STORY
During the holiday season, specifically the frantic, chaotic, and overcrowded Black Friday extravaganza, a small pox pandemic spreads rapidly through the exchange of virus ridden banknotes. After 5 days with the virus spreading across the United States the government collapses – utilities start to fail and food and water becomes scarce.
You play as a member of the Strategic Homeland Division (“The Division”), who are self-sufficient, living seemingly normal lives but in fact exist beyond government command to rise up as a tactical force as a fail-safe upon complete disaster. This means that they were given the order by the President of the United States to do whatever is necessary to mitigate and prevent the demise of society in the event of a cataclysmic disaster.
The game is surrounding the experience of these agents of “The Division” who are required to combat the sprawling, dangerous packs of gangs, the effects of the virus and those responsible for its dissemination.
GAMEPLAY
The Division is an open world, third-person shooter with role playing and survival elements. It is touted as a type of massively multiplayer online (MMO) experience similar to what was expressed by Bungie with Destiny.
The world features a day and night cycle, and dynamic timed weather systems that consistently changes the layout and the approach to combat. Rain storms can impair vision and impact your ability to aim at targets, and the shroud of night or the reveal of sunlight can change the behavior of your enemies.
The game is set in an open world New York City, where you are tasked with finding the source of the virus. The gameplay is focused around teamwork and working in squads of Division agents. The player’s character can hold up to three weapons (two primaries and a secondary) with several slots for upgrades and attachments, and there are also slots for different types of equipment like explosives (smart mines and sticky bombs). The combat is tactical, involving cooperation between team members to leverage each other’s specials and strengths, using the environment’s destructibility, and taking cover behind objects.
The Division has a full progression system that involves accumulating experience points to be spent on your character for customization. You can change your character, upgrade your weapons, the size of your backpack, and choose new specials. These specials or skills are things that set you apart from your teammates and allows for tactical advantages in firefights. This includes gaining the ability to deploy a sentry turret, a radar pulse that pings enemies in the area, and healing grenades to mend instead of decimate.
Alongside the main campaign, there is a player vs. player (PvP) multiplayer mode called “The Dark Zone”. This is a truly lawless area that you can venture in alone or within a team, but regardless you’ll need to be wary of the potential for conflict from anyone in the area. Though there is risk in entering the Dark Zone, there are plenty of rewards to find when sifting through the “infected loot”. You can find some of the best and most valuable loot in the Dark Zone – high-end weapons, attachments, and equipment. The challenge is collecting what you can and avoiding or conquering combat situations until you can get extraction and permanently maintain those items in your possession.