The Division Tom Clancy Game's Survival Mechanics: What You Need to Know

Ubisoft Massive’s upcoming open-world thriller Tom Clancy’s The Division is easily one of the tastiest prospects of the upcoming year alongside the likes of Destiny from Bungie. As of now, what we do know about The Division is that it happens in a post-apocalyptic New York City which has been in a state of ruin ever since an unnamed disease spread on Black Friday, causing the United States to collapse in five days, and eventually surmising how fragile and vulnerable the society has become. Guessing from all that, it’s safe to say here that the game is effectively a story that talks about survival mechanics and what you need to do to get out of here in one piece. What this means is that the in-game natural resources like water, food and fuel play major roles, or we think they will. However, as revealed via the devs, it seems like these survival simulations will have their own limits on how the game pans out for the player.

Not long ago, a certain The Division-related video interview was unearthed by The Examiner that featured Mathias Karlson and Axel Rydby, The Division's lead game designer and design director, respectively, discussing some major details related to the game’s survival tactics.

"Consider that our game is a lot about the fall of society, and things that we take for granted in our everyday life such as clean water and food, they suddenly become scarce resources in the game," design director Axel Rydby stated in the video.

“Not only do you actually have to go out and look for food and water, but [they] become very valuable and rare resources that can be used to trade and stuff like that.”

“But when it comes to having to drink water and eat food to be able to survive, that's not really what we want from it. Food and water will be a very important part of the game, but players will not need to eat and drink to stay alive," he added.

Apparently, while The Division will see players starting off with some basic equipment and supplies provided automatically, Rydby also added in the chat that they'll only help you in the most minimal of ways.

"When we start the game, the player's character only has his go-bag with him, right? When it becomes activated, that's the only thing he can really bring with him. In that go-bag he roughly has 72 hours of supplies, he's got his weapons and his gear, and that's what he starts with.”

"Then when moving throughout the world, it's going to be a lot about looting and acquiring new gear as you progress. We're focusing a lot on the RPG aspects of the game since we are very much an RPG, so acquiring loot and gearing up your character is going to be a very big part of the game."

However, he added that unlike most RPGs in the market, The Division will feature "a classless structure” which means “you don't pick one class upfront, it's something you grow into as you make decisions throughout the game. As you see what is available to you, you make some tough but fun choices."

On the topic of as to how exactly the in-game environment will be of use to players and how it could affect their decision making, Rydby simplified: “If society fell and suddenly you had to hunt for food and water, you couldn't go down to your local supermarket and buy whatever you want, you have to actually start conserving it and start to think about how your spending those valuable resources that you have."

"If you did have access to fuel, would you use it to make sure you have access to clean water or make sure that you have access to be able to heat your food by a mobile generator you can fuel and produce electricity. Or would you use it to fuel your car? I know what I would do."

On a similar note, game designer Mathias Karlson concluded by stating that the way players navigate and move through the city that is open in nature, “it's very core to how you experience the world.”

“We are currently investigating what is the best for our game, what we can do to give you the best experience as a player because that is, in the end, what's most important to us," he added.

Tom Clancy’s The Division is currently scheduled for a Q4 2014 release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Check out the interview below