Who knew a video game could be so informative? In a much-anticipated new shooter video game, Tom Clancy’s The Division offers an incredibly realistic portrayal of an urban survival situation along with a survival manual some experts are calling one of the best in the field.
The scenario involves a deadly virus that has swept New York City and players are tasked with located its source and bringing order to a city plunged into Armageddon. Gaming devotees were treated to a beta version of the game in February with 6.4 million players taking part, showing the game is sure to have widespread appeal.
In the survival manual that comes with the game, players can use it to solve problems on the game, but it also doubles as an actual survival manual. Learn such things as how to build a cold weather shelter out of cardboard and styrofoam to removing dead bodies without catching infection. These are real possible life skills people.
The manual called New York Collapse was created by survival expert Alex Irvine under a pseudonym, according to Outside Magazine. In one of the scenarios, the author details how to avoid getting shot by the NYPD, something we can also use a refresher on. Am I right?
“The idea was to ask what an ordinary person can do when you know help isn’t coming, and you have to get by on your own,” Irvine told the magazine. “It’s not a matter of getting by for a few days, it’s a matter of finding a whole new way to live for the foreseeable future.”
He reportedly drew on urban survival guides such as Tom Brown’s Field Guide to City and Urban Survival, Urban Survival Site and Survivopedia.
Producers have also collaborated with noted Youtubers on a three-part video series to accompany the game’s release, which you can watch here, here and here or see a full 30-minute super cut through Amazon Prime.
You can also buy the survival guide as a stand-alone book here.
Photo credit: Amazon
