7) The Game Looks Stunning
One of the failings of Watch Dogs, a similarly hyped Ubisoft property, was the way in which the game ultimately fell quite some way short of the footage that was debuted when it appeared at E3 in 2012. That is not the only example of a Ubisoft game suffering such a shortcoming, either, and so the concern that The Division would similarly disappoint was a well-founded one.
And while countless articles and videos have dissected the footage from The Division‘s 2013 E3 unveiling and compared it to the beta tests to prove that there (sadly) has been another graphical downgrade, there’s no denying that this is still a gorgeous game.
The recreation of a devastated New York is mightily impressive; the streets are stacked with abandoned cars, piled garbage bags and even a disconcerting number of corpses. This is absolutely the busiest looking setting I’ve ever played in.
But it’s not just the location that looks great here; character movement is smooth and lifelike, and smaller details like popped bulbs on Christmas decorations and flecks of dirty snow that smear the top of a player’s winter hat all add up. If it weren’t for the fact we’d been shown superior footage at E3 a few years ago, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would dream of criticizing the game’s aesthetics.
Published: Feb 23, 2016 10:23 am