''Disintegration'' is a

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...

developed by V1 Interactive and published by

Private Division Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The brainchild of Take-Two Interactive's Michael Worosz, the subsidiary was founded by Worosz and Allen Murray, and officially announced on December 14, 2017. Private ...

. The game also features elements from the

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to p ...

genre. It was released in June 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

. It was also the only game released by V1 Interactive before their shutdown in March 2021.

Gameplay

The game was played from a

first-person perspective A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller ...

. The player assumes control of Romer Shoal, a Gravcycle pilot. The Gravcycle could hover above the ground and from this position, Romer could issue commands to his four-person squad and activate their abilities while providing aerial support. The Gravcycle in the game has three distinct models, with each granting players different advantages. For instance, Heavy can launch strong attacks but it moves at a slower pace. Romer can use his Gravcycle to highlight different areas of interest and resources, which can be salvaged to upgrade the Gravcycle, the ground units, and his own upgrade chip. The game's multiplayer modes can support up to 10 players. In multiplayer, the player can choose to command a crew, which consists of a gravcycle and several ground units. At launch, players can choose from nine crews. Each crew has their own gameplay characteristics and unique abilities.

Story

The game takes place 150 years into the future. Following a complete collapse of society due to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, a group of scientists develops a technique to transfer the

human brain The human brain is the central organ (anatomy), organ of the human nervous system, and with the spinal cord makes up the central nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the act ...

into a robotic body in order to reduce the demands placed on Earth's resources, which comes to be known as "integration". While integration is only temporary in nature, a militant group named Rayonne emerged to become a superpower and began forcing all humans to conform to the integration process. The game follows a group of outlaws, led by Romer Shoal, who had already "integrated", as they rebel against Rayonne and attempt to "reboot humanity".

Development

The game was directed by Marcus Lehto, the co-creator of the ''Halo'' series. It was the debut title for his studio, V1 Interactive, which employed 30 employees. While Lehto first began brainstorming ideas for the game in 2014, the actual development took around three and a half years. Initially, the team envisioned the game as a

(RTS) title, though he felt that the gameplay was not unique enough. Therefore, Lehto decided to incorporate elements of

into the game by converting the RTS camera into an active participant in combat. '' Myth'' was one of the games that inspired Lehto when he was designing the gameplay. The game's musical score was composed by Jon Everist, who previously worked on ''

Battletech ''BattleTech'' is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The tradema ...

''. Talking about the process, Everist worked closely with the lead audio director and ensured that his music blended well with the gameplay and cinematics, owing to relying on character themes and suites as a basis for the score.

announced that it would publish the game in December 2017. It was officially announced in July 2019. A multiplayer beta was released in January 2020, lasting for two days. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and

on June 16, 2020. The game's multiplayer support was completely removed on November 17, 2020, less than six months after the game's initial release. According to V1 Interactive, "the game unfortunately struggled to build a significant audience necessary for a compelling multiplayer experience". V1 Interactive announced on March 8, 2021, that it would be closing.

Reception

''Disintegration'' received "mixed or average reviews" according to

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Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.disintegrationgame.com/ 2020 video games First-person shooters Private Division games PlayStation 4 games Post-apocalyptic video games Real-time strategy video games Science fiction video games Unreal Engine games Video games scored by Jon Everist Video games developed in the United States Xbox One games Windows games