The free shooter “Synced” on Steam convinced me with nanotechnology-driven AI allies in a dystopian world. However, the game also has its downsides and will likely only excite you for now if you don’t mind extensive grinding.
What kind of game is Synced? Synced is a science-fiction action-adventure developed by NExT Studios and published by Level Infinite, which officially released for PC on September 8. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S are expected to follow soon.
In this third-person shooter, you can compete against futuristic zombies or other players in both PvE and PvP, blending established shooter recipes from Outriders, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, or Warframe.
- The game is definitely graphically successful and allows for precise movements and fast gunplay for your characters.
- After a tutorial, you arrive at Haven, from where you then start conquering the Meridian.
- If you kill a so-called “Nano-Prime” in a mission, you can “absorb” or “hack” it and create your own “Nano-Buddy” from it.
- This “Prime” is now your strongest active and passive player ability in Synced, which you can even transform into a surfboard or a giant fist if needed.
With this buddy, you can play PvE as a solo player with matchmaking, as well as shake up PvP. And all of this with up to three friends.
In this trailer, you can see what the gameplay of Synced has to offer:
Solid shooter mechanics, but quickly becomes monotonous
This is how the nano-shooter plays: We played Tencent’s third-person shooter in its beta back in December 2022 and found the idea of fighting against a zombie apocalypse with an AI ally cool.
Now, in the official version of the game, we could once again be impressed by the dystopian world and the successful graphics with their immersive atmosphere. Also, because much has improved positively. For example, the request for more story from beta players’ feedback has been implemented.
In the gameplay, there are some combinations between the 4 Nano companions and the various runners for you to try out. As is often the case, an optimal combination of different characters is ideal here.
The controls are also precise, and the variety of available weapons and abilities offers many tactical possibilities. However, the biggest problem of Synced for us is the grind mechanics.
Laborious progress that requires a lot of time: Progress in the game is complex and often feels laborious and time-consuming.
Unlocking weapons, equipment, and abilities simply requires a considerable amount of time and dedication. Those who want to see everything must engage with the game for a long time, and those who are not willing to invest that in “Synced” will quickly lose patience to stick around.
This happens because the missions all feel very similar and become no longer challenging after a while. It doesn’t engage you when you have to fight through similar waves of nanos in similar areas repeatedly to improve your equipment.
- There is hardly any time for discoveries and secrets – each mission needs to go quickly, and there is no real open world where you can look around freely and without time pressure.
- Moreover, the various heroes with fixed roles and faces suffer the individuality. Identifying with the character becomes difficult, even with skins.
- Eventually, I got stuck in PvP because it offers more entertaining challenges in the 3vs3 scenarios. Especially when you synchronize with your nano and send it into battle.
Unfortunately, the hope for a grand sci-fi story in the main campaign is also disappointed, as its narrative remains well-crafted but quite flat. Although more story and lore are already provided based on player feedback from the beta.
This pattern is also followed by the characters, who for me have a bit too little personality and monotonous dialogues. The latter may only bother me, as I am used to such grand shooter stories as in Destiny 2. However, free seasonal content is supposed to come to the game, which will highlight a runner over several months, reminiscent of the live-service model of Destiny 2.
Can you have fun in this shooter? Definitely. At least you won’t go wrong giving the game a chance. Especially not if you are looking for a new action shooter.
Synced may not have reinvented the proven shooter recipe. But especially your AI buddies bring a certain finesse to the game. Even if they sometimes like to walk right into the line of fire.
However, the game is perfect for anyone who is attracted to hard grinding and who doesn’t mind returning to areas they have already completed. Of course, it is not excluded that this will still be expanded in upcoming updates.
It should also be mentioned that Synced offers microtransactions in the game, but does not overly emphasize them. You have to actively go to the merchant to see what packages, skins, currencies, and other items are for sale. So it won’t be waved in front of your face directly.
Which aspects of “Synced” appeal to you personally? And what do you think is the most important factor that determines whether a free-to-play game resonates with you or not? Feel free to let us know directly in the comments.
You can read what the developers said about their game here: A new shooter is coming, and the boss is sure: ‘This has never been done before’
