The Division is one good looking game. On consoles, it pushes the systems to their limits to render beautiful visuals and a smooth gameplay experience. On PC, however, it’s in a league of its own. If you’ve got the rig that can crank all the bars to their highest settings, you’re in for an unparalleled graphical experience. But if you don’t have a computer that rivals your mortgage in cost, you can still experience a smooth and visually rich post-apocalyptic New York. Here are some comparisons between all the settings, ranging from the lowest to the absolute highest currently possible.
The Division manages to maintain a fantastic base quality, even with all the switches down. All images were taken at 1080p, so the big focus here is distance rendering quality. As the settings go up, the buildings in the background become more and more clear.
This is most obvious in the shorter cubed building on the left. On Low, there are few details beyond the windows. On Medium, the building’s ridges begin to show. On High, they protrude off the walls clearly. Finally, on Ultra you can not only see them, but also the roof access door, which now even has enough lighting attention to show shadows.
Another point of detail is the rail near the left of the shots. From Low-Ultra it can be seen rounding out. What starts as a hexagonal texture is melded into a buttery smooth piece of steel. Overall, the lower end settings aren’t bad. The distant textures are lacking significant detail or lighting effects but they certainly aren’t an eye sore. Now let’s take a look at the effect on reflections.
