Day ?? – A Diary Divided: The Division

What follows is a chronological order of events that take place in a series, written by an Agent within The Division who shall remain anonymous. He shares his nickname at the end of each entry, so that his friends and family will recognize, that they may keep up to date with his journey. The entries are date stamped the day they are received, which may not reflect the day they were written, as some entries may cover multiple days. They are posted as they come in, unaltered.

04-17-16

DAY ??

I don’t know what day it is, how long I’ve been here, or if this nightmare will ever end. The gangs are just getting stronger. Day turns into night and night into day in a haze. Most days I don’t even leave my apartment unless I need to stock up on food.

One of the last missions I remember taking part in was scanning medical containers on the rooftops, and now I’m starting to wonder if all these trips into heavily contaminated areas are starting to have an effect on my health, or maybe my memory. I haven’t felt sick, but the doctor said that we wouldn’t see  symptoms immediately. Maybe I’ve contracted a different strain of the virus. Who knows. 

I did want to check in today and explain the delay in my recent letters deliveries. A couple weeks ago we got the call to take out the Cleaners Headquarters. They’ve held themselves up in some sort of Power Plant or Napalm Plant along the river. The place was huge and inside housed numerous propane and gas tanks that were supplying the cleaners. ARCHITECT and PIKEY joined me to clear out the Plant and destroy the tanks. The plan therein would limit the number of Cleaners on the streets as they were burning a lot of the buildings down.

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The mission went smooth enough with the help of ARCHITECT and PIKEY but my Chromebook was destroyed when my backpack got torched. I snagged it on some scaffolding in the construction site that flanked the Plant, and that’s where we came across the first wave of enemies. I’ve since gotten a new pack from HQ but lost my means to write letters. Most of the city has been looted, so it took me a week or so to find another Notebook that was halfway decent and compact enough to lug along with me. I also lost my USB drive, but after scouring a few PC shops in the heavily destroyed mall, I was able to locate another. So we’re back up and running at least.

I’ve since parted ways with ARCHITECT, and I haven’t seen PIKEY in ages. Hopefully he didn’t die. The Divisions crew has been hurting for new members, so losing any is a big blow. I did meet up with a new Division member who goes by ILLESTRADER. Hopefully by teaming up we can survive longer.

I split up with ARCHITECT because I felt his mind was starting to go the way of the Cleaners. Everyone we came across was an enemy. Even the dogs in the streets. He would just shoot them, without mercy. And more oft than not he’s been spending time in the Dark Zone which is where we’ve lost a lot of agents. It’s essentially a huge quarantined area with tall walls. This is where the outbreak hit heaviest, and no one is supposed to enter. Think Chernobyl. There’s no power either. But a lot of Agents have taken to it. They no longer help the Division, and have taken the gear and supplies and setup shop. Without allegiance to the remaining Division Agents either, they’re considered another Gang and must be either eliminated or avoided at all cost. But if ARCHITECT wants to stay in there, so be it. 

-iRogan
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FUNKO, NEED FOR SPEED, Xbox Update and New Games- IDL NEWS

Overwatch Funko

Funko’s POP! collection will feature some of Overwatch’s playable characters. Four figures have been announced so far—Tracer, “the time-jumping test pilot;” Reaper, “the mysterious mercenary;” Widowmaker, “the ice-cold assassin;” and Winston, “super-intelligent, genetically enhanced gorilla.” To be released in May.

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I really like the POP! vinyls, and have a growing collection. I prefer the video game ones to the TV show or movies, so these will look nice with my collection. I have all the Assassins, and Borderlands 2’s Claptrap, Moxxi, Jack and Psycho, Bioshock Infinite’s Booker and Elizabeth , and Kratos. I am missing the Evolve and Mass Effect ones :(.

Need For Speed Free Update

EA has confirmed that the next free update for Need For Speed will include drag racing. It will also include some new Hot Rods, a bigger warehouse to store vehicles, and livery editor tool improvements.

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Xbox Update: March

March’s Xbox Update will bring backwards compatible Xbox 360 games to the Xbox One store to be purchased digitally, and Party Chat can now be publicly broadcasted via the Twitch streaming app. The host of the channel can choose who will be heard within the party.

Killer Instinct Season 3

Killer Instinct Season 3 will be launched on march 29th, 2016 on both the Xbox one and PC, and will feature cross-platform play. Season 3 will feature Battletoads’ Rash and the Arbiter from Halo, among others.

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New Releases – March 1-4

Heavyrain


Heavy Rain (PS4)
Heavy rain was a fantastic game for the PS3. A game of story twists and turns as you play from the perspective of 4 characters trying to solve numerous murders. The game has received both a visual and performance upgrade.

16544766Beyond: Two Souls (PS4)
Another game by Quantic Dream, and plays similar to Heavy Rain, both are drama action-adventure games And both have received the performance and visual upgrades and released as a combo package.

Mortal Kombat XL (Xbox One, PS4)
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The ultimate Mortal Kombat X experience.The package includes 2 brand new characters in Leatherface and Alien, plus all the playable characters from the original release and Kombat packs. Includes new skins and a new stage.


Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (PC)
PC release of the completely redone Gears of War 1. The Xbox One release came out in August.

Far Cry Primal (PC)
PC release of last weeks Far Cry game, that came out on PS4 and Xbox One.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (WiiU)
HD remastering of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, originally released on the Wii and Gamecube in 2006.

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Currently plugging away at my review for Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, which is the pure definition of a late review. So that’ll be ready for Thursday fingers crossed.

-iRogan

 

March’s Games With Gold, Star Wars Battlefront, New Games, and Far Cry Impossible- IDL NEWS

Far Cry Patch

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Spoiler alert – Far Cry Primal came out today. Alongside the launch came a Day One patch (gotta love those) coming at just 560MB. The patch, which includes some stability improvements, companion behavior and some other tweaks, also includes an Expert Mode. This mode halves your health compared to the Hard difficulty. It speeds up the A.I attack speed, while lengthening their forgetfulness cool-down, and enemies are not shown on the mini-map unless tagged. It reduces the aim assist, and reduces your damage.

For those who are into that sort of thing. More on Far Cry Primal later on.

Xbox Games With Gold: MARCH

Xbox One
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments – March 1-31
Lords of the Fallen – March 15-April 15

Xbox 360
Supreme Commander 2 – March 1-15
Borderlands – March 16-31

I am excited for both of the Xbox One games. Sherlock looks like a pretty adventure story game not unlike Telltale’s ilk, and Lords of the Fallen looks like a poor man’s Dark Souls crossed with Darksiders. I’ll take it. On the 360 front, I’ll try out Supreme Commander 2 as I’ve always liked RTS games on the PC, like Command and Conquer or Age of Empires. Borderlands I’ll pass on. The game is eons old and I’ve already played it many times. Get outa here.

Star Wars Battlefront

star-wars-battlefront-offers-first-look-at-fighter-squadron-mode-488398-2Star Wars Battlefront’s large February update has started rolling out. Jakku’s DLC content is being patched into the , so it’s not longer a separate item in the store, and you can delete any existing downloads from your HDD.

A new map called Twilight on Hoth has been added, and it can be played in the Walker Assault, Supremacy, Turning Point, Blast, Fighter Squadron, Drop Zone, and Heroes vs. Villains game types.

A new survival mission has been added: Survival in the Ice Caves, and the Turning Point gameplay mode has been added to the Jundland Wastes, Forest of Endor, Outpost Beta, and SoroSuub Centroplex maps.

Thumbs up.

DOOM Up In Here

Pre-ordering DOOM on the Xbox One will net you the original DOOM and DOOM II for free, as they are both part of the backwards compatibility list. Pre-ordering nets you some other multiplayer exclusives as well: armour sets, weapon skins, etc.

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New Releases – Feb 23

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Hitman GO: Definitive Edition (PS4)
From the makers of Lara Croft GO, their first title was Hitman GO. I bought this on Android and never go the chance to play it before I shattered my screen, and then bought an iPhone. Guess I’ll have to re-buy it, as I loved Lara Croft GO.

 

maxresdefault (7)Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
(Xbox One, PS4, PC)
The sequel to the original, a 3rd person shooter / tower defense game, in the Plants Vs Zombie world. The formula has been changed up, as now the plants are on the offensive as the zombies have completely taken over.


far_cry_primal_beastfaceFar Cry Primal 
(PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Same Far Cry world and mechanics, but now in the Stone Age era, with Woolly Mammoths and Sabretooth Tigers. Humanity is now on the low end of the food chain. Gone are the guns and vehicles, replaced with clubs, and spears. This might be the first Far Cry that I’ll actually pass on, at least for now.

Far Cry as a series, to me, has always been a shooter within a believable world and crazy villains. While this one appears to have a very detailed, gorgeous and believable world, I can’t see myself getting as immersed into the world, with its close range combat and 100% subtitled story, as I have with its predecessors.

We’ll see though.

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With that said, back to the gaming grind. Thursday has a review for Pneuma: Breath of Life while I continue to plug away at what I’m playing. Might jump back into Star Wars Battlefront to try out the new modes and map.

I’m hoping to get some opinions up for The Division beta ahead of its release, and spend more time in Assassin’s Creed Unity, Oddworld, and Mad Max.

-iRogan

Kojima, SEGA Giveaway, Bethesda + Fallout 4, and Dying Light – IDL NEWS

Eh Friday, the best day of the week.

Kojima Talks At DICE Summit

Some notable news came out of the DICE summit in Las Vegas this. Notably, from one Hideo Kojima. He discussed VR, working with Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus.

On VR

“VR came up over 20 years ago. What was described back then is finally coming to our everyday lives, so I’m very excited about it.”

“A few years ago, I tried the development kits, and I’m very susceptible to 3D motion sickness, so I couldn’t do it. And now the latest technology I’ve been trying, it doesn’t produce nearly as much motion sickness. I’m fine with it. A while ago, I was like, ‘there’s no way I can develop anything for this. I’m going to spend every day puking. That’s not worth it.’ But now, with the latest technology, I’m feeling maybe more confident to develop something.”

On Guillermo del Toro

Kojima reaffirmed his enthusiasm for working with del Toro, saying “of course” he’d love to work “on a game, a movie, I don’t care, we’ll do it.”

Guillermo del Toro said he’s done with game development “except with this man,” referring to Kojima. “I’ll do whatever the fuck he wants.”

“I feel extremely free right now,” Kojima said. “I’m trying to make a big, very edgy game with a small team…I have to do something that’s exactly what I want to do.”

On Norman Reedus

Kojima still hopes to collaborate with The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus.

“I’m a fan of Norman, and he’s an extremely nice guy. And last year he was worried, so I went up with him and told him, ‘everything is fine. I became independent. I’m doing my own thing now.’”

SEGA’s Game Giveaway

As part of SEGA’s Make War Not Love 3 event, they have a promotion going on where they’re asking gamers to play their games, and in doing so, will unlock free games every 48 hours. The first games made available were Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, and Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit series.

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SEGA is now offering steam keys for Streets of Rage II, Binary Domain, and Condemned: Criminal Origins. These can be redeemed at the Make Love Not War website.

The next 3 games that’ll be released in a few days are: Gunstar Heroes, Renegade Ops, and Vikings: Battle for Asgard.

Bethesda Keeps Busy

At DICE Bethesda announced that they are currently working on 3 new long-term projects, that they will discuss more about at a future date.

“They’re different than anything we’ve done before, while also being a Bethesda-style game—kind of big and crazy—but in many ways different than things we’ve done before.”

Fallout 4 DLC Revealed and Raises Season Pass Price

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On the topic of Bethesda, Fallout 4 has had its first 3 add-ons announced: Automatron, Wasteland Workshop, and Far Harbor.

Automatron. “The mysterious Mechanist has unleashed a horde of evil robots into the Commonwealth, including the devious Robobrain,” reads the description. You will be hunting them down and creating your own robots, choosing from hundreds of mods. Automatron will be available in March for $10.

Wasteland Workshop will allow you to create and set traps for the inhabitants of the Wasteland, “from raiders to Deathclaws.” You can tame the creatures you capture, or even have them face off against each other. Wasteland Workshop is coming in April, and will cost $5.

Far Harbor is the largest of the three announcements, and will be coming out in May for $25. It features a new case from Valentine’s Detective Agency, and will have “the largest landmass for an add-on” Bethesda has ever created. There will be new quests, settlements, creatures, and dungeons, as well as brand new higher-level equipment.

Starting March 1st, the price of the Season pass will go from $30 to $50 of offset the costs of their ambitious DLC plans. Those that purchased the Season pass already will retain it at the original price.

Techland to Support Dying Light Until Year End

Techland has published a letter thanking fans for their support of Dying Light and Dying Light: Enhanced Edition, and has stated that they will support the survival game at least until the end of the year. They encourage fans to continue to send in their opinions regarding the game.

This is good news for me, as I will be picking up Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition and playing that in co-op  hopefully later this spring, but I think The Division is on my immediate radar now.

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On my end, I’ve been playing more Saint’s Raw IV and dipping my toes into The Division’s best this weekend. Also on the go is Assassin’s Creed Unity (expect more impressions next week) and Mad Max. I don’t know what I’ll be discussing for the Achievement of the Week this week yet, but I am keeping up with the Reviews, which I’m proud of. 🙂

-iRogan