In The Division 2 you will continuously be provided with what was desperately awaited in The Division 1 after launch: story.
What was The Division 1 lacking? The first installment of The Division quickly ran out of narrative content.
While you could play nearly 20 story missions right at release, no new content was released in the following months and years that could satisfy players’ thirst for new stories.
There was a lack of supply of story missions.
Story missions with unique action
That is why players wanted more story missions: In the first months after release, players criticized pretty much everything about The Division – the endgame, the Dark Zone, numerous balance issues, bugs, exploits, and glitches. However, the story missions were never criticized. In fact, it was often read on social media that the main missions were the best part of The Division.
There are several reasons for this:
- They offered a varied action experience.
- You fought against different factions, challenged their bosses, and learned more about their backgrounds.
- The Division offered an exciting setting from the very beginning, where one wanted to experience a story. How did the virus outbreak happen? Who is responsible for it? The post-apocalyptic world was intriguing.
- The story missions were cool designed with an eye for detail.
- Moreover, the story missions were spared from major criticism, as balance issues in these pure PvE contents were not as significant as in the Dark Zone.
Why was there nothing more afterwards? In the following months, Massive had their hands full fixing the problems in the game. They also worked on the Dark Zone experience for a long time. And the expansions in year 1 only delivered new endgame modes like Underground, Survival Mode, or PvP.
Already with the first Underground DLC, it was criticized that it only supplied a mode where you just eliminated enemies. While Massive advertised a high replayability, this also meant that the mode contributed nothing to the story.
With the following DLCs and years, the lack of story was not alleviated. A few new phone recordings could be discovered in the world, containing narrative content, but one waited in vain for a batch of fresh story missions.
This is how the agents reacted: As a result, there were frequent calls for Massive to finally introduce new missions.
In The Division 1, the developers could not keep up with this demand, but they are now taking this feedback into account for The Division 2.
The Division 2 will continuously advance the story
This is how The Division 2 plans to do better: Right at launch on March 15, the second installment wants to offer you a lot of story. According to a product description, the campaign is expected to take around 40 hours, which is approximately double the scope of The Division 1.
Moreover, the main campaign does not mark the end of the story. Because then a new faction appears, the Black Tusk, with which the story continues in the endgame.
New story missions will also be delivered post-launch. The free expansions in year 1 will have narrative episodes that will advance the story.
This is known about the story expansions:
- In summer 2019, the episode “D.C. Outskirts: Expeditions” will be released. In it, you will explore the surrounding areas of Washington and hunt elite members of the Outcast and Black Tusk factions. In new play areas, you will fight for the liberation of the city. 2 new story missions have been announced.
- In fall 2019, the episode “Pentagon: The Last Castle” will come. In it, you will enter the Pentagon and unveil secrets that lie in this protected labyrinth. It is said that there will be “more new main missions”.
- In winter 2019, year 1 of The Division 2 will conclude and pave the way for “more exciting content”.
Already before the first episode in the summer, two content updates will be released after the launch, where you will storm the Black Tusk stronghold and face the raid at the airport. Presumably, even these contents will be connected with narrative content.
By the way: If you own the paid year pass, you can play the narrative content earlier and even experience a bit more story than everyone else:
Big story fans can even buy a book about The Division 2. You can find out what it’s about in the link.
