The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park Review – Scary and Satisfying

The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park has been fun, for the most part. Much of that comes down to its story, but it also comes down to how the expansion handles its new premise and the unique vibe it brings to the table.

It’s evident from the moment you get dropped off in the area: a distress call from Veer Corp’s CEO, Miranda Veer, is the catalyst for the adventure. Entering Central Park immediately shows you that something’s gone badly wrong, with the game’s new horror vibe lending the atmosphere a certain chill almost immediately.

"The story’s narrator is among my favorite touches in this new chapter. She comes in at just the right moments, setting the scene with some commentary that you begin to notice has a few gaps."

The bodies of Black Tusk operatives are strewn about, many of them showing signs of a gruesome death at the hands of a vicious, bloodthirsty creature whose roars punctuate those early moments from time to time, adding to the tension and dark tone that the expansion takes on.

It’s also evident in the way Central Park is presented to you in that introductory mission, which sees you carving a way through Black Tusk’s forces to get to a fellow Agent and provide some backup. Obviously, that doesn’t end well, and there begins the mystery of the narrative.

The story’s narrator is among my favorite touches in this new chapter. She comes in at just the right moments, setting the scene with some commentary that you begin to notice has a few gaps. It’s intended to make you question her motives, but if you’re diligent in hunting down as many snippets about the situation as you can find while you explore each location, it isn’t too hard to deduce her identity.

That kind of ruined the twist that the expansion’s writers clearly intended it to be, but it was an interesting layer to the story nonetheless. Equally interesting is how Black Tusk and the Cleaners factor into the story, their presence serving to move things forward in interesting ways while allowing the expansion to take you to different locations around Central Park and the Upper West Side.

Of course, each of those locations houses either the Cleaners or Black Tusk, resulting in missions where you’re investigating the overarching mystery while also trying to sabotage each faction’s plans for the area. You’re helped along in your efforts by one of the three new companions the game introduces you to, and they’re a mixed bag.

" The expansion does well to up the ante for even seasoned players, giving its enemies armor that you find yourself chipping away at before you can tear through them with the powerful new weapons you pick up."

My favorite of the three was Brayleigh Callahan, a sniper whose gruff demeanour doesn’t get in the way of his prodigious skill at taking down targets with ruthless efficiency. He doesn’t really behave like a sniper when in the field, often getting up close and personal with enemies and even getting in my own line of fire from time to time, but his utility certainly helped in battles that felt like they were skewed in favor of the opposition for me, as long as it was just me and Brayleigh in the fray.

There’s a case to be made for Morse Feeney’s Grenade Launcher and its capability for offensive devastation, but Elwood’s medic abilities made him a liability in the field thanks to how hard your enemies hit you in this one (more on that shortly). I quickly decided to stick to Brayleigh, though, and found myself calling for backup more often than not despite his presence at my side.

That’s because the expansion does well to up the ante for even seasoned players, giving its enemies armor that you find yourself chipping away at before you can tear through them with the powerful new weapons you pick up. There’s a reason the game throws in boosters to get you to level 40 before you dive in, as the challenge is there for those of you who’d like to seek it out.

I did just that, and I’m glad I did. While it’s quite easy to find Agents to help you out, bringing in a team with coordination and a clear strategy is going to be a lot better than just calling in strangers and having them clear the field for you. It’s effective, yes, and some of my fellow Agents really deserve some kind of reward for how quickly they were able to clear the field of any foes. But as someone who prefers to fly solo for the most part, I can tell you that it’s an approach that can get the old adrenaline flowing way faster.

Your enemies don’t hold back, and even the rank and file of each faction are credible enough of a threat to be taken seriously. Of course, the bosses that the game introduces are the epitome of that challenge, each bringing something new to the table to contend with. I’m not going to forget facing a guy who set himself on fire before unleashing deadly AoE attacks, or another one who brought in not one but three Wardogs, each of which had to be disabled before I could even get in any damage.

" The Ratel, the new Exotic one that was added to the game, is an endgame reward that could have, and perhaps should have, been tied to one of the story missions instead."

I was all for those mechanics, as they lent each fight its unique flavor and gave me opportunities to test out the new skills that were added to the expansion. Of them, the Corrosive Trap proved most useful as a means to chip away at the massive health pools these bosses came with, but each of the new additions does have a lot of utility for those of you looking for something new to add to your builds.

Those massive health pools were a problem, though. They made each battle feel unnecessarily tedious, dragging out the confrontation to the point where the challenge felt artificial. I get what the developers were trying to do, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few adjustments being made to that part of these encounters at some point.

Thankfully, the new weapons you get to pick up as you make your way through the expansion’s story are powerful enough to make them feel worth it, and you get a selection of them early enough to make them feel quite useful. However, the Ratel, the new Exotic one that was added to the game, is an endgame reward that could have, and perhaps should have, been tied to one of the story missions instead.

It’s quite powerful thanks to a stacking damage buff that can really help with wearing down bosses and against the endgame Guardians you fight. I can’t get into the identities of those Guardians for the sake of avoiding potential spoilers, but they’re tied to the story well enough to make them feel relevant, while being so much of a challenge that it could be a while before you defeat them and finally claim the Ratel and the new Apex Protocol gear set that does very well to complement its damage. Both additions would have been excellent in the expansion, and it’s a shame you don’t get to use them against those bosses I’ve spoken about.

The mission and level design, however, is a different story altogether. I’m a fan of how each main mission felt like an elaborate trek through hostile territory with enough variation and story content in each one to keep you moving from one area to the next, clearing out waves of enemies while disabling key infrastructure crucial to their plans. It did run the risk of becoming a tad repetitive, but with the story being as interesting as it is, I’d say Echoes of Central Park manages to pull through quite well overall.

With that being said, I wish the story had more of the restrictions that the endgame content brings on, such as disabling your GPS, as it could have helped add a sense of uncertainty and foreboding to the entire tale. Alas, that wasn’t the case, and that’s a shame since the way things are structured in the survival mode that comes on makes for a very compelling set of fights against enemies that feel almost superpowered.

"Central Park is obviously the highlight here, thanks to how it’s been used as a mass grave, and with brutalized enemies there to give you a grim reminder that Black Tusk and the Cleaners are the last of your problems in the area."

With five of them in play, and a tiered approach to taking each one down before the true challenge presents itself, is one of my favorite parts of the whole thing. Those fights were frantic, and often felt like I didn’t have control of the situation thanks to how the gameplay loop was switched up to have me on the defensive. I’d recommend bringing your buddies along and taking them on with a clear strategy in mind, and I don’t say that lightly.

The visuals, lighting, and sound are a big part of that. They lend a creepy vibe to places that need it, and lend a sense of desolation and neglect to areas that aren’t being terrorized by the monsters you’re looking for. Central Park is obviously the highlight here, thanks to how it’s been used as a mass grave, and with brutalized enemies there to give you a grim reminder that Black Tusk and the Cleaners are the last of your problems in the area.

The same can’t be said for the Upper West Side, though, as its streets are reminiscent of everything else you’ve seen in the rest of The Division 2. Thankfully, there were no performance issues to hold back the expansion, and my connection was more or less stable for the most part, which isn’t too much of a surprise thanks to how well the game has held up over the years.

With some excellent production values backing it up, Echoes of Central Park manages to capture your attention right off the bat and hold it over the 5-6 hours it might take for you to clear all of what it has to offer. That time was significantly longer for me since I attempted several of its encounters with only my companion at my side for the added challenge, along with searching quite thoroughly for every piece of lore I could track down to learn more about the story.

However, the more seasoned veterans among you could blaze a path through it all significantly faster, and that includes the endgame challenges you’ll need to get your hands on the new Exotics. I can see many of us returning to Central Park to replay the endgame challenges, although your mileage is going to vary depending on how much you enjoy the content.

With all of the expansion’s strengths and weaknesses now laid out, it’s time to tackle the all-important question: is this one worth your time? I’d say yes. The pacing, gameplay, and the rewards you get from it are sure to make you have a whale of a good time even beyond the borders of its new map. It’s also quite entertaining, and you can’t go wrong with giving it a shot.

This game was reviewed on PC.