The shooter genre can be a very difficult one to break into. With established titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends, CS:GO, and behemoths like Call of Duty already dominating the space, it does seem difficult to get a new shooter to stand out. That doesn’t mean the developers won’t try, though, and recent attempts to break in using new IPs are Synced.
From NExT Studios and Level Infinite, Synced is a third-person co-op shooter set in a not-too-distant future where humanity has been all but wiped out by nanotechnology. Survivors – known as runners – travel to the Meridian, where they can fight back against nanos with standard weapons as well as their own. You can turn almost any big enemy into a friendly Nano, who will then transform into one of four forms: Smasher, Prophet, Guardian, and Suppressor, each with their own unique abilities, but all useful battlefields partner. This guarantees that even in single player you will have a bit of backup.
When you don’t let your Nano roam free, they attach to your arms, giving you a double-jump mechanic that lets you quickly get in and out of combat, as well as a few extra abilities, should you choose to use them. The Smasher, for example, allows you to upgrade your melee attacks and even send flying fist projectiles at enemies for massive damage. However, if you were to get these upgrades on your Nano, you might miss out on getting special weapon upgrades or other abilities. As you complete each mission, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to spend resources on upgrades, but not all of those resources will carry you through each area.
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Synced puts a lot of emphasis on player choice. From the runner you choose to the skill tree for each weapon, there’s a depth to this game that’s a little surprising when you remember it’s free to play. However, to go with the complexity of the weapons and builds, your Nano is rather simplified. They play an obvious role in combat, so you don’t have to worry about what they’re doing when you’re tinkering with your own builds.
All of the above sound good on paper, but the big question remains whether or not Synced will be fun. Well, from the few hours we played with it, the game is still a lot of fun. It’s easy on the eyes, which helps, and often takes on bigger enemies to fight off hordes of weaklings, so that none of these core gameplay aspects are too monotonous. We didn’t try out the game’s PvP mode, but the emphasis here is on co-op, and it’s a blast. The single-player game is good enough and can prove a worthwhile challenge, especially when you face some of the game’s bosses, but the game loops get more exciting when you team up with one or two other players. People are satisfied.
There were some concerns that the content might be a bit dry, as there are only a certain number of unique levels to complete, but NExT Studios and Level Infinite insist they have content ready for future seasons of Synced. There are some ambitious plans for the shooter’s future, but it’s also worth noting that some bugs may need to be fixed before Synced can launch properly, as we encountered some visual glitches during our short time with the game.
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Synced seems like a fun and solid shooter with some great ideas at its core. However, more time will be needed to decide whether these initially exciting concepts turn sour after the first few hours. Synced is unlikely to topple Call of Duty or anything like that, but there’s nothing stopping it from still being a game you should keep an eye on, and if you’re looking for a fast-paced, fairly complex third-person co-op game, you’ve got yourself robot best friend.
