The Division is an online, open-world RPG where you explore the once-familiar streets and landmarks of the Big Apple, now decimated by looting and overrun by clans that will do anything to survive.As we've touched on previously, Tom Clancy's The Division takes place in a postapocalyptic New York City that has been laid to waste by a viral terror attack. For my demo at E3 2015, I was able to get a taste of the multiplayer component, which has players venturing into the Dark Zone in search of the best gear — but it also puts them at odds with anyone else in the area.
Starting off, the representative guiding our squad ensured that we were familiar with the controls. It was pretty standard third-person shooter stuff, with a few marked differences. Pressing the A button lets you take cover, but while behind cover, you can look at other cover and press and hold the same button to quickly move to it. Additionally, we each had a pair of skills activated by the bumper buttons. The skills include sticky bombs that can be remotely detonated, seeker mines that roll to the nearest target, automated turrets, and pulse to detect enemies through walls.
As we clambered over a multi-story wall that separated the areas, we entered the Dark Zone, which is a seamless transition from the campaign mode and into the multiplayer mode. We made our way down a city street, and as we did so, we had to dispatch some AI thugs that were congregating in our path. Once we dropped them, we found that they were guarding some loot in the form of an awesome M60 and some new body armor. Unfortunately, these items were contaminated with the virus, so they couldn't be used until we evacuated and decontaminated them. That, however, is easier said than done.
Apparently, there is a way to be the good guys and just evacuate, but that didn't describe our squad. We quickly went rogue, shooting upon our fellow demo participants in the other squads in an attempt to steal their loot while also waiting for our evac. If the person who called the evac for the squad gets killed, the evac is canceled. Even when it arrives, the evac isn't an automatic win because the squad needs to reach it and touch the rope.
It was only a taste of the gameplay that the final game will offer, but The Division has some interesting mechanics. The seamless transition into multiplayer was impressive, as was the ensuing firefight that it brought. However, a lot remains to be seen regarding the rest of the game, so with any luck, we'll find out a lot more about it.
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