New information and gameplay footage of Tom Clancy’s The Division were on display at Ubisoft’s press conference at E3 today. Game Director Ryan Barnard explained the significance of The Division’s “Dark Zone,” a part of desolated Manhattan that poses greater risk for the players, but also the potential for great gains in loot. The Dark Zone puts players’ characters at greater risk of infection, and shows that absolutely anything can happen in this game, even down to the last 10 seconds of an extraction. Trusting no one – even your own teammates – and being prepared for treachery and mutiny are part and parcel of this game.
In the demo, the three co-op players we followed into the Dark Zone were soon caught between enemy AI’s and another team of players. A decision needed to be made instantly as to whether to try to cooperate with the other team, or fight everyone and go for broke. As it played out, the two teams cooperated…at first. They kill the baddies, opt to avoid other enemy AI, then head to Bryant Park (a well-depicted NY landmark) and must wait 90 seconds for extraction. In that minute and a half, alliances shifted and greed took over. The team we followed turned on the others, killing them to steal their loot. Then, in the very last seconds before extraction, one of the remaining players turns on his teammates, becoming an rogue agent, and the last one standing.
The gameplay looked smooth and the environments gorgeous and appropriately desolate. This long-awaited game promises to be full of well-earned tension and edge-of-the-seat excitement. The Division is to be released on March 8, 2016 on all platforms simultaneously.
See all of our E3 2015 coverage right here!
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