Home Gaming A look at Tom Clancy’s The Division from Gamescom

A look at Tom Clancy’s The Division from Gamescom

4 min read
27

TheDivision

I’ve been eagerly waiting for Tom Clancy’s The Division ever since that rather dramatic reveal at Ubisoft’s E3 conference last year. We’ve seen very little of the game, truth be told, and have never had a hands-on go at the game. That didn’t change at Gamescom this year, though we were afforded a closer look at how the game plays than ever before.

The Division puts you in the shoes of one of the city’s clean up agents, trying to return a freshly apocalyptic New York to being habitable once more. A pandemic virus has come along,  killing most, leaving the city a shell of its former self. Richly detailed, a great deal of the story is told through emergent game play and the environment; fresh corpses piled up, abandoned homes, the world littered with debris, messages on walls. The narrative is  also partially spun by an echo device, which shows memories of a place in 3D. The New York shown is huge, with a rather large mega-map showing  just about everything. Each area is graded by three things; present security, level of contagion, and current morale in the area – and each will affect how missions there will play out, what sort of gear is required, and the sort of resistance you’ll face.

TheDivisionGameplay

The big emphasis in our behind-closed-doors screening and live demo of the game was the synchronicity between the the console or PC versions of the game, and the one that’s played on a companion tablet. The versions we saw were running on Xbox One, and Surface. Players will be able to drop in and out seamlessly, as will companion players.

We’ve seen videos before demonstrating how the tablet play works, but what I found startling was the complete lack of latency between the game proper, and the pared down isometric view from the tablet. It mirrored the console world rather well, even if it was noticeably lower in general fidelity. The tablet player takes control of a drone, which is able to aid players on the ground by highlighting targets, buffing abilities, or even healing. It all worked like magic, though it could well be the structured setting at play. If it works nearly as well in a real world setting, it would be the first game where a companion app not only makes real sense, but is a welcome addition.

The game itself looks incredible, yes..even on the Xbox One. Yes, probably not quite as nice as the initial reveals, but it’s filled with incredible detail and most certainly looks like a next gen game. I don’t think we’re in for another Watch Dogs downgrade-gate in the near future. I will just add though, that the health bars, and a few other bits suffered from rather horrible aliasing, and there were a number of frame drops – but for now we’ll put that down to the game being nowhere near finished.

TheDivisionGameplay2

There’s still quite a bity of mystique surrounding the game, and exactly what genre it fits in to – but I can confirm that it’s actually a pretty hard-core RPG. We got a look at some of the game’s branching skill trees, which you can tailor for different situations and enemies, and there’s enough deep RPG gameplay in there to keep the core happy. Massive doesn’t want to cater only to RPG pundits though, so there are never any hard-locked classes. Instead, players can unlock the skills and tech that’ll suit their play-styles most.

At it’s core, it’s still a shooter though, so that aspect of it is rather important. It seems to function well, working mostly as a cover–based shooter, that relies on team work, and a menagerie of tech and gadgetry – like an auto turret that helps with cover fire, or a strobe droid that blinds and stuns enemies. Perhaps deploy a seeker mine, a rolling grenade that can cause frag damage, or function as a flash bang.

The RPG mechanics come in to play in the missions and routes that will be available you. One are, for example, was gated by a requirement for a suitably high level gas mask; without it, you’d have to find another way through, or around the area. You’ll need to scavenge, loot and even build fortresses and home bases – which you’ll be able to fortify and upgrade. It’s the sort of  post-apocalyptic survivalist fantasy that those who’ve read World War Z  have been waiting for – even if the game is bereft, thankfully, of zombies.

It’s a frightfully ambitious game, but if it all comes together as intended, could be one of this generation’s greatest.

Last Updated: August 19, 2014

27 Comments

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    August 19, 2014 at 11:14

    The story sounds very similar to that of Prototype.

    Reply

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      August 19, 2014 at 11:34

      It’s not really. People aren’t turned in to creature things. They just die. 😛

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        August 19, 2014 at 11:44

        But when someone’s humanity is stripped away & externally they resemble the monster that was always within, haven’t they really died too Geoff, metaphorically? 😉

        Reply

  2. Jac7

    August 19, 2014 at 11:31

    Man I wish I pooped money. So many games…so many.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      August 19, 2014 at 11:32

      If you pooped money I’d keep you in my basement & feed you liquorice all day.

      Reply

      • Rinceable

        August 19, 2014 at 11:33

        0_O It rubs the lotion in?

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          August 19, 2014 at 11:34

          At least until I’d got my pound of… flesh.

          Reply

          • Jac7

            August 19, 2014 at 11:59

            Throw in a bucket of chicken once a week and we’ve got a deal.

      • CAE9872

        August 19, 2014 at 11:35

        Why liquorice? Not sure I want my money smelling…well ya know! Urghhh.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          August 19, 2014 at 11:41

          Mostly because I was contemplating buying some liquorice just now hehe.

          Reply

      • Sk3tz0

        August 19, 2014 at 11:38

        Curry is the natural Laxative. 😛

        Reply

  3. CAE9872

    August 19, 2014 at 11:37

    I hope its drop-in drop-out in terms of environment and players i.e. I can go alone if I want, team up when I want.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      August 19, 2014 at 11:48

      Yes me too. I don’t mind if it’s more difficult, I’d like it to be feasible though. Pretty much like the Borderlands model.

      Reply

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      August 19, 2014 at 12:19

      It seems to be that way.

      Reply

  4. Admiral Chief Assassin

    August 19, 2014 at 11:58

    As long as the KB+MS controls are smoooooooooth and working, they have a customer from me. BUT, being Ubi, I’m NOT getting my hopes up

    Reply

    • Aries

      August 19, 2014 at 15:53

      Ive only managed to play Watch dogs online once, thats how lovable Uplay is

      Reply

  5. Mossel

    August 19, 2014 at 13:07

    I have a serious nerd boner for this game. This could be the game. The one that finally drains me of life and kills all my real world ambitions.

    Reply

    • Spaffy

      August 19, 2014 at 13:19

      What, Watchdogs didn’t make the cut lol
      😛

      Reply

      • Mossel

        August 19, 2014 at 13:23

        lol I waited for the reviews, then lost my boner.

        Reply

  6. UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy

    August 19, 2014 at 13:13

    Will there be servers in SA? Also does this question matter?

    Reply

    • Mossel

      August 19, 2014 at 13:24

      Yes! I would also like to know this, this could turn a fantastic game into an irritating 220ms game.

      Reply

  7. bluegoon

    August 19, 2014 at 15:18

    Hope it will be tactical, so I can tactical while I tactical.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Ubisoft to Reveal a New Tom Clancy Game Tonight…

Ubisoft is evidently revealing a new game tonight set in the Tom Clancy universe. There…BO…