Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is on the horizon, releasing March 15th, and Ubisoft has given its fans a small taste of what is to come with the private beta. Before I get to the second iteration of the third-person action game, lets talk about the previous game.

I put in a SCARY amount of hours into the first game, with purchasing it first on Xbox and then for the PC for the would would be new “Classified Gear sets” that dropped in Summer 2017. With the inclusion of these new gear sets to grind for, Massive Entertainment allowed for fans to go back and enjoy the ridiculous grind again. Through the endless runs of daily and weekly missions, intel missions and the DZ, the time that I had spent with the first game was an absolute blast. All of the classified gear sets felt like they were worth grinding to experiment with, even though a few actually mattered in Player vs Player (PVP): Predator’s Mark, Nomad and Striker’s. The grind continued with the creation of the Upgrade Station, where players could use Division Tech to max the stats of every piece of gear and weapon they had owned. In the end, the first Division was a game that was shaped by a company that listened to their voices and created a spectacular endgame that consisted with hours and hours of content.

The Division 2 introduces several new additions: For the world of D.C there are Settlements: By collecting food, water and doing side missions, civilians will reward you with gear and experience. This part does not necessarily feel tedious because you are already running around D.C and you mite as well stray from the path and collect food, water, and other crafting materials to upgrade the settlements.

There are a few new abilities that were introduced into both betas: The Sniper turret, which is a new unlock-able turret that is commanded by the player to shoot specific targets for a ton of damage. The Chem-Launcher, which shot foam that could immobilize enemies for a few seconds or a cloud of gas that could be shot to ignite enemies. The Drone, which could be the standard drone that shoots the bad guys or the drone that heals you and your friendos.

The Dark Zone this time around is broken into three separate sections scattered around D.C. The DZ that was introduced into both betas cap at twelve people; allowing for more gun-fighting and less searching around for players.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 releases in eight days and I am excited to return to the looter shooter that I had spent hundreds of hours on years ago. The beta, from what I played was enjoyable both experiencing the game alone and with friends. There was enough of the first iteration’s best features and combined with the updates that Massive has shown, The Division 2 is geared up to be a hit come March 15th.