Misleading Hype
One of the downsides of Brooklyn no longer being a part of The Division’s offerings is the sudden partial deflation of the hype bubble the game had been pumping since 2013. For three years Brooklyn was used to show off just how incredibly immersive this game would be. A month ago, just a week before Christmas, Ubisoft released a live action trailer set in the very same area of Brooklyn as the first gameplay reveal.
The hype train was rolling, and everyone was getting ready to hop on as it took us into the farthest reaches of The Division’s New York. But now, shortly before the game’s highly anticipated release, that area is no more. According to the devs, it’s because they took a look at the world and realized that it must all be traversed on foot. With them looking for a direct re-creation, it would seem odd to force players to walk across the large grid as they made their way towards quest waypoints.
It’s unfortunate that this was realized now of all times, when the game’s hype is possibly at its highest as the looming Beta moved closer. Now, expectations will be shifted. The Division has always been more than its gameplay, Ubisoft made sure of that from the start when they showed off several maps, but the world has shrunk quite a bit between its initial showing to now.
