Gamescom Opening Night Live was the stage for the first proper announcement trailer for Disintegration. We hadn’t seen much until now other than a few choice teasers that surfaced last month, and the trailer drops us into the thick of it for a good look at what could be the next big thing for the FPS genre.
Disintegration is the new project of half of the duo behind the acclaimed Halo series, Marcus Lehto, and the independent 30-person studios he set up, V1 Interactive.
It’s a sci-fi shooter set in the near future where the Earth is on the brink of collapse. The worst-case scenario of climate change’s impact on the planet has become a reality, and humans face famine and overpopulation.
To curb a rising death rate, scientists have devised a process called Integration, which sees human brains transferred to armored robotic vessels. It was meant as a temporary solution to be reversed in the future. However, those having undergone the treatment, known as the Rayonne, are eager to retain their new form. This leads to an all-out war, and the Rayonne are on a path to force all remaining humans to undergo Integration or suffer a swift end.
In Disintegration, players take on the role of Romer Shoal, a dissident Rayonne who leads a gang of outlaws intent on ensuring the future of the human race and one day go through Disintegration to regain their original human form.
Romer darts around on a Gravcyle, a levitating bike reminiscent of the pod racers from Star Wars. As you can see in the trailer, combat is broken down between using the heavy weaponry of the cycle and leading a team of units, including mechs, on the ground below. The similarities with Halo in terms of aesthetics are clear to see, and that’s no bad thing.
The gameplay is divvied up between a classic single-player campaign and a completely separate multiplayer component formed of three modes. Multiplayer appears to be a tactical affair with team-based confrontations commanding ground units while careening around on a Gravcycle as in single-player, but obviously against other players.
Disintegration has a planned 2020 release on PlayStation 4, although it seems perfectly suited to a PC release and we imagine that will happen as well.