Heap Of New Info On Tom Clancys The Division Emerges
A bucketload of new information has rolled out for The Division this afternoon, at last providing some insight into this hugely anticipated squad-based shooter.First things first, cast aside those crazy ideas you had of this being an authentic Tom Clancy title. This is Tom Clancy by name, not by nature. The Division’s post-disaster New York looks the part, and you can get anal spending hours customising your weapon, but this is a stats-based RPG through and through. Enemies have towering health bars and can take multiple clips to bring down. A well-thrown frag grenade at a foe’s feet won’t be an insta-kill. Bosses will take concentrated fire from an entire squad. Our early thoughts that The Division is Ubisoft’s Destiny are most definitely ringing true.
That’s all great for RPG fans, but for shooter nuts the widespread consensus is that the shooting feels a bit off. Bullet sponge enemies generally mean kills aren’t very satisfying.
As for your what you’ll actually be doing in moment to moment play, well, that looks to be the familiar quest, loot, and XP gain gameplay loop perfected in Diablo and worn to death in Destiny. Missions will send you to various parts of New York, either on your own or as part of a squad. You’ll be tasked with collecting something, or wiping out an enemy threat, and then seeking an extraction chopper to make it back to base in one piece.
Then there’s the open-world New York Ubisoft has created. From early impressions it appears this representation of New York is pretty much a 1:1 recreation of Manhattan. Authenticity is the key here, and Ubisoft is matching the real deal as best it can. Once you’re actually in The Division there shouldn’t be a loading screen in sight, with seamless transitions from internal to external locations. In total there are 15 different districts which make up Manhattan, each with different level enemies and quests.
Obviously this isn’t your bog standard New York. A deadly virus transferred via banknotes has seen most of the populace meet their maker. The city is in the grip of winter post-apocalypse, with Christmas decorations serving as an eternal reminder of life before disaster struck.
As we speculated after the last trailer, you will get your very own instanced Base of Operations in The Division. This is in the vein of MGS V: The Phantom Pain’s Mother Base, and be levelled up and upgraded. New wings can be added to the building, unlocking various skills, upgrades and abilities. Lurking in your personal Base of Operations there’s also crafting stations and NPC vendors to buy and sell gear from.
The player character itself can also of course be upgraded. The current level cap is 30, with all manner of deadly toys wrapped up in the tech tree. Players can respec their characters at will while back at base, with two active slots saved for the most unique and powerful gadgets in your armoury. Likewise the weapons themselves can be fully customised with new scopes, stocks, barrels and the like.
That's all for now, but remember the closed beta for The Division rolls out later this month. You can find out all the details about that here.
