The Division's upcoming Survival DLC, we learned recently, will bring to the game a new survival mode that traps groups of 24 players in the middle of the worst snowstorm to hit New York City in years. That's bad, but worse is that they'll have to get by without their usual gear, which was all left back at HQ—bad plan, everyone—and that they're infected with a disease that will kill them in two hours if it's not treated.
The trailer looks pretty good—a lot like the regular Division, I suppose, but with more snow—but it also highlights a couple of the sillier aspects of the new mode. How hungry can you possibly get over the course of a single night? Didn't you grab a snack before you left? And if you're really that thirsty, stick some snow in your mouth. (Protip: It's made of water!)
A survival mode needs survival mechanics, obviously, but the need for food and water come off as really shoehorned in, rather than as "realistic" survival elements. Videogames will always have to make a few concessions to reality in the name of gameplay, but I would think that cold, infection, and all those angry people with guns who are nailing your compadres to walls would be quite sufficient to make staying alive a challenge.
Even so, the new mode looks like it could be a lot of fun, and certainly an interesting twist on The Division's conventional co-op gameplay. The Survival DLC doesn't yet have a release date, but it should be out fairly soon. Season pass owners can take it for a spin now, in pre-release form, on the Division public test server.
