It is a rogue-lite shooter where you must break into a mind to steal memories. And while Fracked wasn’t flawless, it had great gameplay and style.
With Synapse, you have to walk for a while, then you can run once you get enough unlocks. However, this whole process happens on a massively truncated scale. In a game with more content to offer, this would be good. The rate of progression, however, trivializes the game’s core experience almost immediately in Synapse.
When you beat your first run, maybe an hour or two, you unlock a higher difficulty and more story tidbits – but even then, there isn’t much to do. The game has two zones with a few levels each, but they aren’t procedural.
Despite the game’s predominantly monochrome appearance, the environments do blur together after a while. Synapse looks great, but the fidelity is impeccable.
In the title, enemies aren’t smart, but they’re very aggressive, so there’s always something to shoot with one of the guns. You’ll get a number of permanent unlocks, but you’d be better off upgrading your kinesis.
You can crush, throw, or manipulate all manner of items with just a flick of the trigger. Impressive eye tracking allows you to simply look at something to select it. You even have to make sure to not fully squeeze down on the trigger so that you don’t break the item you’re holding if certain items have to be grabbed delicately. It’s the best implementation of “The Force” from Star Wars we’ve played to date.
In terms of mechanics, Synapse is incredible, but its content is a different story. This feels like a proof of concept for a full experience, if the content match the gameplay.
Pros:
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It’s amazing to use Kinesis.
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A phenomenal game.
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A great visual.
Cons:
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Everything looks samey in monochrome.
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Not enough content.
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Not the smartest AI.
I’d take 7 over 10.