We immerse ourselves in the beta technique of Disintegration to see how the multiplayer of Marcus Lehto's new multiplayer performs in motion.
"It's like if you were playing chess and had to move a series of chips to win," said Disintegration director Marcus Letho, at the FreeGameTips microphone. A phrase that summarizes the essence that transmits the new work of V1 Interactive. Essence that inevitably reminds of the times of Combat Evolved. The creative Letho returns, the Letho capable of grasping a popular genre and twisting it until a new face of him is achieved. Because, yes, the world belongs to the brave.
After our first step in Gamescom 2019, Disintegration returns to our hands to demonstrate its playable muscle. It does this through its recent private beta (and public part), a small test in which to verify how it performs for the first time away from a prepared environment, especially in its competitive mode; The campaign remains locked for this test.
The pieces do not fit
We will be direct: the first feeling at the controls is to be before an amalgam of elements that do not work combined. The little tutorial that we are introduced to has nothing to do with what we found in a traditional game. Suddenly, with hardly any adaptation time, we are fighting against other players who also do not seem to be very clear about what to do.
The tricks of its formula disintegrate on the side of the PvP. Disintegration is often shown as a leisurely, arrhythmic title, where the strategy takes precedence over any other value, especially by the introduction of controllable NPCs. What we find here is a bland killer, players who swarm around the map like sponges of bullets that hardly require the ability to make them kiss the canvas.
As we say in the ladder that gives rise to these lines, "the pieces do not fit." The mix of genres of its formula clashes frontally with what is required in a competitive first person shooter. There is no tactics or planning, only the noise of shrapnel impacts against the rival plate. The orders of our AI-controlled partners only serve as mere run-offs. Mind you, with your own cooldown. That if you throw a mortar in this position, that if a few mines over there … the reality is that they are useless.
Defects that must be cleared
We can come to understand that a small part of the Disintegration experience is not the desired image of the whole. It is quite likely that within the PvE ecosystem it will work well. In fact, it gathers the ingredients to be able to show a good image of what is intended to be achieved with it, but there are basic defects that have to be purified.
Playing with command is a real odyssey. The control has a certain delay, as if it were an input lag, which makes the movement of the ship quite annoying when we need to perform precise actions. It seems to rock, on many occasions we have become stuck with tiny objects on the stage by inertia. We imagine that it is the way of transmitting to remain propelled in vertical, although at the moment it is far from being effective.
These control problems also concern the firing mechanics, the gunplay, proper. We rarely feel comfortable firing the main weapon, perhaps due to the comments in the previous paragraph. It was far from fun to establish a dispute between another human player. All duels became static fights to see who pulls the trigger faster. Not even the little feedback (if not void) of the weaponry raised an eyebrow. Zero intensity
What is clear from the beginning is the need to remain coordinated with the rest of the classmates. Spending lead with them in capture areas is an indispensable requirement if we want to opt for victory. In that sense it does arrive; in the rest, no. Not to mention the serious balance problems on the pitch. In many occasions our regeneration zone remained blocked by the rival, which became a succession of deaths without being able to cope.
Months of hard work
It gives a little anger to see how such a fresh proposal on paper stays on the shore. This build is far from the level we expected in terms of quality. Marcus management has already shown in the past to be able to carry out any project, no matter how difficult the road may be.
This first time with Disintegration has not been the best. Perhaps with the comments collected from the community, the work can focus on polishing the defects and focusing on where you can breastfeed. It is clear that between the RTS and the SPF there is more weight than the latter. However, without the spicy component of real-time strategy it would be nothing. Because what we expect from Disintegration is a tactical game without forgetting its shooter roots: accessible, functional, precise.
There is still fabric to cut before it lands on the market at some unknown point in 2020 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
