Disintegration (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): June 16, 2020
- Release Date (EU): June 16, 2020
- Publisher: Private Division
- Developer: V1 Interactive
- Genres: RTS-FPS hybrid
- Also For: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Game Features:
Our current world eerily shares parallels with the ones depicted in video games years in the making; and Disintegration is no different. V1 Interactive’s inaugural game depicts a near future where climate extremes, overpopulation, food shortages, and - surprise, surprise - a global pandemic have doomed humanity to the brink of extinction.
However, all hope is not lost. In order to preserve mankind and give us another chance to thrive, a procedure called Integration was developed. It involves transplanting human brains onto a robotic frame. However, there is more to Integration than it seems, as the evil masterminds behind the concept want to exterminate all un-integrated humans.
And so, a group of rebels, including our protagonist Romer Shoal, decide to go against the evil at play and allow those “uncanned” people a chance to live their life free of the metallic confines; a quest to reboot humanity.
When it comes to the plot, Disintegration is serviceable at best. Even if it deals with a topic that I am interested in - transhumanism - it wasn’t captivating enough during my playthrough. There’s a merry cast with a few interesting characters who are professionally portrayed but it all seemed to get vaguely into details. I would proceed from chapter to chapter in the single-player campaign, often questioning how the plot brought me into battle yet again. But I would dismiss these thoughts as most of the time I was engrossed in the gameplay, which is by far the focus of Disintegration.
You see, Disintegration uses an intriguing FPS-RTS hybrid mechanic. As Romer, you control a gravcycle or a levitating, gun-equipped motorbike of the future; meaning you can increase/decrease its altitude in addition to the regular four directions of a bike. That’s the FPS portion of Disintegration. On the gravcycle, you can move around, target and shoot at sight; pretty simple.
At the same time, the gravcycle’s controls allow you to have a top-down perspective, and that’s where the RTS part jumps in. Atop the gravcycle, Romer can command his crew of Outlaws as they set out to finish off enemies, scavenge from debris or help fellow rebels. Crew commands revolve around which direction to head, focus on a particular enemy and unleash a special attack. Indeed, each crew member has attacks of their own such as concussion grenades to stagger enemies or slow field to slow down enemies and projectiles. Employing these abilities right while overseeing the battlefield are a must in frenetic battles.
Moreover, you will have to manage Romer and his crew’s abilities with upgrade chips that improve stats such as health upgrades and improvements on damage inflicted. Finding these upgrade chips somewhat reward exploration, not that they are that hard to find given the linearity of the game. But exploring the closed, yet beautifully-rendered, destructible surroundings does no harm.
Here I’d like to note that when playing on PC, I couldn’t stand using a controller. After trying a few missions, I opted for my keyboard-and-mouse combo as the go-to hardware setup. And so, I wonder how the gameplay translates to consoles and would urge anyone to try swapping to keys & mouse for a better experience.
However, by trying to mix two genres in one, Disintegration was decidedly walking on thin ice. It had to skim features that are traditional to each genre to accommodate the other without seeming too bulky but aiming for this balance led to a more streamlined mechanic, bordering lacking.
As an FPS, I would expect an armada at my disposal but ended up with two preset weapons before every mission. Sometimes it’s a sci-fi assault rifle and a healing gun, at another time it’s a pair of shotguns, but I never really know what to expect, save from the mission select screen’s crew info which can easily be missed. Frankly, it gets disorienting at times to adjust to a new weapon after getting used to another one a couple of missions before. Having the ability to choose my gear on-the-fly would really help mix things up but that’s relegated to the ground units.
As an RTS, I would expect higher levels of tactic and management but ended up with limited controls and a handful of actions to govern my crew that boil down to moving there, focus on this enemy and the occasional special attack subject to a cool-down period. All of the attacks of your teammates are automated, save for that special one. However, controlling them can get a bit tricky as they move where your reticle points, unless specifically instructed to stay put. This took some getting used to and impedes strategizing while scouring the area, unless if I manually told my crew to stay put in one area while I scan the battlefield. Thus, most of the time, I resorted to having my team within my field of vision and clearing that area before going to the next.
Additionally, while on the gravcycle, you’ll mostly look at everything from a top-down perspective and unfortunately, most enemy factions, or redeyes, look the same with white armor, darting around and shooting bullets at your team. There are some varieties in colors and sizes, some enemy gunships and gravcycles, but ultimately, it’s only a handful of types of foes you’ll encounter.
That is not to say that Disintegration lacks its fair share of fun. There’s quite some light strategizing involved when positioning your comrades, monitoring their health gauge and issuing attack commands. In fact, its core mechanic is easy to pickup and delivers decent fun and I found myself easily getting lost in its universe shooting at every moving enemy mission after mission.
Moreover, more than the ~9 hour campaign mode, the multiplayer modes are here to prolong your time on the gravcycle. Yes, modes in plural. Disintegration comes with 3 different modes that extend the hybrid gameplay online with customizable teams (and in-game purchases for more swag).
In Zone Control, teams faceoff to capture designated areas. Only ground units can perform this task, so you’d better defend them well, while targeting those of competing teams for an edge in controlling an area. It’s a pretty standard strategy feel, even if Disintegration’s controls don’t fully exploit the potential.
Collector is a guns-blazing mode where two teams race to collect the most “brain-cans” before time runs out or the score is reached. You can obtain these brain-cans in 3 ways: finishing off an enemy graycycle, shooting down ground units or collecting from spawn areas around the map. This mode doesn’t really require much strategizing other than trying to stay ahead of the curve by hitting the trigger key and dodging on repeat.
Retrieval splits players into attacking and defending teams. The former must retrieve explosive cores from one area and deliver them to another, while the latter must prevent this at all cost. After some time, teams swap roles and the team with the most completed core deliveries wins.
Disintegration tried to bring something new with its FPS-RTS hybrid and it did. It feels refreshing and enjoyable if you aren’t looking for something too serious. However, this aspect is also its major drawback as concessions made with this amalgamation of genres left major gameplay aspects out that could still be improved upon. It’s worth checking out if you are looking for something new without too much mechanics but don’t expect too much out of it.
Disintegration Launch Trailer
Verdict
- Innovative RTS-FPS hybrid gameplay offers novel fun gameplay
- 3 multiplayer modes
- Traditional RTS and FPS gameplay components are lacking
- Lack of enemy variety
