Tom Clancy’s The Division is ‘an RPG first and foremost’

Tom Clancy's The Division is one of Ubisoft's more intriguing next-gen titles. Combining an open-world environment with RPG elements and third-person shooter mechanics, there's a lot of questions surrounding the gameplay. In the latest blog post, Ubisoft community manager Nicholas Ross-Edwards addressed a few of these issues, including whether or not the shooting/combat system will be focused on RPG features or have more of a traditional skill-based shooter feel to it.

"We are an RPG first and foremost," Nicholas said. "So the emphasis for the game is definitely on skill/talent synergies along with your weapon characteristics. We are a Clancy game, we are also an open-world game but really we’re an RPG first.

"Gear will be important, levels will be important, modifications to weapons will be important… everything that makes a fantastic RPG will be important to the game," he explained. Speaking of gear, Nicholas went on to say that players can expect to see all-sorts of loot in the game, ranging from gear to weapons.

"The short answer is that I believe in loot-based RPGs; I think they’re fantastic and loot will be hugely important in The Division," he explained. "You’ll have a range of items from gear to weapons, each of which will have various mods and things that we’ll get into later on.

"However, we don’t want this to become one of those loot-based RPGs where it’s all about gear and there is a ridiculous gap between old and new players; if I’ve just started playing the game but my friend has been playing for a few months, we want those guys to be able to play together. It’s a tricky balance and one that we want to try to solve," Nicholas concluded.

And on a lighter note, The Division will have dogs in it. You know, because it's a next-gen title.