In The Division 2, the enemies curse and swear. In shootouts, they insult the players. Our author Schuhmann says: At first, I flinched, but now it somehow motivates me.
This is how I remember it: I spent about 70 hours with The Division 1, and even then, the enemies would always yell something during shootouts.
Most of the time, I mentally filtered it out, as I had to focus on blowing something up.
The only line from the battles that I can still remember was: “They got Alex!” Due to a bug, this was shouted so often that you thought everyone in a hoodie was automatically named Alex.
It belonged to the mysteries from The Division 1.
What did you just call me?!
This is how it is now: Even in The Division 2, I was fully focused and only paid attention on the side to what the enemies were shouting at me.
But at some point, I noticed that the guys I was taking down were constantly insulting me! What a cheek.
There I am sitting in the planetarium, and one yells, “Fuck you, Division!” – Hello, is this still okay?
I knew that Ubisoft wants to make the enemies “meaner” this time, but I was still a bit surprised.
Then I started writing down when and how I got insulted.
These are the insults so far:
- A True Son, whom I am friendly attacking with a machine gun, yells to his buddy “Keep that pig away from me!”
- When someone opens fire on me, he bellows “Eat shit!”
- After I was killed by a hyena, he proudly tells his friends, “One less bastard.”
- And I could swear someone yelled “Die, you pig” once.
Colleague Grothaus told me he plays as a woman in The Division 2 and has been called “Bitch” multiple times.
I find it difficult to pin down these insults – I even turned on full subtitles to see all the comments, but in the game they are just side notes while doing something else.
Listening is worth it in The Division 2
This is my current view: Since then, I’ve started paying more attention to the enemies’ comments. They do more than just insult me.
I now see them as a live commentary during a football match, where I have the ball.
- When I heal myself, one shouts at me: “Hey, don’t mess up my work.”
- If I move toward someone, it suddenly says: “That’s too close for me!”
Additionally, it seems the enemies’ statements also reflect their personality and contribute to the “storytelling through the environment” that The Division excels at.
Nowadays, the insults even motivate me a bit. They add to the immersion of the world, and hey … if a guy takes out nine of my friends, I might also give him an animal name.
What has been the best insult you’ve heard in The Division 2 so far?
However, The Division 2 also has another side:
