Tom Clancy games come with a certain set of expectations- fluid tactical combat, third person perspective- and often gamers associate this franchise with innovations in stealth and third person combat. It seems like the newest entry in the legacy of Tom Clancy will deliver. The Division, an online only third person shooter /RPG ,is a stunning game set in beautiful urban vistas with a dark undertone which comes with the theme. The game is set in pandemic New York where you play as an agent trained to deal with said pandemic.

The talk at EGX this year was about their attempts to make The Division an immersive game and so far all the signs are positive. They have gone to what appear to be huge lengths to make the game responsive, engaging and visceral. The new Snowdrop engine which has been developed for the new generation and specifically The Division is based on creating ‘living worlds’ that feel real and almost like they’re breathing around you.

The Division’s main focus seems to of been seamlessly blending responsive and futuristic tactical views with a lavishly reimagined New York where the environment changes and breaks around you. A small detail that was mentioned as an example is when it is snowing in the game snow gathers on the players shoulders and slowly melts when the players go indoors- this is just an example of the attention to detail the development team is boasting about and to me it sounds like they’ve given this everything to make it immersive and to make it feel strong, real.

The talk also focused on how they wanted to avoid the use of cutscenes, instead using a futuristic UI to feed you interactive information and even removing the conventional map and instead having what they call the mega map which is like a hologram that displays around the player model and allows you to interact with what appears to be a 3D model of New York to set markers, plan routes and prepare yourself for the challenges of a pandemic torn New York.

Another point that was made in the talk today is that the Division apparently has a phenomenal destruction engine within the game which sounds promising and like the team behind the Division really want you to be able to break up the world around you to suit your needs.

Do you think developer Massive is onto a winner? Let us know in the comments below!