On top of the major tournaments that is being hosted this weekend in Atlanta, the event also hosts a line of indie games for fans to enjoy between the showcased championships that continuously run throughout the three-day event.
One title that stood out from the bunch is Disjunction from Ape Tribe Games. The New York-based studio brings to the table a mix between Deus Ex & Hotline Miami to introduce another layer to the popular genre that many have praised in the last decade.
On the show floor I got to demo the top-down shooter with about an half hour attempting to reach the end. It’s pixelated aesthetic for one really captures the atmosphere with the conflicting, near future cyberpunk setting. Placing you in New York City, the year is 2048 and the story primarily revolves around the three protagonists that you will play through it’s course.
For the demo, I only played Frank and tested out what’s introduced for the beginning of the game. An off the record detective who helps out the police department for less common crimes. After been given a task to determine what happens after person of interest Lamar goes missing, that sets off the beginning of the game.
What made the game tremendously diverse is the added features in the core gameplay. On top of the idea to shoot your way through levels, there is an option to sneak your way past enemies and perform non-lethal takedowns on unaware enemies. The concept behind this also affects how the story unravels as you progress.
For those who choose to shoot their way through each level will also gain a bad reputation in the game’s world. Backlash from NPCs and more notoriety will shift how you are viewed when you progress through the campaign. Other features that also determines your story outcome is the dialogue options that you will continually run into when playing.
As the story throws you right into the deep end for the game’s plot, there will be figures/events that are mentioned that you won’t be familiar with in the game’s dialogue. The certain instances mentioned will be highlighted and gives details on the prior event. Which I really appreciate when progressing through the story to get as much information as possible.
For the title’s gameplay, it grows out depending on the character you play. For Frank in the demo, it emphasizes on his deadeye mechanic which allow you to get a more precise shot on enemies in the game. For the other two characters it wasn’t mentioned as they are beyond the demo.
How the two manned studio wants to plan their title following it’s launch, studio co-founder Erwan Lecun said they would like to continue with a sequel as the story wouldn’t work well when breaking off for DLC. Stating on the idea of what’s to come in the sequel:
We would have three new characters for the sequel seeing how the game sells after launch. And with new characters we would have you play with more than one; and try to work co-op into the game for you and a friend to play with.
Despite me being unable to complete the demo, as I couldn’t fight my way through, I was completely consumed by the game’s world and gameplay the more I played it. As I underestimated the difficulty for the demo at the event, I look forward to seeing the full game when it releases.
Disjunction is set to launch sometime in 2019 for PC.
