Ubisoft has shared more details on the dynamic weather effects in its highly anticipated PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One MMO actioner, Tom Clancy’s The Division.
Speaking in a recent blog post, Senior Game Designer, Fredrik Thylander, said that players will have to adjust their aim accordingly when bad weather sets in, while detection ranges for gamers and their enemies alike will also be reduced during bad conditions. It sounds like cold weather will prove quite troublesome too, with Thylander stating players will need to "adjust themselves in order [to] avoid a face full of frost."
Furthermore, depending on the weather and the time of day, gamers can "experience civilians and wildlife differently." Tom Garden, the game’s Lead Concept Artist, added, "A mission during the day has a totally different mood than a mission during the night." Indeed, it sounds like The Division will provide quite a different experience when playing the game nightfall.
Tom Clancy’s The Division is scheduled for release on PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One on March 8, 2016. The game is a collaborative effort between Ubisoft’s Massive, Reflections, and Annecy studios alongside Red Storm Entertainment, and was originally announced at E3 2013. The Division takes place in New York City in the midst of a mysterious pandemic, which cripples the infrastructure of the United States in five days. Players control a member of the hastily-assembled Strategic Homeland Division (SHD), an organisation that works under the direct orders of the President to regain control and prevent the collapse of civilisation by whatever means necessary.
The Division takes place from a third-person perspective, and places a large emphasis on customisation, with gamers able to tweak their character and backpack, as well as increase their weapons, gear and skills by levelling up. One of the main features of the game is the dynamic weather system, which can work to the advantage of the player during combat situations. The game is rumored to run at 1080p on PS4, although this has yet to be confirmed by the developers.
Gamers will go up against AI-controlled adversaries in addition to other players; in fact, you could find yourself teaming up with another squad of human players, only for them to turn on you at a moment’s notice. Indeed, this brings up the question: who can you trust? Have a listen to our impressions of The Division from E3 2015 to see how the game is shaping up.