The engines are warming up on the gameDisintegration, the new shooter game fromHaloco-creator Marcus Lehto and his relatively new studio V1 Interactive. The game is opening its doors to the wider public for the first time this week, with a closed technical beta starting Tuesday, January 28 and transitioning into a full open beta on January 31. DespiteDisintegrationbeing the first game from V1 Interactive, fans of Bungie’sHalogames and even current fans ofDestiny 2would be remiss to not pay attention toDisintegration.
That’s becauseDisintegrationlooks likean evolutionary mashup of some of Bungie’s best gamesof the past, includingHaloandMyth, both game franchises that Lehto was involved in the development of from a top level during his long tenure at Bungie.
Disintegrationis its own game, very separate from Bungie, and it is taking its own strides forward to define itself as a new kind of vehicle-based shooter with squad strategy elements so that’s not to say fans should be expecting a clone. But many veterans of Bungie have joined Lehto at V1 Interactive including Lee Wilson, the story and cinematic lead onHalo: Reach, and Raj Nattam, an artist on bothHaloandDestiny.
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It won’t be long before players get their hands on the game themselves, but just looking at the footage, it is easy to seeLehto’s signature stylestamped on the game as well as the first-person shooting and vehicle combat reminiscent ofHalo, the strategy elements ofMyth, and the squad-based narrative à laHalo: Reach. Not only that, but the game is set in a sci-fi universe, so by all accounts, the game is playing to all of its developer’s strengths. This means there’s a lot of expectation on whether or notDisintegrationwill live up to its spiritual predecessors, and while the verdict is clearly still out, this beta could be the first step in realizing that.
The world ofDisintegrationfocuses on a future earth where the human race was nearly pushed to extinction; however, scientists adopted a way to save humanity by removing the human brain and putting it into a robotic armature, a process called integration. This is whereDisintegrationgets its name. Fast forward decades in the story, and a group of these Integrated humans formed who have no desire to reverse the process. This antagonistic force, called the Rayonne, are on a mission to hunt down every last human and force them to go through integration. The players take on the role of Romer, a rebel Integrated who is out to protect humanity with a group of fellow outlaws with the hope to one day restore humanity to the way it was—todis-integrate.
Disintegrationis set to release in 2020 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
