Synced is a new free-to-play game and will start its beta on December 10th on Steam. At its core, it is a roguelite game in the form of a loot shooter with coop and PvP elements. MeinMMO was allowed to rampage over the servers for a few hours. Editor Maik Schneider was present and had to respectfully nod after the tutorial.
Synced invited us to play a few rounds in the new loot shooter shortly before the start of the open beta on Steam. The game is currently only coming to PC and will later also be announced for consoles.
Before the appointment, I was supposed to play the tutorial, which I have uploaded here as a video.
I was very surprised because I was served one of the best tutorials I have ever played. It got straight to the point, and I immediately got an impression of what the roguelite loot shooter has to offer:
- A touch of Destiny
- Equipment depth from Division
- Progress like in CoD
- Own ideas – Roguelite & companions
Destiny feelings: The space shooter Destiny manages to make every hit on the opponent feel good, every headshot like a victory, and every maneuver like a trained pro trick.
This feeling is generated by the loot shooter with special effects – the field of view, grenades, the camera control. Everything feels smooth and rewarding. I immediately felt the same with Synced. After 6,000 hours in the Destiny universe, I can judge this well.
In addition, everything in Synced revolves around 3-player teams.
Depth of The Division: Synced offers extensive customization options and many components that ultimately make up your build. There are also random aspects that change a bit in each run.
Progress like in CoD: As you rank up, you get new weapons. As you play with the weapons, they also rank up. You find small progress screws everywhere that improve your build and invite you to play. This felt very motivating right away.
Own innovations: Synced does not completely rely on established AAA concepts but sets strong own accents. At the forefront are the roguelite elements:
- Mission objectives in the matches vary randomly
- You find random elements for your build only for that one run
- If you go down, there is no checkpoint – you return to the base
In addition, you always have a nano companion with you. You can either call it and let it fight for you or “mount” it as reinforcement on your body. A companion ensures that you run faster and deal more melee damage.
My first conclusion: Loot and shooter fans should take a look
Overall, I played for about 2 hours and the tutorial did not promise too much.
The difficulty level is usually hard for a roguelite, and my team and I could not defeat the first showcased boss. But it awakened the desire for more. Moreover, there was nothing to complain about regarding graphics and performance.
Especially the free-to-play model makes the title extremely interesting – everyone can convince themselves of the innovative approaches without having to dig deep into their pockets. If Synced falls short in the mid and endgame, you can safely let it gather dust in your Steam library.
I only noticed minimal pay-to-win in the version I played – you can buy weapon skins and use the corresponding weapons without having to unlock them.
Apparently, the gaming year 2022 is finally getting into full swing: New coop game is one day on Steam, has directly 107,000 players
