In the upcoming MMO shooter The Division , the weather will play a major role in gameplay.
It is usually said that when one talks about the weather, they have little else to say. However, in “The Division,” the weather is expected to play a significant role.
In an interview with Forbes before the holidays, the developers revealed more insights. The Snowdrop engine, developed by Massive for The Division, is extremely good at rendering large open-world areas with high complexity. This feature, combined with a day/night cycle and weather effects, makes even similar areas a surprising and beautiful experience when replayed.
The particle effects of the Snowdrop engine are particularly effective in weather and light effects. In The Division, it will be possible to start missions at night by simply waiting until nightfall. The weather will also dynamically adjust and change within a winter scenario.
In bad weather, one must change their play style… or wait
Weather and time of day will affect the visibility of players and NPCs, giving the mission a different twist. Only “heavy fog” has been disabled in some missions due to concerns of it having too great an impact on gameplay. The weather can also change during a mission.
And all this weather will also affect the play style. Those who like to play as snipers should perhaps consider a different approach during heavy snowfall or wait for the weather to improve. According to the developers, there are “dramatic differences” between a bright sky and a dark, foggy day.
Like Destiny, only grittier… and with New York
The Forbes journalist also summarizes his experiences related to the weather theme. He now finds that the game strongly resembles Destiny: A shooter with a “social hub,” which he describes as “like the Tower, only grittier.”
Even though combat has taken center stage over RPG elements, the Forbes author believes that Ubisoft will do a lot to highlight post-apocalyptic New York in the forefront of a marketing campaign to differentiate itself from Destiny.
