We went hands-on with Synced, the upcoming PC looter-shooter that infuses nanotechnology into every element of its gameplay. It’s heading into open beta on December 10 if you’d like to try it for yourself. Previewed by Jarrett Green
#IGN #Gaming
There are a lot of options out there for People who want to shoot their way Through hordes of enemies with the Company or their friends but I'd wager None of them let you do so with a pet That doubles as a metal super arm that Would even make Bucky Barnes jealous and Tour sinked a roguelike looter shooter With an emphasis on a creative buddy System between man and man's best Bio-organic front of me that emphasis Kept me engaged throughout my limited Early Access play session but also Highlighted some of its less imaginative Elements like extremely basic gameplay Repetitive level design and hit or miss Skill progression Foreign What stands out immediately is the Setting which puts a lot more science Into the Sci-Fi post-apocalypse in Synced dark future nanotechnology goes From Miracle bioengineering breakthrough To society collapsing super oopsy pretty Quickly nanoparticles in everyday People's bodies got scrambled turning Them into mindless crystalline husks or Some other more brutal form of rock-like Monsters there's still some manner of Ability to control nanotech on a small Scale which is where our super powered Survivors come into play It ultimately Boils down to shooting a lot of mean Monsters And even if that doesn't
Functionally change the zombie formula It does at least Grant sync some style Points the big unique feature that tries To separate this looter shooter from the Pack is your ability to weaponize these Nano beasts as companions that join you In battle becoming four varieties that Crush shield and shoot enemies at your Command becoming either great additional Offense for your fire team or resilient Tanks to draw enemy fire away from them They are more than just techno Pokemon Though were not summoned to smash they Provide you with a unique passive and Active abilities diversifying your kit Options and always making their presence Impactful this is certainly the feature I am most interested in diving into in Future iterations the runners themselves Besides coming in various shapes sizes And temperaments also have active and Passive abilities specific to them Glory Does bonus damage when hitting enemy Weak points and can cause poison to Smoke that blocks sight some characters Are more useful in PVE or PVP depending Largely on these skills all of Dr Stone Or dead Cuts abilities are useful in PVE Whereas aragna's ability to detect rival Runners doesn't apply in modes where There are none these can sometimes spice Up what is very Bare Bones third person Shooting otherwise with no cover or Stealth to be found with practice you
Can offset these potential downsides With tactical Acumen and some good loot But the three-stage mission I played in My allotted demo time was tough each one Required us to clear away some Storm Surges of nano energy racing a surge Counter that would gradually make the Stage harder the longer we spent in it If it got to 100 we took continuous Damage until completing the final task Destroying the big Twisted surge Formation the storm surges were Epicenters for enemy activity swarms of Monsters in various shapes and sizes all Protecting the prime Meadow a mini boss Causing all the Ruckus as the normal Nanos were easy in small groups these Primes would often surprise me with how Tenacious they can be you can dot all The clear more storms and required if You want to gain more Loot and Opportunities at more mods but the clock Is ticking and I felt that tension Between exploration and getting to the End as quickly as possible what I didn't Feel was much of an urge to explore the First mission stoic warehouses ghostly Train yards and Rolling Hills were not Very appealing the layout is randomized Every time you start a new run but not In a way that feels significantly Different from the last one during Missions you get a currency from enemies That you can spend on upgrades that
Alter Runners and their companions Offense and defense roguelike Style I Really got a kick out of the system Especially when the RNG was in my favor Giving me skills that doubled and Tripled down on each other with weapons Being largely generic modern military Fare these upgrades added a flare that Was really missing without them I really Favored anything that would allow me to Generate explosives by attacking and Defeating enemies letting me wreak a Little offensive chaos of my own to even The atoms you can also find Runner mods Which can be equipped between runs which Further adds some nuance and Customizability to your gameplay these Felt more missed than hit though as some Boosts seem to have minor noticeable Effects and others just seem to not work At all all in all this seems like a good First strike against the dense wall of Looter shooter service games that syncs Attempting to infiltrate there are still A few lingering questions of course how Will monetization work will it be cross Play Etc but it's strong femin central Focus on AI battle buddies does at least Add Intrigue beyond the completely Confident if not simplistic shooting and Looting an inconsistent character skills And mods you'll be able to drop in and Take it to the Nano apocalypse yourself When the synced beta opens to the public
On December 10th for more on synced Check out the open Beta trailer and for Everything else in the world of video Games keep it locked on IGN
