Delight and Distrust in the Dark Zone
Feb. 1, 2016Delight and Distrust in the Dark Zone
If you were one of the many to playThe Divisionclosed beta over the weekend you were on hand to experience an interesting twist on online gaming. Rather than your standard multiplayer maps with deathmatch and control type game modes, The Division’s multiplayer is a seamless integration within the entire map, known asDark Zones. Dark Zones are a wild frontier, offering promises oflootand danger at every turn. Is this a new rush for fool’s gold or is there some longevity to be had here? Having played the beta extensively over the weekend, I’m going to look at two perspectives here, squad play and solo play and see what, if anything we can extrapolate from this small slice of the game.
The Dark Zone is built for squads. A roving band of 4 organized members can become godly in the Dark Zone, working their way through the NPCenemieswith coordinated ease. These NPC encounters are challenging for a party, and the resulting boss loot drops are very rewarding. But that’s the easy part. The difficulty lies in protecting that gear now that you’ve earned it and that’s where a 4 person party shows its strength. Through a combination of complimentaryskillsandstatsan organized party can move from street to street, watching each other’s backs until extraction is possible. Should hostile players gorogueattempting to steal your loot, a full party can even the odds and easily turn the tables against rogue players and squads. If a gang of ruffians has decided to go on a grief spree, you can bring order and justice to the Wild West of Midtown Manhattan and make the city safe for looting again.
Should you decide to indulge your dark side and embody the biker attitude George Carlin described as “grimy outlaws and their sweaty mamas, full of beer and crank, rolling around on Harleys, looking for a good time” then the game more than accommodates you. Going rogue by killing other players has 5Ranksof severity, and if developer Massive didn’t want you to reach those highs (or lows) of debauchery they wouldn’t have put the ranks in the game in the first place. The risks and rewards go up the deeper down the debased hole you go, increasing the potential for rewards if you survive this status. Surviving as a Rank 5 Rogue party is as thrilling as killing a Rank 5 Rogue party. Think about that vice versa for a moment. It’s not a common occurrence. Morality is emergent in the Dark Zone, and it will be interesting to follow the conversation as the playing community develops its own mores and codes for sportsmanship. But overall, the experience is whatever you want it to be, and it can be a ton of fun.
Playing the game as a lone ranger is a vastly different experience, and introduces to the landscape a true neutral who works with people when needed. Every solo player moves with this twitchy urgency of “Who’s going to shoot me next? Can we roll together for a little? Will we turn on each other at extraction?” Solo players stand no chance against squads, and as such stand out as easy pickings. But the Dark Zone can be lucrative for the solo player who understands that paradigm and works with the system. Sticking close to buildings, never crossing into the open, using the cover dash system are all methods of traversing the city streets quietly. There is a lot going on in thecity, with debris, noise, NPCs and other players running around the numerous alleys and buildings. This means it’s possible to become a shadow, a nobody. Even as you hunt for a called in extraction, smartly advance to the spot and stay hidden in the corners and shadows until the helicopter drops its rope. Then, you make a mad dash to tie your loot and escape once again into the shadows. It’s not an easy life nor as lucrative as squads but it’s doable and provides an interesting twist on the experience.
Matchmaking is present and easy however for those who want to elevate into the more powerful echelon of loot securing and presents a wonderful opportunity for players to make new friends. Finding a group isn’t clunky or elitist and it doesn’t involve a terrible amount of waiting.
The extraction zone, in which players call in a helicopter to a set location to extract their loot out, brings all of these together. Putting it poetically, it’s a beacon of hope and danger where success hinges on timing, tactics and luck. Putting it bluntly, it’s a shitshow: Squads who call in and team up to protect their haul. Poachers who just want start to chaos and let the gear drop. Stealthy solo operatives who hide in a corner until the last possible second, then make a mad dash in to tie off their loot. Folks channeling their inner Joker, hoping to just watch the world burn. NPC enemies show up, bombs go off, players lose their minds and shoot everything that moves.
When the dust settles 5 lucky people are able to secure their loot where it is deposited into their inventory for good. It is extremely gratifying to get that contaminated equipment tied to the rope huddled around your fellow agents doing the same. We worked hard for this, to secure it from npc and human alike. You almost want to take a second and hit theapplauseemoteonce the extraction has left.
If you’re bold enough to stand still for a moment.
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Emergence
Editor at Fextralife. I look for the substantial in gaming and I try to connect video games to the emotions and stories they elicit. I love all things culture and history and have an odd fondness for the planet Jupiter. I think my dogs are pretty awesome too.
The Dark Zone brings out my inner Rogue. I love the rush of jumping some poor unsuspecting target, but not as much as what follows. Having to holding your ground against unending amounts of other players until you die or you manage to slip away and is simply addicting. My only complaint so far as that on console the controls are clunky and I’m having a difficult time adjusting. While I would much rather play on PC, I fear that the cheating that was rampant by PC players will not be fixed by Ubisoft before launch, so I’ll most likely take my lumps on PS4.
Cas
What can i say after beta about DZ ? i was always in team of 3-4 with capa, radgar or other ppl and it was a cluster f**k when rogues were fighting rogues or we were trying to hunt ppl. The best thing was killing ppl just before their extraction getting their stuff and run outside the beta zone so you get teleported to the safe zone and just w8 those 180s to get at least 400-500 DZ points. Thats how i got my 2 orange wpns at 2nd day
Damn E, you write so well! I loved the article and, having watched the streams of you guys playing, can absolutely see how you arrived at these conclusions
A wonderful synopsis of my solo Dark Zone escapades.
Around other players I was twitchy as hell usually strafing, looping around cover, hopping over things unnecessarily just to keep myself a harder target to keep track off. I often wondered why more people didn’t open fire on me for my suspicious foot work and nervous jigs.
That said running solo let me get around a lot more easily as it could slip in behind squads of Rogue Agents without them noticing to pick off one or two before they could react.
DMR + Grenades = Best combination ever for attacking high ground.
However I have to admit PvP in a ground is more enjoyable and more intense. Guarding extraction zones from Rogue Agents in a manner almost remniscent of the Darkmoon Blades was awesome.
You know what I found myself wishing for in the Dark Zone? The ability to map a specific emote to the default position on the directional pad. Something you could activate with a single click to show your friendly intentions (rather than having to hold down, select, then let go). It’s just a little thing, but with that kind of tension, I thought it would have been nice to have this on quick access.
