Tom Clancy's The Division 2: Battle for Brooklyn DLC Review

Ubisoft Massive's The Division 2, released in 2019 as an open-world looter-shooter set in a post-pandemic Washington D.C., caught the attention of players for its adrenaline-fueled gunplay, a vibrant and dense world with lush vegetation, and its cooperative and PvP elements, similar to those in The Division 1. It's received several expansions and seasonal patches since, but none more greatly anticipated than Battle for Brooklyn—the series' first major DLC in over five years.

Why Brooklyn? It was the symbolic and narrative location of origin for the entire franchise. The original Division (2016) dropped players into Brooklyn's autumn as society crumbled around them, establishing tone and atmosphere. Returning to Brooklyn in 2025 is a powerful experience of complete-circle storytelling that the player base has been waiting for.

Available as a standalone DLC for $15 (or part of an Ultimate Edition for $70), Battle for Brooklyn guarantees a standalone, narrative-driven campaign featuring new missions, old enemies, and activities, but new threats. Ubisoft Massive's challenge is to evoke a nostalgic feeling, simplify gameplay, and provide something worth doing without reinventing the wheel. The result is a mixture of nostalgia and the feeling you have when you buy something you regret later.

Battle for Brooklyn centers on a pandemic and anarchy unleashed by the infamous Cleaners and the Rikers, as well as the themes of trust and betrayal. The objective of both these notorious factions remains the same: the Cleaners, fanatically devoted to "purifying" the city with fire, and the Rikers, anarchic prison inmates who feed on violence. But every story has a twist, as in Battle of Brooklyn DLC.

It is several years after the original game, with Brooklyn in disarray but again descending into mayhem. To start, you'll have to respond to a distress signal, rescue a familiar face, and discover what is causing increasing unrest. Survivors, former enemies, and bosses are encountered along the way.

One of the best things about Battle for Brooklyn DLC is that it integrates new lore with references to beloved characters and settings. For example, scientist Jessica Kandel, introduced in the base game, now plays a more prominent role with more depth and emotional impact. Mysterious Agent Hoskins reappears to offer cryptic advice and bridge old and new stories.

The story's pacing is similar to that of the original game and the Warlords of New York expansion, with straightforward objectives and a linear plotline. Missions are deeper, forcing you through Brooklyn's varied precincts—from the famous Brooklyn Heights to the Dumbo district.

You have to find the root of all evil in Battle for Brooklyn and, why the Rikers and Cleaners are causing unrest, and with whose help. The ambiance is something this DLC does well; flickering streetlights, blazing barricades, and eerie fog set players in a city on the brink.

While the narrative of Battle for Brooklyn is not entirely out of the world experience, it's well-written, coherent, and faithful to the franchise's lore, with plot twists waiting for you at the end. Narrative-driven players will surely enjoy the secret documents, ECHOS, trophies, and hunter puzzles, which add depth to world-building.

Division 2's standout feature is its third-person cover-based action shooter, which focuses on tactical positioning, team play, and character builds. Battle for Brooklyn doesn't attempt to revamp the existing foundation; instead, it preserves everything as it is and reintroduces some old and new skills and cosmetics.

Among the long-awaited returns is the Smart Cover skill of the first Division title. The skill lets you deploy an active cover that boosts defense or offense for yourself and your team when you get into cover. The return revamps combat strategy by including more active movement and teamwork.

AI has improved a bit in Battle for Brooklyn from the original game. Enemies are better coordinated, flanking and withdrawing strategically, keeping you on the edge during gunfights. The DLC adds environmental hazards in the shape of flamethrowers, gas canisters, and automated grenade launchers to test your patience and your wits. Whether working alone or as part of a team, these newly introduced obstacles will undoubtedly present fresh challenges for you.

One of the standout features in Battle for Brooklyn is the Purple Flamethrower carried by Cleaners. Unlike regular flamethrowers, it will erode armor over time and require players to avoid combat when hit by the status effect. This is similar to the Fragile Armour Directives of the base game. This increases the stake in a mission or a critical gunfight, forcing you to rethink your strategy.

You'll also find the Catalyst Exotic Mask, a DLC-exclusive Headgear to counteract the Cleaners' status effects in Battle for Brooklyn. This allows players with more complex difficulties to create diverse builds and complete many challenging missions.

Apart from the gunfights and boss battles, the DLC features side missions, hidden stashes, and environmental narratives derived from recorded logs and ECHOs. Apart from the Story missions, the Side Activities, such as Control Points, Propaganda Broadcast, Hostage, and Supply Run, are a copy-paste from the base game, which is probably a letdown.

The reintroduced Smart Cover skill and new enemy tactics keep combat engaging and tactical in Battle for Brooklyn. You'll need to manage cover, line-of-sight, and ability cooldowns effectively. The DLC reintroduces eight open-world, challenging Hunter Riddles that involves observation, logic, and combat. 

After defeating the hunters, these rewards, lore, and unique cosmetics will please completists, collectors, and detectives. Boss fights aren't tough like in the Dark Hours or Iron Horse Raids and don't require coordination, which is suitable for solo players.

In contrast to the Hunter Riddles,  puzzles in missions are straightforward and similar to the base game, Warlords, or NewYork Expansion, and don't require you to lose your mind like in a traditional puzzle-solving game. It's just the occasional finding and interaction with environmental objects to unlock doors or deactivate traps. It can be frustrating at times when you're on the clock and can't find a switch that turns off an electrified path in Battle for Brooklyn.

The overall combat and enemy types are the same as those in the base game and carry over its bugs, such as characters getting stuck between objects. Some locations and roads in the game have been reused or modified slightly from the base game, which might feel bland. 

The Battle for Brooklyn DLC offers you 6 to 10 hours of gameplay, depending on your pace. It contains nine narrative missions, of which seven are replayable. You'll also get four control points, twelve open-world side activities, and ten bounty targets in the Battle of Brooklyn DLC.

If you are a new player who has purchased the Battle for Brooklyn DLC, you'll immediately get a  Level 40 boost, giving you instant access to endgame activities without leveling up your character. This allows you to simply jump into the main content without grinding. 

The overall progression follows the traditional looter shooter system: completing missions and activities rewards gear, weapon blueprints, and points for character upgrades. Exotic equipment, such as the Catalyst Mask, provides diverse builds to counter environmental threats like the corrosive flamethrower.

If you want to get better gear in Battle for Brooklyn, playing on a harder difficulty and doing side activities like capturing control points will give you a good amount of XP, Weapons, and Gear. Leveling up your character provides extra caches with weapons, gear, mods, and points to upgrade your Keener Watch if you have the Warlords of New York DLC.

While the progression system is solid and will not require much grinding if invested only in the story, no new endgame loop or endgame raid content exists. The Battle for Brooklyn DLC focuses on a contained experience rather than an open-ended grind. This may limit replay value to some hardcore player base after the story is done.

Powered by the Snowdrop Engine, The Division 2 remains a visually impressive game even after all these years. Brooklyn is filled with rich, cinematic autumn tones—the severe oranges and reds of tree-lined roads and the gentle orange hue of street lamps piercing misty early evenings.

The lighting is also impressive in Battle for Brooklyn. The DLC effectively utilizes shadows and particle effects, such as wafting embers from burning barricades, to create an atmosphere of tension and decay. Battle for Brooklyn doesn't stretch graphical boundaries past the main game. There is no ray tracing and no significant tech improvements. 

But the artwork and level design capture Brooklyn's grime and hauntingly beautiful atmosphere, like the first division game. Sound design, on the other hand, is also a moderate to great experience. Ambient sound design—sirens, other screaming, and popping fire—brings tension and dread to Brooklyn.

Enemy audio warnings are precise in Battle for Brooklyn, like in the base game. You can hear the flamethrower hiss of the Cleaners and Rikers' desperate muttering, keeping you on the edge. The voice acting is good; returning characters bring out tension during cutscenes while searching for subtle feelings. The Dialogue is well-written and doesn't feel bland, though some side NPCs feel underdeveloped.

The Division 2: Battle for Brooklyn is not a revolutionary innovation. Instead, it's a gift to the loyal player base, celebrating the series' roots in Brooklyn. The DLC offers tense gunfights, an immersive and colorful open world, and a good story of survival, rebuilding, and betrayal.

Ubisoft Massive played it safe but smartly by keeping the gunplay mechanics, grinding as they are, and not redoing things too much in Battle for Brooklyn. The length and scope of the DLC are nicely balanced between story depth and gameplay, making it a treat for veteran players hungry for nostalgia as well as beginners seeking adventure.

The absence of new enemy types or any new unlockable items after you have completed the main story, like the Keener Watch in Warlords of New York, is a letdown, and its replayability is limited in contrast to expansion packs on a full scale. For $11, however, the DLC offers an enjoyable campaign with engaging combat, a compelling story, and a co-op experience.

If you loved The Division and The Division 2 at launch and wanted to experience the old streets of Brooklyn again with an extra, newer, shinier coat of polish, Battle for Brooklyn delivers just that, with a few twists, respecting its predecessors.