If there's one thing that most players of Tom Clancy's The Division can agree on, it's that the game world looks gorgeous. The streets, buildings, and infrastructure of post-apocalyptic New York are highly detailed and quite remarkable.
Some gamers have decided to test The Division's visual fidelity by comparing some of real world's New York's structures to what's found in the game. The results are quite surprising.
Take for example the below image posted by Reddit user Jam510, who works in New York next to one of its iconic tunnels. Below are the results.
Notice the texture on both the center building and the tunnel to the left. Or, look at how similar the building to the distant center appears. There's a ton of attention to detail that is demonstrated in this single screenshot that says a lot about The Divisions' art team.
Jam510 posted a second photo versus screenshot comparison, this time set in the tunnel to the left of the above image. Check it out:
It isn't just the obvious things that are similar in each, such as the shape and size of the arch, or the presence of benches, it's the texture of the ground, the curbs, and the colors that make it so extraordinary. For gamers who live in New York, it must be quite bizarre to walk down the streets of virtual New York and see buildings that they're used to walking by in the real world.
Another Reddit user who goes by the name whee1s_ took it upon himself to identify exactly what portion of New York was recreated in The Division. He decided to reference Google Maps in a comparison of the game's map, and below was the result:
Note that The Division is set in Manhattan, which is measured at around 33.77 square miles in size. The Division's map takes up a sizeable chunk of that space, namely in the center of the island just South of Central Park. While street structure has been adjusted somewhat, there's a very clear and distinct similarity between the two, and it's of course deliberate.
There was also a video published by PlayStation Access which compares several of The Division's environments with real world locations such as the Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge:
Ubisoft Massive has done a phenomenal job with The Division's art design, and it should be commended for it. Now if only we can get a sequel that is set in another favorited city.
