The new expansion Warlords of New York for The Division 2 will be released soon. It takes the agents back to the Big Apple. However, the game world is completely different than in Part 1. We will show you what to expect in the new area.
Wait, a new expansion? No one saw that coming. In a stream on the evening of February 11th, Massive Entertainment announced not only that Episode 3 launches on 12 February – but also the launch of the new major expansion for The Division 2 – Warlords of New York on March 3rd.
What’s included in the new expansion? Warlords of New York not only brings numerous improvements, innovations, or fresh loot to the game – it also introduces a completely new game area – New York. However, the new game world is quite different from Part 1, as many veterans may recall.
We will take a closer look at the new open world and summarize what is currently known about it.
What we know about Lower Manhattan – the new open-world area of The Division 2
What are we doing in New York? The upcoming major expansion Warlords of New York brings the agents back to Manhattan.
In short and without wanting to spoil much: Here, the mission is to take down Aaron Keener, a rogue Division agent. He is essentially the main antagonist of the Division series, who was once abandoned by the Division and left to die in the Dark Zone.
By now, he wants more than just revenge; he has developed his own bio-weapons and has also used them. This is the reason for our “excursion”.
However, in the hunt for this traitor, the agents must first get past Keener’s 4 Warlords – former agents of the first wave, who now control parts of New York for him.
Here you can watch the story trailer:
And you can learn all about Aaron Keener’s background here: The Division 2: Gameplay provides a glimpse of the hunt for Aaron Keener
This is the new open world: The new open-world area of Warlords of New York takes place in the eponymous metropolis – specifically in the area of Lower Manhattan, the southern tip of the famous district in the heart of NYC.
This is different than in The Division 2: However, even though The Division 1 was already set in New York – the new world is now quite different from Part 1:
- The first noticeable difference is – it is no longer winter. While The Division 1 took place entirely in the cold season, the agents now return to a summery, green New York, where nature is gradually reclaiming the city.
- It doesn’t return to the old game world of The Division 1, but to a completely new area. What has happened to the original areas from Part 1 is currently unknown.
- New York has been hit hard by a severe hurricane, which has flooded, devastated, or completely cut off parts of the city. This has plunged the already sealed-off and quarantined metropolis further into chaos.
- The new game world is significantly smaller than the original New York from Part 1 or Washington D.C. from the previous The Division 2.
This is how the new area is divided: The new game world Lower Manhattan is divided into 4 areas, all of which have real counterparts.
They differ not only in architecture but also in vegetation and the degree of destruction:
- Two Bridges in the northeast. In this residential area, the hurricane apparently wreaked the most havoc. The bridge to Brooklyn was completely destroyed, and an oil tanker was washed ashore, causing an oil spill.
- Financial District in the southeast. The flood also wreaked havoc around Wall Street, filling the streets between the skyscrapers with mud and water.
- Civic Center in the northwest. The former administrative and government district of New York was largely spared by the flood, but little of its former glory remains.
- Battery Park in the southwest. This area with one of the oldest parks in New York has been heavily flooded. It now resembles a swamp and is marked by rough terrain and numerous deep sinkholes created by collapsed and exposed subway tunnels.
- Whether there is possibly also a Dark Zone in the new game world is currently unknown.
This is what you can expect there: The areas are controlled by various factions that are just waiting to confront the Division.
- In Two Bridges and Battery Park, you will be dealing with the Cleaners, who burn everything that stands in their way.
- In the Financial District and Civic Center, you will encounter the Rikers – a gang of former prisoners from Rikers Island.
Additionally, in each of these 4 areas, one of the 4 Warlords is waiting for you. Therefore, the hunt for Keener will take you across the entire new game world.
But otherwise, the power dynamics are no longer as they may have been known by agents from Part 1. Much has changed. The days when the suffering population looked up at the Division and saw the agents as saviors in shiny armor are long gone.
The remaining New Yorkers are now hardened survivors, better organized, and have been fighting against the bandits for months. They now know exactly how to defend their settlements and how to handle heavy weaponry.
The emergence of new Division agents does not always bring joy and open arms. So you will not only explore a new world and hunt Keener, but you will also have to regain the trust of the population and completely rebuild the relationship.
Additionally, the feared Hunters are supposed to play a more important role in the new New York. You can already dress like one: The Division 2: Fan dream comes true – you can dress like a Hunter
What you need to keep in mind on your NY trip: What is important with the trip to New York: Once you have started the new campaign in NYC, you cannot return to Washington for the time being. This will only be possible once you have completed the campaign. After that, however, you can travel back and forth between the two open-world areas.
Check out the first gameplay from the concrete jungle of New York here:
What do you think of the new New York game world? Are you looking forward to your mission in Lower Manhattan? Or would you have preferred to have the area from Part 1 back?
