Tom Clancy’s The Division Hands-On (w/ Gameplay Capture)

I remember seeing my first look at Tom Clancy’s The Division at last year’s E3. I’m not a follower of the Rainbow Six series, nor am I a fan of co-op games since that usually leads to great graphics but limited exploration to the world. Think: Destiny or Titanfall. Yet, The Division looked more like a traditional single-player adventure. The environment of post apocalyptic New York looked dense, the need to trudge forward palpable. I was sold.

Ubisoft invited the press to experience a few hoursof the game as its upcoming March release date looms large. We’d be playing on teams of three: one would be an Ubisoft mate while the other two was yours truly and a fellow member of the press. A few hours later, and I became really excited about playing the full game in six weeks.

Before we got to play the game, we were shown a 30-minute live-action short film that takes place in the world of The Division. Agent Origins was developed by YouTubers: RocketJump, Corridor Digital, and Devinsuptertramp<. Though the budget was bigger than a normal for a YouTube video, the feel of it still felt loose and somewhat out of control. Storywise, we follow a small of group of sleeper agents that get activated while protecting their normal civilian friends.

The backstory, as in these short films that will be streaming on Amazon Prime and YouTube, follows four agents as a plague of smallpox is spread by infected money on Black Friday… thus wiping out the population of New York City. The agents are tasked with taking down baddies and restoring order. No one in the films (or the game) have any kind of superpowers—they’re more like end-of-the-world super-soldiers.

Throughout there’s a lot of fast cutting and outrageous sound design. Most of the time though, I kept thinking what this would be like if they had just hired Shaun of the Dead’s director Edgar Wright. That’s clearly the vibe Ubisoft was going for. Still, as a primer for setting up the world of The Division it works fine. Particularly, for getting viewers used to the importance of the color orange. A lot of the tech is that color, as is the title of the game. All in all, it was just long enough that I was engaged even if, in reality, this short film lacked any semblance of characters that actually engaged me. Another thought: had this been one long computer-generated intro I might have liked it more. The acting, while completely serviceable, never rises above a Dr. Pepper commercial.

As for the gameplay, the following footage was captured by me on the Lexington Event Centre level. And hey, you can even see me unlock the “Natural Talent” achievement, so yay for that.

From the moment I did a quick character selection, picking a female medic with a default loadout that included an assault rifle and pistol, I knew I was going to be more engaged with The Division than Destiny. There was no Phantasy Star Online hub necessary as I made my choices via an onscreen hub like so many games post-Dead Space. From there I walked outside of a military tent and looked at the world of midtown Manhattan. As I stood there waiting for my Ubisoft guide, and another player to catch up, I had a weird sense of déjà vu. I was suddenly back to those first moments in The Last of Us when Joel and Tess took a stroll to a border check, walking by a heavily-armed military presence—except now, I was a part of that army. Like I said, weird.

The game is an open world that looks like GTA, but is closer in spirit to Ubisoft’s own Assassin’s Creed in that while you can change quests and keep playing without too many load times, the vibe of the city feels tailored to your choices. In GTA, the world of San Andreas feels like it exists whether or not you’re playing. This feels more like a highly-detailed sandbox waiting for you to engage bad guys, save good ones and so forth. It’s a slight difference, I know, but anyone who’s played Watch Dogs will know what I mean. From what I experienced, there isn’t much going on beyond shootouts and occasionally helping some random people. Still, the overcast look and snowy streets was catnip for someone like yours truly who grew up with ridiculously cold weather in Chicago.

The start of the campaign has you choosing between three main story goals. After that, according to the Ubisoft rep, the city is completely open. I don’t want to give too much away in terms of spoilers, but I chose to save a doctor. Completion of this mission led to her developing a medical center in our main base of operations. This allowed me to use any skill points I had acquired into leveling up healing abilities. If you were developing the gear section, you’d be getting better tech for armor and weapons. And so forth. The cool part, in theory, is that unlike a traditional RPG you are not stuck with only focusing your skills toward one thing. You could change things up to focus on a different section of the base on the fly.

This is sort of where that color-coding comes into play. Working on medic-related missions means players follow any green highlighted ones. It’s not a coincidence that, like most games, anytime you use any kind of health items the color green is everywhere. As I was a medic, I could drop my health packs on the floor during battle and any of my fellow teammates would be aided if they were in the “green zone.” Essentially, it’s like when you toss a grenade in Metal Gear and you see the radius of the explosion. Same deal.

Having the medical wing up and running means you can then use skill points toward upgrading the facility too. At this early in the game it appeared that maintenance was thankfully, not an issue like in Phantom Pain. Fingers crossed no microtransactions will be needed to keep my various departments in good standing.

Tom Clancy’s The Division is looking to be the kind of game I can play solo or, if I wanted, with others, although while I did play with two other people, I didn’t interact with them that much. Still, I look forward to the final game when it releases March 8th.