So, I was over at my friend's house recently and he was playing this awesome-looking game called "The Division," it's based on a Tom Clancy story and it's kind of a mix between that movie The Omega Man and that Stephen King story The Stand. It looks really fun and I intend to pick up a copy in the near future and I was wondering if anybody else had played it or had any opinions to share about it?
This game has been announced for 3 years. 3 years of trailers, coverage, demonstrations, betas, and I still have no idea of what the hell it's supposed to be about, or what's supposed to be the hook that differentiates it from every other shooter out there (besides the fact that it is uncharacteristically third person, which is a plus). All I know is that if you really like hoodies, jumping jacks and can't get enough of New York as a setting for every fictional catastrophe ever, then this may be right up your alley. It is a very pretty game too.
Meh. I was excited at first, but apparently it's very multiplayer-focused and just meant to be played indefinitely to no particular goal beyond getting stuff. And at least one review said the enemies tend to be tank-ish, which is not how I like games to handle regular people getting shot by regular guns.
Oh yeah, this was a big deal-breaker for me. I watched tons of footage from the betas and I never got used to seeing human enemies get shot in the face repeatedly without so much as flinching. That was the epitome of uncanny valley, so video-gamey in the worst sense. I don't know what's supposed to be the catastrophe this time around that plunges the world into this perpetually snowy state, but I like to think of it as the Hobocalipse; something horrible happened (it doesn't matter what) that drove people away from civilization and now the city is at the mercy of a mutated strain of hooded hobos that have developed skin stronger than Kevlar. It's all very allegoric, the final boss is Gentrification.
