Synapse Review

June 29, 2023

Synapse is the latest release from nDreams a studio that is becoming my favourite in VR, as they like to try different things with each release. I was instantly interested in Synapse when they released the first trailer with the fast paced action and art style getting my attention immediately.

STORY

In the game you are put into the shoes of a highly trained agent, with the job of breaking into the mind of Colonel Peter Conrad. You will go deeper into his mind to try and unlock the secrets about his plans of a devastating attack on the state. But, is everything as it seems?

GAMEPLAY

The game plays out with a rougelike approach, as your death restarts your run, but you will be given the opportunity to upgrade your abilities making you stronger for future runs. The game is made up of three runs, which consist of nine zones. Meaning as you progressively get stronger, the enemies will with you, as they start to deal more damage and absorb more punishment in each of three runs.

At your disposal you will have your weapon and telekinesis in order to take down the many enemy types you come across. Mixing weapons with telekinesis does make you feel bad-ass at times, when everything comes together smoothly as you shoot enemies, throw metal crates and throw and explode barrels with your powers – you really do feel super human. You will have to make sure you move and use cover at the correct time in order to get the best out of run without taking too much damage. One thing I loved seeing make a return is the excellent cover system from FRACKED, which has you gripping the cover and moving yourself up and down or left and right.

As you complete runs you will be completing challenges called Revelation’s, which are given for completing in-game actions like killing a set number of an enemy type. On your death you will then unlock Insight points from the completed Revelation’s, these Insight points are used to unlock permanent upgrades/abilities for your next attempts. As mentioned above, the idea is complete the loop and keep going back stronger and stronger, but you have to expect to die and slowly make progress as you get stronger for the next attempt.

As well as the permanent unlocks, you will also be getting temporary in-run abilities called Mind Hacks. You will be given an option out of two every zone you complete, these really will change how you handle each run and make each attempt feel fresh, as you adapt to the choices you make. These can range from doing more damage at close range to the enemies dropping explosive Orbs on death. However, these will be lost when on death and will not carry over to your next run.

The final element of your runs is Defiance. This is currency you can spend in run, but you will lose any you have remaining on your death. This is collected from dead enemies and a bloom that will be located in hidden areas in each zone. You will be using this at zone-based shops to purchase ammo, health and more.

With all of this in mind, Synapse has been made with replay-ability in mind. Not only because you have to be prepared to fail, upgrade and go again, but it allows you be creative with the combat and mix each run up with different in-run abilities being selected. All while the story is being unveiled the more you progress in each run.

PRESENTATION

Visually the artistic design of Synapse is beautiful. With the main color palette being black, greys and whites, with hints of colors being brought in other aspects. This makes the enemies health bars stand out, your gun particles and pulses in orange, the items you can use telekinesis on being highlighted when looked at or activated in purple and pinks, the Defiance in red, the explosions and fire around some of the zones looking fantastic and finally the door to exit the zone being pink, purple and blue. Adding all these accents of color into the mix makes for a really special visual aesthetic.

One thing I love about the audio in Synapse is that David Hayter (Solid Snake) is voice acting the Colonel and Jennifer Hale (Rivet, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart) as your mission handler and only connection to the outside world. It’s great to see such legendary voice actors being in Virtual Reality games together and brings the character emotions to life. With the level sound being made up of music that fits in with the theme and the action of the game, bullets flying by you, your gun firing and of the pulse of your telekinetic abilities when in use.

COMFORT/CONTROLS

Synapse is fast-paced and involves a lot of throwing and physically moving your arms, so for me the only way to get the most out of the game is by playing standing. The way it plays means you also only get full locomotion and no teleport, but they have included movement orientation and vignette options to help people who suffer from motion sickness. Where this might not make it accessible to everyone, it really is the only way the team could approach movement and action in the game.

TRACKED CONTROLLERS

GAMEPAD

The game has been made from the ground-up as an exclusive for PSVR2, meaning nDreams have been able to concentrate on making use all the technology available. From advanced haptics in the controllers, the adaptive triggers and headset haptics. As well as this, you can control what you are grabbing with your telekinesis using the eye-tracking to highlight it – which works perfectly and makes everything feel so natural (if this is not for you, then you can disable this option).

LONGEVITY

At the point of writing this review I have yet to to make it through the third stage of the run, when the game goes into hard mode. But, as aforementioned I am slowly making it further as I get more Insight and go in more powerful. At this point, I have put around seven-hours into the game, with nDreams informing it could take around twelve-hours depending on the players ability to get through your first full run successfully.

REVIEWED USING PLAYSTATION VR 2

For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a review code provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a press code does not affect my judgement of the product.

REVIEW OVERVIEW

nDreams have kept up their trend of releasing fantastic VR games with Synapse. Which for me has been their biggest risk to date, but believe me it has paid off massively. With engaging rougelike design, a exceptional mix of gun-play and telekinesis really making you feel super human and the feeling to want to go straight into your next attempt being ever-present. Add this the exceptional artistic approach, voice acting for David Hayter and Jennifer Hale, and a very re-playable gameplay loop and it makes for one of the best VR releases in 2023 so far.