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Showcased playing live on PlayStation 4 as the zinger to Ubisoft's otherwise trailer-strewn conference, The Division reinvigorates our expectations of next-gen gaming. With its always online, post-pandemic take on New York City, it features a slew of advanced effects-work and physics that are hard to believe could be possible on current console technology. It's the technical pin-up of the moment, taking the mantle previously held by Ubisoft's own Watch Dogs (and the now sadly defunct Star Wars 1313 project) as indicators of what could be achieved with exclusive development on PS4 and Xbox One.Swedish developer Massive Entertainment is at the heart of this operation, bringing to life this new open world RPG/shooter hybrid, as played from a third person perspective. Given how its seven minute demo doesn't bring to bear its online features to the absolute fullest extent, the striking attention to world detail is inevitably the part that stands out most. Everything is heightened over what we've come to expect of console gaming, from the increase in particles effects spewing from Molotov explosions, to the streets littered with debris and Christmas trimmings on the blink. It's gorgeous in motion, but given Ubisoft's history in delivering major franchises to as many platforms as humanly possible raises the question: is this truly only possible on next-gen hardware?
If the description of its Snowdrop engine is to be taken at face value, The Division works with technology specifically designed with next-gen platforms in mind. It cites dynamic global illumination, procedural destruction and a broad push for greater environmental detail and effects as its major strengths - but it doesn't quite do itself justice with that list. What its lengthy slice of gameplay does show in earnest is a widening of the play-field to support an always-online universe, where draw distances for geometry and reflection mapping alike necessarily show no apparent bounds. Never has high street filled with garbage, scurrying rats and ruined yellow taxis looked so compelling for a solo adventurer - but just as with any good photo-shoot, lighting is crucial to generating that appeal.
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