I enjoyed the first Division game that I decided back in ...whenever (I really should track when I start a game)...to just go directly into the sequel.  This division game take place partly in Washington D.C.(main game), and partly in New York (Warlords of New York expansion).  I say that I "completed" it, in quotes, because the game is still getting seasonal updated with world events that explore the lore a bit more.  I did try to get into the seasonal content but it feels really repetitive: take out one boss, get some info.  A few weeks later take out another series of bosses, get some more info, eventually taking down the big boss of the season.  While I enjoyed the game's story, not a huge fan of grinding for XP.

Story from Wikipedia:

Seven months after the Green Poison outbreak, several Division agents are defending a civilian settlement from a bandit attack when ISAC suddenly shuts down. The player Agent receives a Division distress call from Washington, D.C., as a new and larger force begins to attack the JTF's settlement. At a fellow agent's urging, they abandon the battle to travel to D.C. and help the JTF fend off an attack by the Hyenas. The Agent is briefed by Manny Ortega, the city's Division controller, who informs them of the situation in the city. Ortega instructs the Agent to work with fellow agent Alani Kelso to assist civilian settlements, liberate the city from criminal factions, and restore ISAC.

Ortega and Kelso uncover information that a cure to Green Poison might be located somewhere in the city, and that President Ellis may have survived the crash but is being held prisoner. Kelso is reluctant to waste time and resources to find Ellis, but Ortega notes his security clearance may be needed to access the cure. The Agent eventually rescues Ellis from the Hyenas. Ellis confirms that broad spectrum antivirals to cure not just Green Poison, but all viral infections, exist; however, he can only access them with a special briefcase in the Capitol, which is occupied by the True Sons. After the Agent fully restores ISAC, reconnecting Division agents across the country, Ellis vows to restore the United States, no matter the cost. The Agent, JTF, and the Civilian Militia assault the strongholds of the Hyenas, True Sons, and Outcasts, killing most of their leadership and allowing the recovery of Ellis' briefcase.

As the Agent and the Division celebrate their victory, a new faction, the technologically advanced private military company Black Tusk, invades the city. Many of D.C.'s landmarks are quickly seized and Ellis suddenly goes missing with his briefcase, forcing the Agent to head out to find Ellis and repel Black Tusk. The Agent eventually learns that Black Tusk supplied weapons to the gangs of D.C. and were responsible for sabotaging ISAC, Ellis has been working with Black Tusk all along, and that Ellis' predecessor, President Mendez, did not commit suicide as previously believed, but was assassinated by his own Secret Service detail on Black Tusk's orders. Thanks to Ellis, Black Tusk gains possession of the broad spectrum antivirals, planning to transport them out of the city. The Agent successfully raids Black Tusk's stronghold at Tidal Basin, retrieving the antivirals and preventing a missile strike on the White House, but Ellis' location remains unknown.

Downloadable content

Episode 1 – D.C. Outskirts: Expedition

Further investigation reveals that Outcast leader Emeline Shaw survived the Division's assault at the stronghold, and that she is at her new hideout at the Manning National Zoo. After fighting their way through the Zoo, the Agent manages to destroy Shaw's heavily armed monorail car and kill her.

The Agent joins a large JTF force in an attack on Camp White Oaks, a heavily wooded former presidential retreat in Maryland that has since been taken over by Black Tusk, with the objective of locating and capturing President Ellis. The main force is annihilated when the bridge they are crossing is destroyed by Black Tusk, and the remnants are overrun while trying to secure the main helipad to prevent Ellis' escape, leaving the Agent to continue the mission alone. The Agent fights through the Black Tusk forces and manages to reach the helipad too late as Ellis is evacuated by a Black Tusk helicopter, disappearing again.

The Agent later travels to Kenly College to investigate the recent disappearance of a JTF squad there. They find the Outcasts have taken over the campus and severed communications. The Agent removes the Outcasts securing stolen supplies at the College Library, infiltrates the Metro Station and water treatment facility underneath, and destroys the Outcasts' base in the Student Union building.

Episode 2 – Pentagon: The Last Castle

The Agent is sent to investigate the Pentagon after the Division detects heavy Black Tusk activity at the facility. Upon reaching the site, the Agent discovers that Black Tusk is setting up a massive drilling operation in order to access the DARPA laboratories underneath the Pentagon, which hold numerous experimental technologies. The Agent sabotages the drilling operation to delay Black Tusk before stealing data from their servers to figure out what they are after. It is revealed that Black Tusk are after a perfusion bioreactor, capable of mass producing the antivirals the Division possesses.

The Agent proceeds into the DARPA lab and finds Black Tusk attempting to smuggle the bioreactor out through the tunnel network beneath the Pentagon. The Agent is able to seize the bioreactor and transport it to a nearby helipad, eliminating the Black Tusk forces so the bioreactor can be extracted. Kelso congratulates the Agent, stating that though they do not have staff qualified to operate the bioreactor yet, they are one step closer to curing Green Poison.

Episode 3 – Coney Island: The Hunt

The Agent is sent to the ruins of Coney Island in New York City to rescue Vitaly Tchernenko, a virologist kidnapped by rogue Division agent Aaron Keener a year prior. Keener intends to hand Tchernenko over to Black Tusk at Coney Island in exchange for assistance with an unknown project. The Agent is tasked with rescuing Tchernenko to ensure his knowledge does not fall into Black Tusk's hands, and enlist his help in creating a vaccine. The Agent successfully infiltrates Black Tusk's defenses and has Tchernenko evacuated to Washington, D.C.

It becomes apparent that Keener never intended to allow Black Tusk to leave with Tchernenko, as the island comes under attack by the Cleaners, a gang of delusional pyromaniac New York City Department of Sanitation workers who were sent there by Keener. The Agent fights their way through the Cleaners and Black Tusk, but finds that Keener has escaped.

Warlords of New York expansion

The Agent and Kelso travel to New York City, answering a distress call from Faye Lau, leader of local Division operations. They find the JTF and Division's base in City Hall devastated by "Eclipse", a highly lethal variant of Green Poison created by Keener and his allies. The Agent, Kelso, Lau, and JTF leader Roy Benitez regroup at Haven, a civilian settlement run by Paul Rhodes, who reluctantly permits their presence. The settlement is under constant attack and harassment from the Cleaners and the Rikers, a group of sadistic Rikers Island escapees that now work as arms traffickers.

As Keener's whereabouts are unknown, the group goes after his four lieutenants, rogue Division agents who act as warlords in Lower Manhattan, operating from The Tombs, Two Bridges, Battery Park, and the New York Stock Exchange, respectively. The Agent eliminates the four warlords and recovers intelligence placing Keener on Liberty Island. The Agent and Kelso commandeer a ferry to Liberty Island, but are attacked by Black Tusk, who have arrived in Manhattan to attack Keener and confiscate his work. The Agent fights off Black Tusk to reach Keener inside the Statue of Liberty Museum, where they learn Keener plans to use a surface-to-surface missile to infect all of Manhattan with Eclipse, killing everyone to allow Keener's own new society to flourish. The agent successfully destroys the system and mortally wounds Keener, who activates a signal on his modified Division wristwatch before dying.

Keener's signal activates ANNA, an AI analogue to ISAC developed by Parnell to network and coordinate rogue Division agents across the country. Lau, revealed to have betrayed the Division to ally with Black Tusk, assures Black Tusk commander Bardon Schaeffer that ANNA will help them defeat the Division. Back in Haven, Rhodes and Benitez thank and congratulate the Agent, but lament Lau's betrayal. Kelso informs the Agent of a rogue agent cell activated in Washington, D.C.

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Some overall impressions: On the normal setting it felt like this game was easier than Division 1.  Maybe it's because I got used to playing this style of game and I moved right from Division 1 to Division 2. It's also probably the case that I learned a  bit more about my tech options in the first Division and I made wiser choices this time around.  It seemed like there was always enough ammo around in the environment that you didn't have to go looking for it, or taking out enemies to replenish your ammo.

Personally, I disliked that my Washington map just reset to Black Tusk after I completed cleaning it out.  While I get the story (PMC comes in and takes over the territory), I just finished cleaning the darned capital up and the good guys should have control of it! Or, at least, I felt like more of the map should have been  under friendly control points at that point.

New York was fun to revisit. I really enjoyed the Warlords of New York expansion.

I was playing this game on a busted controller.  My right analog stick was experiencing stick-drift and it was such a pain! I did make it through to the end of the game with a broken controller because  I had learned how to adjust my play style for the handicap, but as soon as the game was over, I got a new controller.  This is the first time since 2011 (when I got my first xbox) that I've experienced stick drift and it was an interesting experience,lo,.

Finally, getting SHD caches in NYC felt very assassin's creed-y. In Washington, things are just around (or so it feels) - whereas in NYC you really need to work the environment to figure out where the caches were, and how to get to the them.

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Overall

Gamerscore: 615/1420

Achievements: 28

Percentage done: 43%

Hours played:

I give this a 9/10. Fun game.  I feel like I need to go back and play some more, especially with new seasons dropping in the WON expansion. The game draws me back in for end-game stuff, even though I want to play other games.