After going dark for a little while, Ubisoft's looter shooter The Division 2 has been enjoying a surge of popularity over the past couple of weeks. It began with a huge sale on the game, bringing the base price down to an astonishingly low $2.99 and the subtle tease that a big announcement was coming. That announcement turned into the Warlords of New York expansion, a major component to the game that takes players back to New York for a rematch with the first game's antagonist, Aaron Keener. Following the gameplay reveal, Ubisoft has also announced an animated tie in film.
Inside of the upcoming Division 2 expansion, players are going head to head with Keener's Warlords, four first wave rogue agents who have since joined his cause and have taken control of Lower Manhattan. Previous trailers have highlighted the four and what each one is able to do but a new animated trailer delves much deeper into how Keener was able to manipulate the four into joining his cause.
The trailer opens with the tech savvy Theo Parnell disabling an agent drone, helping James Dragov and his Rikers storm a resistance base to obtain a new strand of the virus. Keener then heads into the underground to recruit Javier Kajika by promising him revenge on the person who originally betrayed him. The final member is Vivian Conley who was given control over the Cleaners, former sanitation workers who utilize flamethrowers to burn away the virus or anything they deem to be infected by it.
In addition to the short film, Ubisoft is giving players a free weekend to experience the game before Warlords of New York officially launches. Starting on February 27 and running until March 2, players can download and play The Division 2 without a level cap or any play restrictions. Any progression made during the free weekend will also be carried over to the full game if purchased after the fact.
Alongside of the narrative focused expansion, The Division 2 is also getting a major update as well. The level cap is raising to level 40, the game will be getting a season pass with a free and premium track on it, as well as other enhancements. One of the biggest changes is the planned overhaul to the gear system in an attempt to make it more intuitive, deep, and satisfying. At higher levels, the current system just becomes difficult to understand, so the upcoming transition is an attempt to reboot all gear, add new stuff to chase, and rework the things that didn't work/didn't make much sense.
The Division 2 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Warlords of New York is set to launch on March 3rd, 2020.