Tom Clancy’s The Division was first announced by Ubisoft back at E3 2013, astonishing everyone at the press conference with its remarkable gameplay, stunning graphics and meticulous recreation of midtown Manhattan. The full game was released yesterday and now the comparisons are being made to see if the actual game matches up with the promised game.
It doesn’t, and numerous people have pointed out the differences. Naturally, the E3 2013 demo was being played on a thin vertical slice, allowing the screen to be far more populated by objects, such as mailboxes and air conditioners hanging out of windows. The textures are less detailed as well.
Comparison between the vertical slice of The Division at E3 2013 and the final game that has been released 2016 - pic.twitter.com/e2RCnwLIOO
— Nibel (@Nibellion) March 9, 2016
Then again, no one should be surprised that the game wouldn’t reach the stunning levels of the demo, even on max PC settings. However, that’s also not to say the game itself isn’t a remarkable achievement. As a Native New Yorker, I can identify locations in the game by sight alone. (It doesn’t hurt that I live in the same exact area, near the James A. Farley Post Office and Madison Square Garden.)
Open world games are notoriously memory hungry, and then you have to add in the fact its also a massively multiplayer game as well. A lot of people didn’t think The Division would see release, let alone come close to the demo. For PC gamers, this may be as close to having Destiny as possible.
Of course, the game has stumbled a little out of gate, with the predicable server issues and the silly design flaws, but it is better than people have anticipated. GameWatcher will be posting its review soon - keep an eye out for it.
