Skynet meets Zombies with Pokemon-Symbiote elements | SYNCED - Early Preview Impressions

It may seem like SYNCED is just another typical multiplayer out of thousands in an already heavily saturated market, but for me this game is really cooking something special. Imagine a cooperative / PvP looter shooter, rogue-lite, pokemon-symbiote game in a Skynet meets Zombies premise.

Note: This early preview impression will be focusing on the PvE portion of the game only.

First off, the background story and the lore: SYNCED (formerly titled SYNCED: Off-Planet) takes you into a post-apocalyptic world where advanced nanomachines have conquered the world and turned most humans into zombie-like nano creatures. There is a big plot exposition dump at the introduction where a barrage of world ending news reports bombard you with all the necessary details. Honestly it was all too interesting to ignore but was disappointingly overlapped too much to be able to pay attention to.

The survivors have banded into a resistance, forming a home base called Haven, fighting the “nanos” and are trying to clear them out run after run, area after area, grabbing gear and upgrades along the way. These player-controlled runners are the different pre-made distinct characters available to be selected, with their own personalities, skills, abilities, and cosmetics; focusing on different aspects like healing, damage, support, etc. While in Haven, you can also upgrade, customize your weapons using in-game currency as well as add attachments and effect modifiers.

These aforementioned runs form the core of SYNCED’s gameplay, where runs involve clearing out time based increasingly difficult nano-infested segments or “missions”. Culminating in a bullet sponge-attack telegraphing boss fight at the end, completing the mission will give you rewards plus experience on top of obtained loot. Across the semi-open world segments are random loot drops and minor areas with low level bosses that can be cleared. The whole mission layout felt simple enough but with filled with adequate content to offer variety.

SYNCED is truly online-only as far as I know, with no option of offline play. But I have give to credit to the developers for introducing proper preservation of mission progression. I’ve had a few instances where I had to quit the game while in the middle of a run, but was surprised to return in-mission when I reloaded the game. No need to restart the whole run.

The gunplay is very satisfying and feels like a proper AAA game. I also have tried a controller and preliminary support is great, with correct prompts and auto-aiming already baked in. The melee is mechanically enjoyable as well, providing players with a simple hack and slash-esque combat further enhanced by your own nano abilities. In addition, the metallic sounding effects of hitting the nano creatures are too gratifying and a nice contradiction from the gory meaty sound effects from all the zombie killing games we’ve played.

After your first low level boss kill in a run, you can “sync” with it, basically absorbing its nanites, forming it into your own symbiote-like companion out of four available types. To describe it best, it's just like pokemon; The nanites form into a companion of your choice, or you can return it to you in the form of an arm gauntlet which has its own passive effects and abilities when it's attached on you instead of deployed as a companion. It is amazing to witness your companions duking it out with other nanos, protecting you as well as aiding you in inflicting damage. SYNCED also has minor rogue-lite elements where you can unlock temporary skills upgrades, modifiers, or behaviors out of two random options at a time.

For a game still in beta, SYNCED already packs a lot of stuff and feels polished enough to play. The gameplay elements are already refined and enjoyable this early. The graphics are impressive enough and it ran a consistent 100+ fps on my system without any performance issues. It is definitely a game oozing with potential and deserves to be on your watchlist. SYNCED will be available for an Open Beta test starting on December 10 and ends on January 15.