It’s hard to believe that Tom Clancy’s The Division is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, but here we are.
Following its buzzworthy debut at E3, The Division didn’t exactly set the world on fire following its release in March 2016. Over time, however, it built a very dedicated following behind the loop of the best pirate-themed gameplay. There are also hints of elements from modern day shooters out there as well.
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To honor the franchise’s 10th anniversary, the game’s developers recently played with the mechanics in the original game. It’s actually been an ongoing series, titled Devs Playing, that offers a great look inside game development.
A great dive into what makes everything in The Division come together, including what the game once looked like during its early conceptual stages.
Division Was supposed to be an MMORPG-esque game
Drew Rechner, Creative Director of Massive Entertainment, explains how the core gameplay of The Division began as he played the machines of the Broadway Emporium. He said both Division games are built around a combat loop called “OPE – Observe, Plan, Execute.”
Basically, this is how the game fits into its cover-based shooter mechanics. The game balances you by taking your time, finding cover, planning your attack, and executing it. At first, however, the game looked less like a third-person shooter and more like an MMORPG, as Rechner explained.
It actually took us a while to get there because when we started working on The Division, it was still an MMO with World of Warcraft style gameplay. That skill part wasn’t there, there weren’t those traditional aspects of shooting. So we were always trying to measure how much shooter there is, how much skill there is, and finally we came to this.
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To be honest, you can see the MMORPG roots in The Division’s final product, even if most of the game’s content is shown rather than taking place in the massive online multiplayer world. One thing I always wonder about is that the first game of The Division plays you in a typical MMO style, from the usual World of Warcraft-style combat, the skilled firehouse, and everything else you’d expect.
It sounds like, however, the team had a hard time incorporating that into their OPE philosophy, leading to the evolution of the cover-based shooter we see today. It’s still a fascinating trip down memory lane that makes us wonder what if, especially since MMOs are falling out of favor and background shooters are all the rage today.
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