A few years ago Void Interactive announced their desire to create a SWAT game similar to the much loved SWAT 4 and it's predecessors. Development was already underway and since, there have been a number of announcements and information releases showcasing the progress made.

However the latest, and in my opinion most exciting, piece of information to come out recently is an "Official Gameplay Trailer" from Void Interactive showing off a number of features and announces pre-order packages. Pre-order packages are pretty straight forward and break into two categories:

Standard: $39.99

- Full game

-Beta access available June 2020

Supporter: $119.99

- Full game

- Beta access available June 2020

- Alpha access available August 2019

- FBI HRT pack

- 25% discount on first expansion

- For the first 1000 pre-orders you will receive an official Ready or Not mousepad

Pretty clear and concise for anyone who has been missing the feel and play of the old SWAT games. Speaking of, I'll quickly breakdown some of the mechanics referenced in the video.

To give you an idea of what to expect, Void says the game is a blend of first person action and tactical strategy. This is something most anyone is common with if they have spent any time with Rainbow Six: Siege, or any similar style game recently. However the pace is in stark contrast to the explosive, guns blazing, shoot through walls style we are familiar with. There is a lot of emphasis on voice commands, intelligence gathering prior to entering a room, and less-lethal options to detain people and take them into custody. Not everything is about shooting and getting shot at here.

Two overall options are available to play the game, broken into cooperative mode to play with friends and take down suspects, or a PVP mode in which one element is the "Rouge Movement".

Something that really caught my ear though was the fact that it seems a lot has gone into developing at least a basic story to give these people some actual life and history. SWAT cops, beat cops, drug addicts, the drug dealers at the top of the food chain, and even children. You get to hear, see and experience all of their stories giving you some foundation for their actions and likely shaping your tactical decisions.

Void stated they have collaborated with law enforcement personnel to obtain the most authentic representation possible. In that vein you can customize personnel, weaponry, and armor itself can be customized to fit play styles. However, with bullet mapped trajectories and interactions, the right armor selection or style of teamwork can be vital to success.

A huge emphasis will be placed on using less lethal and "safe" options as opposed to just running guns blazing into every situation. Flahbangs, Tasers, sting ball grenades, pepper ball launchers, etc are all options to utilize. However, that doesn't mean every enemy will go along with your instructions, some will push the issue and force the combat. It adds to your tactical decision making skills in the moment and tests the abilities of you and your friends.

Stated in the video is the fact that each scenario in a level is "intelligently randomized" including suspect locations, traps, protection details, and more. You are provided a large set of tools to handle these situations including explosive breaching, lock picks, pole cameras, and the lethal and less lethal options listed above.

Overall, the video is just shy of eight minutes and showcases more information for the game than ever before. When you get a chance give it a look and get yourself excited for some nostalgia wrapped in a 2020 vibe!

The Division 2: March 1^st – March 4^th

The Beta Report

With the release of The Division 2 just around the corner, the much anticipated second drop into the world of “The Dollar Flu” seems set to provide players with more to do than ever before. This weekend I spent a few days getting a small taste of the game through the Open Beta and had a blast. That’s not to say there aren’t some minor issues I had with the experience but overall, I think this run trough the world of D.C. envisioned by Massive Entertainment is worth the investment.

First Impressions

If you spent any time with the closed beta dependent upon pre-orders, you’re essentially already aware of what this beta will entail. The same three main missions and five side missions exist, including the defense, clearing, and set-up of the White House as a Base of Operations to kick things off. Right off the bat the lack of snow is a little jarring after having spent so much time with The Division 1, but it’s easy to quickly settle into the lush green surroundings of D.C. in a different season. It's evident the environment is claiming its space in the area in D.C. as animals, plants, and more move in and take control again. It's actually quite refreshing to see some life around you as opposed to the concrete and steel that is New York in winter.

Right away It feels like “bullet sponginess” has been balanced in a far, far better way. This is especially true when considered against the backdrop of a statement made by Creative Director Julian Gerighty in a recent Games Radar article regarding fixes made in response to complaints. Some of these fixes include but are certainly not limited to; a lower time to down enemies, destructible armor pieces on enemies and team tactics related to that, the capability to shoot through enemies with strong enough weapons and strike enemies behind them, the weak points of dead enemies (i.e. grenade pouches) remaining persistent through the fight to draw in other enemies around them, thus using those as traps, and much more.

However the most memorable feeling I took from my time with the beta this weekend was the fact that all the mechanics mentioned above, tied together with the reduced time to defeat an enemy, really stresses an emphasis on cover based combat and team tactics far more than the Division 1. Specifically speaking, the destructible armor pieces on an enemy can be attacked creating extremely vulnerable points on said enemy that you or the whole team can focus on. That along with the increased emphasis on the cover based combat means that bullet sponginess feels like much less of an issue. That armor plating concept applies to every single enemy as well.

It truly didn’t feel like I was chipping away at an enemy until their wall of points was gone. Rather I was actively seeking to create those weak points in their armor, set up nice fields of fire, and then close in on windows of opportunity with my team based on the new mechanics implemented. It really felt like what I had been looking for in The Division 1, and I’m genuinely excited for that.

Once you clear the White House and set up your Base of Operations, you move on to the Theater Settlement. Once there you’re given a mission regarding the rescue of the daughter of the settlement leader. Once that’s completed a ton of other missions, goals, and tasks open across the map. This is where things become just a tiny bit overwhelming, so I’ll break it down into some manageable chunks.

Settlement Responsibilities

Once the main Settlement mission is complete a few things open for access to you. First is the crafting station, complete with an individual who you can recruit to assist in re-staffing an empty White House Base of Operations. Once you speak with this member they leave the settlement and are assigned to the Base of Operations for good. My guess is that everyone within a settlement that can be recruited for a specific task, be it crafting or anything else, will end up leaving that settlement and be assigned to your primary base at that White House. Unfortunately this means I couldn't access crafting at the settlement which was a little bit of a bummer, but by no means an issue. More on crafting below under the gear modifications header.

Another staff member at the settlement will be a projects officer who asks for donated gear or raw materials as well as asks you to complete specific combat based tasks in the world to help better equip the patrols and support staff throughout the settlement. That gear can be gloves, packs, armor, and raw materials like steel or anything else generated from melting items or locating the raw materials in the game world. Fulfilling these tasks can lead to blueprints, credits, experience points, special bounties, and more which is kind of a nice way to modify your kit with those simple gear and materials donations. It never really felt like a large endeavor to gather those materials and supplies to unlock the associated benefits.

Administration and “Settlement Progress” will allow you to see the overall list of tasks and goals that need to be fulfilled in order to improve the settlement. For the beta it is broken down into Resilience, Cooperation, Solidarity, and Aspiration. The only option available is the beta is Resilience and completion provides access to the crafting station as well as a few settlement upgrades that can be earned through side missions and project completion located through the projects officer. Two of the available projects in the beta right now are Hunting Party and Salvage Crew. The details of each will be provided in either your world map or at the projects officer.

Finally, once the main settlement mission is completed you also gain access to a gear vendor and your stash within the settlement.

Enemy/Friendly Control Points

All throughout the world are hostile control points which can be secured and turned into friendly control points. Upon approach to the location you can engage the first few enemies and then send a flare into the sky. This signals the surrounding NPC patrols of your current activity and diverts them to assist you in taking over the control points. The process consists of a few waves of enemies, most with standard armor and gear, one more wave with an enemy within that group with advanced armor and weapons, and a final wave consisting of a heavily armored enemy that will take a little bit of work to bring down. Success is rewarded with access to the control point's “supply room”, which houses raw material, gear, and a unique item. Taking those control points, and being rewarded as such for doing so, felt pretty great. Even if the gear ended up being useless to me it could still be traded in to the projects officer or donated as needed supplies to the control point officer now that it was friendly. Both of those options eventually lead to blueprints and gear that can be extremely helpful.

Gear Modifications

Something I found kind of cool were the gear modifications, most of which are similar to The Division based on weapon attachments, body worn gear, and basic modifications to skills and passive abilities. However something I really liked was the fact that specialized items, for instance my “Big Drum Body Armor”, have an mod slot, in this case an Offensive System Mod Slot, for additional enhancements. It also has a clearly defined and accessible “Brand Set” that shows what enhanced abilities come to life once all the pieces within the specific set of kit are equipped. And finally, not quite as exciting, a simple Dye Slot to change the look.

Once you’ve unlocked the crafting personnel, and they’ve been assigned to your Base of Operations, you unlock the ability to craft items after having obtained blueprints and/or materials for them. That crafting will naturally require raw materials acquired through D.C. or by melting gear. Finally, you can upgrade the crafting bench to craft higher quality items. However in order to do so, you will need to obtain the bench upgrade blueprint for the crafting station.

Additionally, collection of SHD Tech affords you the opportunity to unlock your skills and passive perks.

Skills and Perks

Skills and perks are broken down into the following:

- Turret

- Seeker mine

- Pulse

- Hive

- Chem launcher

- Firefly

- Drone

-Shield

Available in the beta are Turret, Seeker Mine, Chem Launcher, and Drone. Each has its own unique sub classification that can be unlocked according to the needs and style of the player. For the most part these are pretty self explanatory and if you spent any time with the first iteration of The Division, you know what to expect here. It seems though that each skill has three different variations that can be unlocked and changed as the situation requires. SHD Teach, located in the world and through missions, can be used to unlock both the skills, as well as the perks.

Conflict

Eventually you’ll open the “Conflict” tab via the main map after you’ve returned to the Base of Operations the second time. You’ll choose a playlist, begin match making, and then select a map once placed into a match. Each map has an associated game mode which can be chosen by players based on votes, and success in matches leads to rewards. However, with so many versus games out there right now, Conflict seems a bit lacking. I averaged about five minutes getting into matches and often felt bored and disinterested. Granted, it is a beta, so I’ll wait to render any true judgement down the road.

Open World

Something that grabbed my attention almost as soon as you walk out of the Base of Operations and on the way to the first settlement is the green, open, and very much alive world. Getting rid of the snow-covered streets of New York and moving further south during a much warmer season, allows for some interesting flora and fauna. That’s all well and good, but things are that much better when you realize NPCs out in the world do more than cough, ask for supplies, and shout either praise or disdain your way.

As you encounter NPC patrols, they acknowledge your existence, briefly explain what they’re doing, and invite you to tag along. Surprisingly, you can tag along and they react according. Praise, appreciation, and small quips here and there signal their awareness of the assistance you provide and add a little life and substance that was missing in The Division. I felt a little more connected to the world that is D.C. after the outbreak, even if my character never says a single word.

Something I thoroughly enjoyed was the genuine recreation of D.C. I’ve been to New York once in my life, so I can’t speak to the accuracy of the streets and buildings. However, having been to D.C. many times in my life, I absolutely loved walking the streets and seeing the FBI Building, Washington Monument, White House, and more while understanding the navigation and walking route in my head as it directly translates to the in game experience. That was a pretty cool fac that I’m sure people from New York enjoyed a few years ago, that I absolutely loved this time around.

End Game

Finally, once the main missions and side missions are complete, you'll be granted access to "End Game." This will give you a small taste of what to expect based on three end game specialties, as well as grant access to the Dark Zone east.

Final Words

To be honest, it is a beta, and there's is a lot of time left in the year for additional content, upgrades, and activities. I did have minor issues with audio cutting out when I would use a rope to scale buildings or elevator shafts. I also had one issue with friendly players "falling" through the air as they walked near me. However those moments happened only once each and hardly broke my immersion once I got beyond it.

Initially things did feel a little bit overwhelming when I began looking at how much there was to do. After about thirty minutes and some quick reading through the menus, things made sense and were much easier to digest than I initially thought they would be.

Overall I think this is shaping up to be an awesome release with plenty of content for the year ahead. I know people felt a little left out in the cold with the issues present in The Division, but I feel like Massive listened to the player base here and put some genuine effort into making this an awesome experience. There are still two full days left in the beta so if you're reading this before March 4th, run over and give it a try even if just for a few hours. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the changes made.

The open beta runs now through March 4th, with a full release set for March 15th.

Today Ubisoft unveiled their "Year One Content Trailer", signaling a desire to support the game wholeheartedly from the very beginning, building upon lessons learned from the launch of The Division. In a recent article from Press Start, an interview with Massive Entertainment's Managing Director David Polfeldt clearly shows their desire to keep the heartbeat of The Division 2 alive long after release, and goes into thorough detail showcasing lessons learned and mistakes made from the 2016 launch of the The Division.

Here are the major highlights from the Year One Trailer:

Tidal Basin Stronghold

Shortly after release day, "Tidal Basin" will be live. A faction stronghold occupied by one of the major enemies in the game, The Black Tusk. Details in the video are sparse, but the location is a partially man made reservoir between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel in D.C. With The Jefferson Memorial, Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial adjacent to the Basin, this should make for interesting scenery around the stronghold.

Operation Dark Hours

Revealed as the first ever 8 player team based raid, Operation Dark Hours appears set to show off interesting team work and communication hurdles that could yield wonderful results.

Episodes 1, 2, and 3

Beginning in the summer of 2019, with two additional releases slated for Autumn and Winter 2019, three new "Episodes" will be released through the first year. Episodes are described as free major content updates with additional narratives and missions, new PVP and PVE modes, and three new and unique specializations for players to choose from.

Episode one is titled "D.C. Outskirts: Expeditions" and takes you to the areas around D.C. with two new additional main missions.

Episode two is titled "Pentagon: The Last Castle" and has it's own narrative with new main missions requiring Agents to assault the Pentagon and find the secrets beneath it.

Episode three, not given a title, seeks to close the first chapter of the main Division 2 story line by the end of the year.

Specializations

Three new specializations will be released, each with a new and unique weapon and realted skill tree.

Year One Pass Owners

Year one pass owners will be given seven day early access to the episodes, instant access to specializations, eight classified assignments revealing more about the story behind the fall of D.C., additional base of operations projects, additional bounty targets, as well as trophies and unique customization items.

The Division 2 has a Play For Free beta accessible to everyone running March 1st to March 4th, and releases in full March 15th.

The Division 2: Year One Content Trailer