished game.
Old problem returns? Compared to other weapons, the SCAR-H stood out negatively to me. The rapid-firing sniper rifle with a large magazine has the same issues as in the predecessor.
It deals relatively little damage and is still imprecise. The Division 2 would be the opportunity to upgrade this weapon class. However, we have to wait and see how other sniper rifles play.
Due to the brevity of the demo, however, the positive impressions outweigh for me.
There is definitely still plenty of room for potential errors. However, I think that these will not lie in gameplay or new features, but rather in potential balance issues, bugs, and glitches.
We will probably have to wait for the upcoming private beta.
My favorite weapon from The Division 1, the M4 light version, felt bulkier but required more finesse. Other classics like the SASG-12 or the Vector played slightly differently – but still very well.
More open terrain positively affects the combat situation
Setting allows different approaches: One of the biggest changes compared to the predecessor is the setting. Washington D.C. is much more open than Manhattan and offers new tactical possibilities.
The wide streets and open areas allowed both us and the opponents to initiate flank attacks and keep each other in check.
Since I enjoy playing with sniper rifles, this worked to my advantage. I had significantly more leeway for positioning and could take aim at opponents much better than in The Division 1.
The Division 2 could finally become a cover shooter
I was particularly pleased with the new armor bar. This is one of the main reasons why The Division 2 feels more tactical to me.
What is the armor bar? The armor is in addition to your regular health indicator and protects you to some extent from damage, but it is destroyed after not too much fire.
The armor bar can only be restored through new parts that you can attach. These replace the medi-kits known from part 1 and differ in their usage.
Anyone wanting to heal must seek cover
If I wanted to restore my armor and health points in The Division 2, I had to take cover first and hold the right control pad for a few seconds until the animation finished. That sounds initially unremarkable, but it has a significant impact on gameplay.
The times when players in PvP ran towards each other and fired at each other’s health bars just to whip out a medikit and continue shooting at near-full health points are gone. Fans, including me, have rightly asked for years: “Wasn’t this a cover shooter?”
Exactly that could finally be the case in The Division 2. My attempt to just run openly at the enemies failed quickly, and I was forced to take cover to repair my armor. This was a punishment for recklessness, and I couldn’t help but grin.
I am more than curious to see what effect the system will have on the PvP area.
Opponents follow strategies and react more intelligently
Smarter opponents: I also noticed the behavior of the enemy NPCs positively. They followed certain tactics and reacted better to our attacks.
The True Sons spread out, tried to make life difficult for us through flank attacks, and only rarely ran out into our fire.
Although there are still a few dumb moments, these are comparatively limited compared to The Division 1. If the factions truly differ in their tactics as announced, that could bring more variety.
Specializations expand tactical options
Specializations in testing: I was so excited about the announcement of the specializations. After the demo, I can now say: Justifiably! They have a very positive impact on gameplay and give players more options to react to certain situations.
In the demo, we had two snipers, a demolition expert with a grenade launcher, and a survival expert with a crossbow.
I was particularly curious about the Cal.50 sniper rifle. Finally, I can play as a real sniper! I was not disappointed. When the first heavily armored elite enemy appeared in our demo, my teammate and I immediately pulled out our snipers and took the brute down relatively quickly.
Our other team members could also cause quite a bit of damage with their weapons. While the grenade launcher is well suited for controlling enemy groups, the crossbow can take down enemy armor with its bolts.
To ensure that it is not too strong, Massive limits the ammunition for these weapons. During the demo, we first had to loot these from enemies.
Graphics and performance make a good impression
Graphics are cohesive: Graphically, The Division 2 makes a few steps forward. Plants, water, and player animations were pleasing to me and create a believable, atmospheric game world. The criticized running animations did not bother me while playing.
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to take a closer look at the level section of the demo. However, from my first impression, I am sure that the new setting will be designed with just as much attention to detail and variety as Manhattan.
I also did not notice any glitches regarding performance. I couldn’t spot any frame drops or graphical errors.
This is what I noticed negatively
Unreliable throwing assistance: Like in The Division 1, throwing grenades is supported by a throwing assist. The arc you throw and where the grenades will land were useful means to throw them precisely.
In the demo, this worked only in 50% of the cases, often no indicator was visible at all. This made it difficult to determine where the next grenade would land. I assume this is a bug of the demo version and will be fixed in the finished game.
Old problem returns? Compared to other weapons, the SCAR-H stood out negatively to me. The rapid-firing sniper rifle with a large magazine has the same issues as in the predecessor.
It deals relatively little damage and is still imprecise. The Division 2 would be the opportunity to upgrade this weapon class. However, we have to wait and see how other sniper rifles play.
Due to the brevity of the demo, however, the positive impressions outweigh for me.
There is definitely still plenty of room for potential errors. However, I think that these will not lie in gameplay or new features, but rather in potential balance issues, bugs, and glitches.
We will probably have to wait for the upcoming private beta.
