Tom Clancy’s The Division is almost upon us. A smallpox outbreak has shattered New York and it’s up to a group of elite sleeper agents known as “The Division” to put things back together again. So far, this has been the first big game of 2016 that everyone is talking about. I myself have been looking forward to The Division ever since Ubisoft showed off some gameplay footage at E3 2013. Now that the press has gotten a few hours with the game, footage is everywhere and people are talking. Some of us are more excited than ever, and some of us are rethinking pre-ordering and waiting to read some reviews first. While I’m still very cautiously optimistic about The Division, all of the hands-on previews have sparked a number conversations and debates. I myself am hoping for an extremely successful launch, but I’d be lying if I said there aren’t a few things that have me really concerned.
I’ll go ahead and say that the most controversial topic so far, what everyone wants to keep talking about, is a nonissue for me: the visual downgrade. It’s true that compared to the gameplay demo that we saw back in 2013, The Division has definitely turned it down a few notches from what we’ve seen. Granted, the majority of the footage floating around is from the Xbox One, and I expect that out of all versions of the game that’s the one that will look the worst. In fact we know that the PC version will potentially look much better than the XBO or PS4 versions, and that’s to be expected. It’s likely, though, that even on the PC we won’t be seeing the extreme level of detail and array of visual flourishes that made 2013’s gameplay demo so engaging.
While I don’t need reflective puddles and light filtering through a bunch of smoke to have fun in a game, I do need a visually appealing, varied game world and hub area in an MMO in which I might potentially sink hundreds of hours over a couple years of gameplay. I’m a little concerned that run down buildings, dark streets and alleys, and the whole pre-apocalyptic, war-torn city vibe might get old really quickly. Everyone wants to compare this game to Destiny because it’s a FPS and an online RPG, and I’ll tell you right now that as far as I’m concerned, Destiny has the edge when it comes to art direction and variety. Obviously the host of planets that you visit throughout Destiny are more appealing than city streets, but even the hub area, The Tower, seems much more appealing than the base of operations in The Division. I understand that this is Tom Clancy and they’re shooting for realism, but this is also a video game, and I’m wondering if I’m going to want to return to this recreation of New York to keep exploring after my initial investment of 20 hours or so.
The fact that everyone is comparing The Division to Destiny aroused another fear that until recently hadn’t occurred to me. What if Ubisoft makes the same mistake of assuming that the novelty of FPS mechanics combined with an online RPG and tons of loot will make up for a lack of story and content? Destiny had one of the most disappointing launches ever. Yes, the progression grind and constant potential of new and better gear is addicting and rewarding, but we need a reason to go run monotonous missions and complete objectives.
If Ubisoft is betting on a business model that dictates that the bulk of The Division ‘s interesting story missions be released later on as paid DLC or in expansions, this game is going to fail. We’ve all seen the gameplay footage, and so far the only thing I’m truly looking forward to is PvP and some great loot. The enemies just aren’t that interesting. They’re all just… people; bullet sponges with different colored hoodies. A rock solid plot with some killer twists better be shaking people up come April, or the online community will be waning by May.
What are your thoughts after seeing The Division gameplay for yourself and taking in all of the previews? Has it all influenced you definitely one way or another, or are you waiting to read some reviews? Let me know in the comments and we can look forward to the upcoming beta together.