Disintegration has an amazing concept, but the execution is rough
Source: V1 Interactive
Disintegration, V1 Interactive’s debut title, is designed around taking the top-down camera in real-time strategy (RTS) games and making it a playable vehicle that can shoot enemy units, dogfight with other players, command allies, and more — all from the perspective found in first-person shooters (FPS).
The result is a game that uniquely blends these genres together in a way that’s exciting and innovative. However, a weak campaign, a few technical issues, some frustrating design choices, and an overall lack of gameplay depth hold Disintegration back from being something truly special.
Potential left unfulfilled
Disintegration
$50
Bottom line: Disintegration is built upon a fantastic concept and can be a blast at times, but there’s always a frustrating issue or two around the corner that drags the experience down.
Pros
- Awesome core concept
- Tons of gameplay variety in multiplayer
- Well-balanced sandbox
- Multiplayer crews look awesome
Cons
- Weak story and campaign
- Overall lack of depth
- Presentation is underwhelming
- Some technical hiccups
The campaign leaves much to be desired
Source: V1 Interactive
Disintegration’s story and campaign leave a lot to be desired, and that’s a shame.
Disintegration takes place in a near-future world where humans integrated with armatures to survive food shortage, climate change, and other threats. The plan is to transition into normal humans once things are safe. Still, a terrorist organization called the Rayonne believes that humanity should keep their armatures and has begun taking over society to bring about their vision. You play as Romer Shoal, a pilot of a vehicle called a grav-cycle that allows you to fight enemies while also commanding your squad of allies. Your mission is to stop the Rayonne and ensure that humans can “disintegrate.”
Overall, the story is mediocre. The characters are tolerable, but most of them are cliche and don’t stand out. Romer himself barely has any character development, and there’s a huge lack of world-building, too. This makes it incredibly hard to care about the universe Disintegration puts you in, despite how high-stakes the plot is.
From a gameplay perspective, the campaign is just okay. It does a wonderful job of introducing you to the mechanics, but the Rayonne only have a handful of enemy types, and once you figure out how to deal with them, the game begins feeling mindless. Ultimately, it’s just dumb fun. Playing the campaign is an enjoyable way to turn your brain off and relax, but it’s not as engaging as I was hoping it would be.
Multiplayer is where the real fun is
All of these modes are a good time and the main reason why is because there are so many different “crews” for players to utilize (nine in total). They each come with their own unique grav-cycle, weapons, and unit selections. This ensures that no matter what kind of player you are, there’s a crew that will suit your playstyle. I’ve had the most success with The Militia, a crew that focuses on area denial with a tanky grav-cycle, units that deploy mines, and a deployable turret. However, I’m also having a good time with Neon Dreams, which is a crew that specializes in deadly flanking maneuvers.
Another issue is reloading, which is something you’ll be doing way too much of. Weapon magazine sizes across all the grav-cycles feel way too small about how much damage you can dish out. Perhaps this was a balancing decision to emphasize unit importance, but regardless, spending a third of your time reloading is incredibly annoying.
Presentation and polish could be better
Source: Windows Central
While it isn’t bad, Disintegration’s presentation isn’t anything special.
Disintegration’s visuals are average at best. Certain areas in the campaign look good, but by and large, the textures, lighting, and shadows look rather dated. Cutscenes, in particular, have a weird grainy appearance that makes them unappealing to watch as well. I do love the styles of each of the multiplayer crews, though; each one has a unique appearance that conveys a ton of character.
Performance-wise, Disintegration works as intended for the most part. There are a few notable issues, though. The first is texture and object pop-in, which sometimes occurs in campaign levels with long sightlines. Additionally, sometimes objectives in the campaign bug out and completing them doesn’t advance the mission, forcing you to restart the entire level. When this happens, it’s a massive annoyance. Lastly, in multiplayer, I noticed that some players’ grav-bikes would sometimes teleport a few feet instead of moving smoothly. It’s not clear if this is a server-related issue or not, but since I saw it occur to multiple players, I’m inclined to believe it is.
Should you buy Disintegration?
Source: Windows Central
If you’re interested in Disintegration, I would advise waiting for a sale. The game is decently fun overall, but I don’t think it’s worth its near-AAA asking price at launch.
Disintegration releases publicly on June 16, 2020, on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It costs $50.
Potential left unfulfilled
Disintegration
It’s okay, but it could be a lot better
Disintegration is built upon a fantastic concept and can be a blast at times, but there’s always a frustrating issue or two around the corner that drags the experience down.
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