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The Division 2 is finally delving into the depths of one of New York City’s most iconic locations, and Echoes of Central Park promises a darker, more horror-tinged twist on Ubisoft’s now seven-year-old looter shooter. I recently had the chance to run through a couple of missions in the upcoming DLC, and by all accounts it’s very much The Division 2 in full force, layering new narrative beats onto well-worn combat. Whether that sounds appealing to you or not will depend entirely on your history with the game to date.
My demo build drops me right into the heart of the action, fighting through the heavily forested areas of the park in by-the-book The Division 2 fashion, before a rather unsettling discovery sees me quickly whisked away to the safety of The Tower. This acts as the hub zone for the new expansion, from which we’ll be branching out across the Upper West side and Central Park itself. I get to meet three new companions: Olympian sniper Brayleigh Callahan, former mall cop Elwood Franklin, and ex-Division agent Morse Feeney.
Ubisoft is quite keen for me not to tell you too much about any of the big story beats in Echoes of Central Park, and I think that’s the right move, because aside from the overhauled endgame it’s the thing that’s most likely to be the main appeal. The promise is a more unsettling tone, with a threat you don’t have a clear grasp on, and that’s certainly present. The Division 2 has never shied away from setting up disturbing situations, but I certainly walked in on a few scenes that left me wondering exactly what I was going up against.
Such a limitation on what I can discuss does put me in a strange quandary, however, because outside of the story stuff Echoes of Central Park feels extremely familiar. Both missions take me into large building networks – one by entering through an underground parking garage, the other via the flooded basement of an apartment complex. There are the usual miniature puzzles, where you must find an emergency door release, turn a valve to lower the water level, or activate sprinklers to clear a fire.
As each of the missions progressed, I found myself rappelling through disused elevator shafts, and pausing in hallways to avail myself of the conveniently laid-out resupply crates that are perhaps more ominous than any distant scream or pounding gunfire could ever be. I came across legions of patrolling enemy forces that I methodically cleared out, and I entered seemingly empty locations only for the hordes to quickly start flooding in a few moments later. It’s The Division 2 beat for beat, exactly as you know it.
To be clear, I enjoyed all of this – I like playing The Division 2, and this is very much more of that. Popping Cleaner tanks and watching them explode, or carefully picking at the legs of shield users to get them to drop their guard, remains as satisfying as it ever was. Remove the radio chatter and pickups laying out the new story beats, however, and I would be quite willing to believe these were missions from the base game that I somehow skipped during my original playthrough. That’s perhaps an issue exacerbated by the nature of the demo, where I didn’t have as much of the overarching story to drive me along, but there was nothing here that truly surprised me.
The same holds true for the conclusion to each mission. I won’t spoil the final encounters other than to say that they’re the kinds of the tanky named enemies you’d expect, and that I started to wonder if I was going to actually be able to overcome one of them after my second failed attempt. Running solo, it required some serious enemy juggling, regular repositioning, and a little assistance from my NPC companion, although I was using the most entry-level of the three prebuilt loadouts provided to me. That made the sense of victory all the sweeter, however, and if you’re still playing The Division 2 in 2026 you’ll probably feel the same.
I can’t help but think of 2023’s Descent, the roguelike-inspired mode where each run starts you with a fresh set of randomly selected gear and perks. That was an experience that pulled me back in as someone who had dropped off playing, because it felt unlike anything else in the game up to that point. Echoes of Central Park is absolutely not that, but perhaps that’s fine. It’s The Division 2 you know and love, with a new narrative hook to pull you along, and at this point in the game’s life cycle that’s probably what the community will appreciate most.
With that said, you might also be enticed by the six extra skill variants, or the promise of an enhanced, highly replayable endgame that lets you turn “from prey to predator.” I didn’t get the chance to test this out, but I’m told the level of challenge here continues to ramp the longer you stay in the park, allowing you to push your builds to their limits. Finally, there is one more reason to return – Ubisoft has confirmed that The Division 2 crossplay will officially open its doors in November, shortly after the launch of Echoes of Central Park. Full details on that rollout will arrive in the coming weeks.
The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park launches on Tuesday November 3. If you’re still actively playing and enjoying The Division 2, then picking this up seems like a natural move. For those who have had their fill and stepped away, I’m not convinced you’ll be enticed back unless you’re a real lorehound, although you will get access to a level-40 boost with your purchase if you want to get right into the new stuff.
If you’ve still never played The Division 2 and are feeling like now’s a good time to start, you’re in luck, because there’s also a trial starting right now. The Division 2 free weekend runs from Thursday September 24 until Monday September 28. Alongside it, Ubisoft is kicking off an event called Red Moon Rising that’s approachable for new players and has some exotic gear up for grabs. Combine that with heavy sales across the base game and its past DLC, and you’ll be well equipped to keep going if you like what you find.
