I am so amped for The Division. I will probably never enter the PvP area, the Dead Zone. But I will definitely run around helping to take back New York from some baddies. An RPG survival shooter sounds like a game that could easily chew up hours of my life, and now Ubisoft is clarifying who will be helping and hindering along the way.
In a new feature on the UbiBlog, they’ve clarified the friends and foes as follows. Obviously you’ll have a co-op team of agents with whom you can engage in scripted co-op dialogue like they do in all the Ubisoft press conferences. But you don’t have to team up with other agents if you don’t want to – you can fly solo and still not be totally alone.
The Joint Task Force consists of the National Guard, police and fire services as well as medical personnel. These are the people trying to put an end to the virus and reclaim the city. Remember in the 2013 demo how we saw players clearing out a police station so that friendlies could move in and take over? These are those friendlies.
But it’s the not-quite-usless civilians who sound like they might make the game feel most alive:
The citizens of New York City are trapped amidst all this violence and they are relying on the Agents and the JTF to help them stay safe. They bring life to the decaying city, but they also reflect the job you’re doing there. Have you successfully cleared all threats out of an area? Is the city returning to order? You’ll be able to tell in part because of how the civilians react to you. You can actually see a noticeable difference in their behavior when you’ve done your job right.
Rather than fear you like they initially do when you first come onto the scene, they will recognize you and treat you like an ally of the city. As Gerighty explains, the citizens’ reactions and the reactions of the JTF are essential for you to understand how good of a job you’re doing. So while they might not aid you directly, you are in Manhattan for the civilians, and they should never be forgotten.
I love the idea that as you do well, the city will improve, civilians will be happy to see you and you might actually see the difference that you’re making. It’s things like these that make me feel like the gameplay is actually doing something.
As for the bad guys, the latest reveal are The Rikers. These are escaped inmates from Rikers Island prison who obviously aren’t the biggest fans of the Joint Task Force. But I’m much more intrigued by The Cleaners. These are the flame throwing psychopaths who also want to reclaim the city and rid it of disease in the same way people of the internet like to deal with spiders – with fire. Attracted to areas of high contagion and extremely aggressive, these sanitation workers seem like some seriously badass villains to fight.
Last Updated: July 2, 2015
Lord Chaos
July 2, 2015 at 11:34
A MMO on U(don’t)Play…
That’s all
The Sten
July 2, 2015 at 11:38
The Cleaners……..were they not the bad guy’s henchmen in Max Payne 2? Oh the memories
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 11:46
Good memories!
Dutch Matrix
July 2, 2015 at 12:03
All 6 hours of ’em.
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 12:04
You only played it once?
Dutch Matrix
July 2, 2015 at 12:06
Yes. The sadness was strong with me. After awesomeness that was Max Payne 1, for us to be hit with Max Payne 2 and Max Payne the flick was just too much.
Lord Chaos
July 2, 2015 at 12:08
Stay away from 3.
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 12:16
It has been on my backlog for YEARS
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 12:16
We do NOT speak about that movie
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 11:46
I’m still cautiously optimistic here
Hammersteyn
July 2, 2015 at 11:54
ditto
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
July 2, 2015 at 11:46
I am rather excited to see how this pans out. Would be pretty awesome if it was worth all the hype.
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 2, 2015 at 11:47
Me too, particularly as you can play solo.
Dutch Matrix
July 2, 2015 at 11:48
What she said?
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 2, 2015 at 11:50
I wasn’t think, was thinking about something else.
Edit: In retrospect, I’m reasonably sure I meant to say “listening”, not “think”.
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 11:50
You wasn’t think?
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 2, 2015 at 11:58
I’m not as think as you drunk I am. :/
Hammersteyn
July 2, 2015 at 11:59
FINALLY, proper english
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 12:00
xD
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 12:00
[twitches]
Dutch Matrix
July 2, 2015 at 11:59
He wasn’t think he was wank.
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 2, 2015 at 11:50
BWHAHAHAHAHA proof!
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 11:51
xD
Dutch Matrix
July 2, 2015 at 11:51
Thinking about all that solo fun you would be having tonight?
#SPforLife or what was it again?
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 2, 2015 at 11:52
#foreverSP!
Dutch Matrix
July 2, 2015 at 11:54
Thanks.
Lord Chaos
July 2, 2015 at 11:55
Must be a hard life.
HairyEwok
July 2, 2015 at 12:45
*Looks at Watch Dogs now looks back at The Division* I’m holding my hype back for now.
Ir0nseraph
July 2, 2015 at 11:48
Please let 2016 be the year games live up to the hype.
Hammersteyn
July 2, 2015 at 11:54
Witcher 3 that bad?
Ir0nseraph
July 2, 2015 at 12:18
Touché , apologies beforehand if you accidently get killed by friendly fire tonight 😛
Admiral Chief's Adventure
July 2, 2015 at 12:25
xD
Hammersteyn
July 2, 2015 at 12:41
LOL I think our own guys killed us more times than the NC did, I did get a couple of revenge kills though
Ir0nseraph
July 2, 2015 at 12:43
I was forced to shoot the crazy one running around with his knife stabbing people, never bring a knife to a gun fight.
Hammersteyn
July 2, 2015 at 13:16
KILL EVERYTHING THAT MOVES
*I need ammo
Hammersteyn
July 2, 2015 at 13:16
KILL EVERYTHING THAT MOVES
*I need ammo
Nikola
July 2, 2015 at 13:33
Sounds really cool:) Excited to give this a go next year!
Deano
July 2, 2015 at 14:28
The Last ship series is pretty much the Division series.
oVg "I hate Portals" - Geralt
July 2, 2015 at 16:17
kak game 😛