The last time we were playing, we were going up against a bunch of city workers who had gone rogue
who are now calling themselves The Cleaners
who have taken it upon themselves to build napalm.
and run around town lighting things and people on fire.
And that is the first of our conservative boogeymen that we run into: city employees
doing their jobs the way they feel it should be done.
The most problematic--  [gun shots]  (NPC: "We've got some shooters!")
The most problematic antagonists that you come across, though
are rioters, but here we've got Cleaners
Oh, there's rioters.
I can tell that they're evil because my gun lights them up in red.
Otherwise, they just might look like...
young men who are just trying to survive in the chaos.
Ah. We found some rioters feuding with some Cleaners.
In a whole evil little ecosystem.
So how can you tell a "rioter" besides pointing your gun at "it"?
You can tell a rioter because they look young
Mostly male
They wear hoodies.
You don't actually get a good look at them because if
if they had faces you could make it then it would be a lot like you were just shooting people.
The reason so many video games these days
have you fighting the supernatural
or waves after waves of zombies
is because there is no political problem
with killing... evil and supernatural things.
They avoid a lot of the problems that this game runs right into.
(NPC: "Oh, yeah, this is the good stuff.")
See? Look at this.
Two young men
wearing hoodies
they are frisking a body on the ground.
Now I'm to understand from context that they must have done some violence to this body
but considering how many bodies are scattered all over this city
What makes this body any different? I can't tell...
without having talked to them, that they've definitely been the perpetrators
that they're not-- Maybe they're trying to help this guy!
But no, my gun says they are level 11
and they're rioters
And sure, why wouldn't they pull a gun the moment that I shoot at them?
I am a goddamn maniac.
(NPC: "Get the loser. Wrong part of town, bitch!")
(NPC: "Got a trespasser. Throw 'em out!  Yo, what the fuck is that?")
And of course there's fun future tech like
self-guided turrets
'Cause what's the fun of trying to save an entire disease-ridden city
where there's no law, if you don't also get really fun toys to play with.
It's snowing.
This town would be really pretty if people weren't shooting at each other all the time.
And I am contributing to that.
The story is...
all the bits that I've played already
and that you may have missed
is, there was a huge disease outbreak
a flu-like disease that swept through on... Black Friday?
So... lotta people touching infected money.
It's kinda TWELVE MONKEYS-style
The idea is that somebody probably made this disease
and we're all dealing with the fallout now
The name of the game, THE DIVISION
is... a group of...
on-demand... vigilante-style agents
of which I am one
who wear these fancy, special, high-tech, Dick Tracy-style wristwatches
that only go off in case of extreme emergency
and essentially recruit you, and say "Hey, there's a huge disaster going on and we need you to come in."
But not serve in any sort of a formal
military role or not as a civil servant who has
to, you know, answer to the public
or not open fire on people from a half block away
Nope, I get to be judge, jury, and executioner, as well as
presumably other Division agents, who are out roaming the city.
I have a magic bit of tech
that tells me who the evil people are
So, these are Cleaners.
Guys who run around with flamethrowers, and...
try and burn... people that they suspect of being infected with the disease that's ruined the city.
And they're all dressed like city employees.
Pretty messed up.
So, let's see. All the right wing
bugbears are represented
The id of the conservative
You end up fighting presumably minorities who are rioting
You fight city employees who are burning people alive
Every once in a while you feel good because you can give an energy bar
in exchange for a nice new top. There we go.
There are bands called... there's a band called the Rikers
who are all escaped convicts, convicts are very scary
It's okay to shoot them.
And... maybe more? I think that's all I've run into so far.
(NPC 1: "Hey, do you think we could get those guys to help us?"  NPC 2: "Are you crazy?")
(NPC 2: "Have you seen the things they do? They're murderers!")
(NPC 1: "Well it's not exactly like we have a choice. We can't keep doing this on our own.")
(NPC 2: "Sure we can! There's always a way! We stay hidden. Use our heads.")
Actually, I-- I have a suggestion for where you could go, I know a safe place
But, my protagonist doesn't have a voice?
And, I don't have any dialogue options to point you that way
You're, in fact, just decoration to show that things are desperate
so that I continue to feel justified when I enact violence
So, sorry, can't give YOU medicine, or food, or point you towards the home base that I've helped to build
(Annoyed NPC: "Finger off the trigger, I'm just passing through.")
(laughter)  Yeah, treat me like the jerk I am.
