Image: Ubisoft

Of all the big looter-shooters, I find myself most often returning to The Division 2. Despite its main story being borderline incomprehensible (bad guys want to do bad things in post-apocalyptic America because... reasons?), the combination of deep buildcrafting, satisfying gunplay, and gorgeous urban environments remains compelling. Today, the game receives its third paid expansion, Echoes of Central Park, continuing the game's growth away from Washington D.C. and back into the first game's embattled New York.

Ubisoft reckon that this is the game's second biggest expansion, coming close in scope to the original Warlords of New York expansion, and significantly larger than the surprisingly brief Battle For Brooklyn. The new playable area spans from NY's Upper West Side and down into Central Park itself, as well as some big famous locations like the Natural History Museum, where you'll probably end up destroying countless priceless dinosaur bones in your pursuit of slightly more DPS on your hot pink assault rifle.

The expansion also adds a Companions system. For the first time, you have an option between rolling solo or co-op. Your party can include one of three NPC pals, filling out the Sniper, Protector, and Assault roles. They'll help (and provide additional dialogue chatter) when going up against the enemies in the expansion, who seem to be the first properly new group of enemies since the game first launched. There's also new corrosive and gas-based variants to unlock for several skills (there's no war crimes in the apocalypse, obviously), and all the gear and loot you'd expect from a Division expansion.

Beyond the new DLC, this week sees the first phase of the crossplay update rolling out. Ubisoft reckons it'll take until the 17th for everything to be cross-platform, but the groundwork is in place for PC and console friends to finally play together. Plus, there's still some major stuff coming to The Division 2 in the near future. Back in September, Ubisoft opened registration for testing Survivors mode, a new high-stakes extraction mode inspired by the popular Survival mode of the first game, and similarly set in a transformed, harsher winter version of Washington, D.C.

This is on top of all of the big free additions the game has seen since launch, which include a bunch of extra story missions (including making all of the end-of-season finales available to anyone without FOMO concerns), a 100-floor mega-dungeon called Summit, and a roguelike challenge mode called Descent. The game also saw a recent overhaul to its endgame, allowing parts of Washington to be captured by enemy factions over time, and liberated for big rewards. All that, plus the upcoming Survivors mode, are the key reasons I keep coming back to the game. There's always something to chew on.

The Echoes of Central Park DLC is out now for £18/$20, with a more expensive Deluxe Edition which adds a small handful of cosmetic items that hardly seem worth the extra cash. You'll also need the original game, which is currently full price at £25/$30 on Steam, but significantly cheaper on GreenManGaming and Humble right now.

Alternatively, the new £60/$70 'Legendary Edition' includes all expansions, plus a bunch of extra missions and unlocks from the Year 1 Pass. For potential new players, the smart money is picking that up once the next big sale rolls around. Ubisoft likes big discounts.