At a look Synthetik might appear like one more stat-bloated roguelike shooter, however its gunplay feels prefer it’s lifted from a heavyweight tactical sim. This is a game about highly effective, loud weapons that punch smouldering holes in offended robots. Guns that want manually unloading earlier than you may slam one other journal in. Guns which jam or overheat whereas a dozen homing missiles swirl in in your place – it’s intense stuff. Flow Fire Games first launched this in March, however in the present day’s expanded model – Legion Rising – was my first time taking part in, and I dig it. Check the brand new trailer beneath.
Synthetik is an odd mix – the clear pre-rendered artwork jogs my memory of the outdated Crusader: No Remorse, however its gunplay feels cribbed equally from Counter-Strike, Call Of Duty and Borderlands. More than different motion roguelikes I’ve performed, that is about managing chaos. You’ll need to shoot a whole lot of robots, however a state of affairs can simply spiral uncontrolled, leaving you with jammed weapons, shields drained and 4 bots about to barrel not far away. Do you heal? Throw a teleporting grenade? Sprint to distant cowl? Death comes rapidly, and there’s no grace interval after taking injury.
From the dozen or so rounds I’ve performed up to now (though by no means previous the second boss – an enormous VTOL plane), it’s satisfying and really technical stuff. Gun administration is extra concerned than most games, and while you’ve solely received a restricted ammo pool for every of your 4 weapons (three mains and a sidearm), you may need to take issues slower and let reticules tighten sufficient to land headshots. At least failed runs give you a gradual stream of minor unlocks and upgrades to tilt the percentages just a little additional your method subsequent time, however bullets by no means cease hurting.
While I used to be late to the occasion, returning gamers can take a look at the discharge notes for the Legion Rising enlargement here. It’s just a little extra of every part – extra enemy sorts, extra bosses, new weapons, music and new class specialisations. There’s loads right here, and methods I’ve solely simply begun studying. I’ll positively be taking part in extra of this over the subsequent few weeks, and possibly even making an attempt its on-line co-op later. While I’ve solely performed a pair hours of this up to now, it has my guarded suggestion – it’s a well-known style, however a contemporary tackle it with one of the best robo-deaths since Binary Domain.
Synthetik: Legion Rising is out now on Steam and GOG for £17/20/$20. You can see extra on its official page here.
