Tom Clancy’s The Division Trailer – Update 1.2: Conflict
Ubisoft US dropped a trailer for new content yesterday for Tom Clancy’s The Division — update 1.2: Conflict.
As an avid Division player i’m naturally excited for new content, but some of these updates are giving me mixed feelings.
What we know:
- New gear sets for different set bonuses!
- New incursion featuring escaped prisoners with a surface to air-missile-launcher!
- High value target enemy bounties!
- Players can cut your extraction rope in the dark zone!
Wait, what?
One of these things is not like the other. So I get that the Dark Zone is supposed to be a risky place to score loot and have sweaty heart racing moments, I’ve been in my fair share of times (About rank 35 DZ). But this new mechanic of players being able to slash your extracted loot and take it for themselves seems a little too far. In my opinion, this will take the dark zone from a place of scoring loot and material to a grief zone. As it stands, it’s already suicidal to dive into the DZ without at least one party member as backup, even if you’re geared out. With this update, I reckon the only way to feasibly play in the dark zone will be with squads of four after chugging an energy drink and developing extrasensory powers to predict who potential gankers may be. Thematically i’ll let this slide, because a rogue agent would totally do something like that, but as for the metagame, this may hurt the longevity of casual dark zone play outside of 4-man/woman squads.
It’s not all grief, though. New gear sets look quite promising, and I personally didn’t expect them to roll out a new set with every incursion but lo and behold! High value target bounties really fit the theme of The Division , and will give players another challenge outside of incursions and challenge mode dailies which is always welcome. And the attention to detail included in this update is subtly clever, in that after general Bliss has been taken down (story spoilers?) the lack of L.M.B. organization has lead to other street gangs ruling the streets.
And speaking of incursion – the very idea that a bunch of escaped prisoners could
- Obtain a surface to air missile system, &
- Actually figure out how to use a surface to air missile launcher
baffles me to no end. But hey, we need something to shoot for. Wackiness aside, i’m particularly excited for this incursion because of how different I imagine it’ll be from Falcon Lost, the current incursion where we face off against the L.M.B. and their A.P.C.. The Rikers aren’t mercenaries like the L.M.B., they don’t rush in particular formations and come out in pairs of coordinated groups, they usually just storm in all at once with axes, shotguns, and assault rifles. Where the L.M.B was a coordinated task force, I expect the Rikers incursion to be a chaotic mess of enemies swarming around the map driving you mad, for those oh so satisfying yet stressful clutch moments of victory.
Only time will tell the success or despair this content update will bring, though. What I am sure of; I won’t be strolling around central park any time soon.
