several multiplayer features, which DICE calls Social Play. While there are no live co-operative multiplayer or side-by-side competitive modes, the game features asynchronous multiplayer in which a player's actions in the game can affect the world for other players' games. Among these are Time Trials which, unlike in the 2008 game, are not pre-defined by DICE. Instead, these checkpoint-to-checkpoint paths are set by any player whereby others can race against them at their leisure for faster times. Players are also able to place Location Emitters for other players to track down, an exploration activity similar to geocaching. Synopsis Setting The game takes place in the dystopian, futuristic city of Glass, the showcase city of the nation of Cascadia, governed by a totalitarian corporatocracy. Cascadian society is highly stratified, and the majority of citizens work for the corporations and are connected to the Grid, a massive social surveillance system digitally connecting everything and everyone in cities like Glass. The corporations are secretly preparing to launch a project, called Reflection, to control the populace through the Grid. So-called Runners, freelance messengers skilled at parkour, refuse to be connected to the Grid and live on rooftops, making their living from covert delivery jobs while evading corporate security. The game centers around a Runner named Faith, and her efforts to help other Runners overthrow the corporate government and stop Reflection. Plot Faith Connors is released from prison and meets up with fellow runner Icarus, as well as Runner cabal leader Noah, who raised Faith after the death of her parents. During a data grab, Faith diverges from her orders and retrieves a valuable hard drive, but is seen by Gabriel Kruger, CEO of Kruger Security, or K-Sec. She manages to escape, intending to use the drive's contents to pay off her debt to Dogen, a black market boss. Faith takes the drive to Plastic, a talented hacker, who tells her the drive contains blueprints for a top-secret project known as Reflection. Meanwhile, K-Sec cracks down hard on the Runners because of Faith's actions. While Icarus and Faith are away, they lead a raid on the Runners' lair and capture or kill everyone present, including Noah. Faith and Icarus, having nowhere to go, turn to Rebecca Thane, leader of Black November, a militant resistance movement. The rebels set up an ambush to capture a high-ranking K-Sec commander, whom they intend to trade for their own