Disintegration
By David Chapman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Hybrid shooter starts off slow, builds impressive gameplay.
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Disintegration
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What’s It About?
DISINTEGRATION takes place on Earth in the near future, at a time when climate change, overpopulation, and a global pandemic have pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. In order to preserve mankind's future, scientists find a way to "integrate" people's minds into robotic bodies while working on a cure. Now, a war has broken out between those refusing to allow mankind to return to their organic forms and those yearning to be human once more. Romer Shoal was once a celebrity Gravcycle racer and the poster boy for Integration, until he took a stand against the Rayonne and its hardline stance against natural humans. Now, Romer is a fugitive and a rebel, working with a crew of other Outlaws to fight back against the Rayonne and give humanity a second chance at being human. Players can follow Romer's journey in Disintegration's epic single-player campaign mode, or put your Gravcycle skills to the test and lead your team of Outlaws to victory in any of three intense 5v5 online multiplayer game modes.
Is It Any Good?
This action title is a game that takes the term "hybrid" to new extremes. One minute when you're playing Disintegration, you think you're playing a first-person shooter, but the next, you've switched over to a real-time strategy game. Toss in the occasional flight simulator/racing vibe, as well as a few side quests, and you wind up with a game that could be describes has having a bit of an identity crisis. And make no mistake, early on, things can feel confusing and disjointed. But much like an orchestra tuning up before a show, what starts off as a noisy mess soon slides into place and makes way for an impressive performance. As frustrating as things might be at the start, there comes a point when players break through a wall, find a groove, and everything just sort of clicks together. Before long, you're strafing enemy squads on your Gravcycle while simultaneously ordering your squad to chuck grenades and focus fire on hefty juggernauts, all working together like a well-oiled machine.
The controls aren't the only bumps in Disintegration that smooth out over time. The plot feels a bit stale at first, but once players start to uncover more about Romer Shoal's past and how he wound up going from celebrity spokesman to rebel outlaw, the foundation of the game's lore starts to gain more structure. The gameplay can seem repetitive at times, with players going through the same motions in missions and fighting the same foes. But once you notice, the game changes things with some new threat or twist to shake up the formula. The game's three multiplayer modes put their own spin on classic shooter match types and while these seem familiar, there's a heavy reliance on players' command of their ground units. In fact, in some matches, those are the only units that can score points. This tends to put players in more of a support role with their Gravcycle. Like the rest of the game, it makes for an awkward change of pace at first, but one that becomes second nature in time.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the impact of the violence in Disintegration affected by the lack of blood in the game? Would the violence have more impact if there was more realistic blood and gore included in the game?
How can games help to teach kids to work together as a team? What can games teach about dealing with toxic players and being a good sport?
Game Details
- Platforms: PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Private Division
- Release date: June 16, 2020
- Genre: First-Person Shooter
- Topics: Adventures , Robots , Science and Nature
- ESRB rating: T for Mild Blood, Mild Language, Violence
- Last updated: June 10, 2020
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