Editorials
The Terrifying Thrill of Playing ‘The Division 2’ Alone
The Division 2’s first raid, Operation Dark Hours, launched without—controversially—matchmaking. Given that I don’t have seven friends who play the game on PS4, and The Division 2 doesn’t support cross-platform play, it would probably be a while before I got to experience the gruelling five-to-10 hour affair for myself.
That’s okay, though. I play this game almost entirely solo, anyway. While it’s helpful to have players to team up with to take down the final wave of enemies in challenging missions—Roosevelt Island’s frenzied last push comes to mind—I’ve enjoyed the demanding difficulty of going it alone. It’s not the ideal way to explore the open world; going down while tackling a side activity like a Public Execution or Control Point forces you to respawn at one of the marked spots that sparsely populate the map, often minutes away from the activity. As a dedicated soloist, I’m hoping Ubisoft tweaks this design choice to make the game friendlier to solo players.
But, quirks aside, the steep challenge of The Division 2’s main missions makes solo play exhilarating and, at times, terrifying. Many critics noted that The Division 2’s combat was more exciting than that of the loot-shooters that came before as a result of Massive Entertainment’s decision to eschew bullet-sponges (a longtime staple of the sub-genre) in favor of wily fighters; combatants who strafe, sprint, sneak and suicide bomb the player out of hiding.
Excellent sound design amplifies the fear that these unpredictable enemies instil. The game rarely feels unfair, even when you’re being strafed and shot at from behind, because The Division 2 uses audio cues to clue you in on the position of your opponents. Laughter, footfalls, hard breathing; I often find myself frantically turning to meet a Hyena with a glowing red bomb strapped to their chest, and then scrambling to shoot them down before they close the distance. But, I’m never blindsided if I’m paying attention.
Fortunately, for the times when I’m not paying attention, respawns are more forgiving for solo players within the confines of missions. Instead of shipping me off to a nearby safe area, death here sends me back to the most recent checkpoint. Of course, you’ll often die on the last foe of the wave, the not-quite-a-bullet-sponge-but-certainly-bullet-porous baddie.
These mini-bosses come in a couple varieties. Some just have guns and a lot of armor. Others, though, hold weapons that can make your life hell. One carries a flamethrower with a ridiculously long reach that causes intense burn damage if it hits you. Another hefts a sledgehammer, and will chase you down—not the least bit fatigued by their heavy armor—until they slam half your health away with a single swing.
This structure—long, challenging battles between checkpoints with a final, difficult encounter before safety—produces a gnawing sense of anxiety as the firefights wear on. For example, during the final fight in the Potomac Relief Camp side mission, a Hammer Bro pursued me relentlessly around the bowl-shaped, multi-tiered structure. I jumped down a floor and he jumped down a floor. He was inexhaustible and the best I could do was run out the clock on my cooldowns, then throw some grenades and drop a turret. If I stopped, or fumbled while mantling over a ledge, or got caught up on some level geometry, I was finished. It was pulse-pounding; a nightmare of a monster giving chase.
Eventually, after a few tries, I killed him. The Division 2 is the rare nightmare with a happy ending.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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