SYNTHETIK 2 is a bold continuation of SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising. Fight a world overrun by the relentless Machine Legion. Experience the next level in gun-play and upgrade yourself beyond measure to rival their Gods. Can you defeat the Heart of Armageddon?
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another early access roguelite for 3 years yawn
Alright, I think this game is in a good enough place for me to review it.
When this game first debuted in EA I played about an hour of it and promptly uninstalled. Not out of malice, anger or disappointment but because it was rough. Rougher than I expect from EA launches. It was very obviously just "Synthetik 1 but jury-rigged into a 3D format" and there were a ton of issues with that. Mostly in regards to weapon firing, line of sight, and all that.
Well fast forward to 2024 and now it's so much better. Good lord. Feels like an actual game now.
The most immediately noticeable improvements from Synthetik 1 are that the game is infinitely less of a rocket tag experience (translation: you don't die in two-three hits most of the time) while still retaining its edge. Individual stray shots won't knock off 60% of your health bar, but if you stand still too often you'll still die in a few seconds flat. Striking a balance between aimed shots and run 'n' gunning is still important, but fucking up the rhythm isn't an immediate death sentence, hurrah.
Classes feel meaningfully different this time, with them having entirely different playstyles rather than just being alternate kits. Chrono Interceptor, Breacher and Riot Guard seem identical at first, but Interceptor is focused on crowd control by default whereas Breacher has huge AoE clear and Riot Guard is more about engaging in slugfests through survivability. Recon Sniper slows you down in exchange for making you deathly accurate, Heavy Gunner is all about putting more firepower downrange than enemies have health, Commando is a melee assassin, Demolisher is exactly what you think it is, Machine Hunter is centered on ambushes, and Eliminator is the archetypal glass cannon.
Some adjustments can be made to starting kits prior to each mission, including alternate primary weapons (thank god) and various unlockable alternate abilities, but generally speaking the classes don't deviate much from their role.
Items are, on the whole, much more balanced. Granted, I did reinstall shortly after a huge rework for them specifically. There aren't any obvious shitters or hyper-situational ones and pretty much all of them have some use now. The catch is that there are less items which will ~win~ a run, but this is a tradeoff I'm willing to make.
Also, while I felt Synthetik 1 played better on controller, this game feels delightful on either option.
Bosses still suck though. That first boss, the jet? Good luck if you're a melee build, because it's eternally out of the arena. They're not great, but still doable.
The best part of 2, though, is modifiers. There are 6 options (at the time of writing) for each run that allow the player to tune the game however they want.
Do you hate shooting on the move and wish it was less punishing? Turn on Arcade Mode to go faster and shoot better.
Do you like the soft Tactical Shooter elements and wish they were harsher? Turn on SWAT Mode for more damage both ways and harsher headshot damage.
Do you struggle to hit reloads and hate the deviation mechanic? Turn on simple mode.
Do you just want an easier time? Relaxed mode.
Do you want to play Synthetik 1? Synthetik 1 mode.
"But what is Synthetik?" You may ask.
The Synthetik series are top-down roguelites with an emphasis on gunplay, positioning and reloading. The first game is a 2D 100% topdown game, while this is 3D and somewhat isometric.
If I just explain it to you, it'll sound boring: You go through randomly arranged cyberpunk levels picking up loot, shooting enemies and buying stuff at the store while fighting a boss every few floors.
Synthetik has two major factors that make it stand out compared to its peers.
First off, sound design. Playing this game feels like an auditory dream. Weapon sounds are punchy, loud and impactful. Going full auto with any weapon sounds like opening a brief portal to hell.
Reloading mag-fed weapons has a tasty clunk to it, and reloading shotguns has that same stock sound effect that every fictional shotgun uses, but it's beautiful all the same.
Class abilities occupy a wide spectrum from the zippy doop-woop of the Chrono Interceptor's time powers or the explosive roar of the Breacher's charges.
And the crit sound, my god. It's a high pitched but impactful PING that signifies you've just devoured a chunk of an enemy's health. The only sound more beautiful than Synthetik's crit sound is that thing trans women do where they laugh so hard their boy voice comes back for a bit.
The second is a little harder to describe.
Everything about this game carries a weight to it, and in gameplay terms this results in a game that looks like a twitchy shooter from an outside perspective, but in the moment-to-moment it's a tactical experience where options have to be weighed carefully.
Sure, you can fire weapons full auto and enjoy the soundscape, but there are three things that need to be considered here: Recoil, heat and jamming. Like in real life, weapons can veer wildly off target when fired on full and will inevitably heat up.
Furthermore, they can jam with repeated use. You can account for everything but jams are random, and while they only need a few taps of the reload key to clear, it's still an unexpected variable that's best kept in the back of one's mind during a firefight.
More importantly, though, is the mere act of reloading.
I've always been a little sad that Gears of War's legacy was the cover system, and not Active Reloading. In GoW, you tap the reload and then can tap it again at a specific frame to speed it up and/or buff the next shot.
Synthetik takes that system wholesale and adds another wrinkle: The keys for ejecting magazines and reloading are entirely separate.
This might not seem like much, but Synthetik's entire shtick is throwing wrenches in your carefully laid approaches. It's easy to hit E then R then R again while out of a fight, but doing it in the heat of battle (possibly while 4 missile pods are crushing your framerate) is a whole skill to learn.
The end result of all this is a game that looks fast and certainly is, but in reality has enough tactical shooter DNA in it that everything becomes a careful balancing act. Wearing the mask of a twinstick shooter doesn't change the fact that Synthetik is harsh, but it is fair and if you engage with it's silent lessons, it will treat you right.
Until you get a high-caliber sniper rifle and blow your head off because the bullets riccochet.
If you want any extra praise from me: I'm very harsh on roguelites/roguelikes and will often quit out of them if they don't justify why I'd ever want to do more than one run. It's a huge part of why I hold such venom for Hades.
I play Synthetik for the joy of it. I don't care what comes after, I only care about its beautiful neon present.
Oh, and the soundtrack bangs.
When this game first debuted in EA I played about an hour of it and promptly uninstalled. Not out of malice, anger or disappointment but because it was rough. Rougher than I expect from EA launches. It was very obviously just "Synthetik 1 but jury-rigged into a 3D format" and there were a ton of issues with that. Mostly in regards to weapon firing, line of sight, and all that.
Well fast forward to 2024 and now it's so much better. Good lord. Feels like an actual game now.
The most immediately noticeable improvements from Synthetik 1 are that the game is infinitely less of a rocket tag experience (translation: you don't die in two-three hits most of the time) while still retaining its edge. Individual stray shots won't knock off 60% of your health bar, but if you stand still too often you'll still die in a few seconds flat. Striking a balance between aimed shots and run 'n' gunning is still important, but fucking up the rhythm isn't an immediate death sentence, hurrah.
Classes feel meaningfully different this time, with them having entirely different playstyles rather than just being alternate kits. Chrono Interceptor, Breacher and Riot Guard seem identical at first, but Interceptor is focused on crowd control by default whereas Breacher has huge AoE clear and Riot Guard is more about engaging in slugfests through survivability. Recon Sniper slows you down in exchange for making you deathly accurate, Heavy Gunner is all about putting more firepower downrange than enemies have health, Commando is a melee assassin, Demolisher is exactly what you think it is, Machine Hunter is centered on ambushes, and Eliminator is the archetypal glass cannon.
Some adjustments can be made to starting kits prior to each mission, including alternate primary weapons (thank god) and various unlockable alternate abilities, but generally speaking the classes don't deviate much from their role.
Items are, on the whole, much more balanced. Granted, I did reinstall shortly after a huge rework for them specifically. There aren't any obvious shitters or hyper-situational ones and pretty much all of them have some use now. The catch is that there are less items which will ~win~ a run, but this is a tradeoff I'm willing to make.
Also, while I felt Synthetik 1 played better on controller, this game feels delightful on either option.
Bosses still suck though. That first boss, the jet? Good luck if you're a melee build, because it's eternally out of the arena. They're not great, but still doable.
The best part of 2, though, is modifiers. There are 6 options (at the time of writing) for each run that allow the player to tune the game however they want.
Do you hate shooting on the move and wish it was less punishing? Turn on Arcade Mode to go faster and shoot better.
Do you like the soft Tactical Shooter elements and wish they were harsher? Turn on SWAT Mode for more damage both ways and harsher headshot damage.
Do you struggle to hit reloads and hate the deviation mechanic? Turn on simple mode.
Do you just want an easier time? Relaxed mode.
Do you want to play Synthetik 1? Synthetik 1 mode.
"But what is Synthetik?" You may ask.
The Synthetik series are top-down roguelites with an emphasis on gunplay, positioning and reloading. The first game is a 2D 100% topdown game, while this is 3D and somewhat isometric.
If I just explain it to you, it'll sound boring: You go through randomly arranged cyberpunk levels picking up loot, shooting enemies and buying stuff at the store while fighting a boss every few floors.
Synthetik has two major factors that make it stand out compared to its peers.
First off, sound design. Playing this game feels like an auditory dream. Weapon sounds are punchy, loud and impactful. Going full auto with any weapon sounds like opening a brief portal to hell.
Reloading mag-fed weapons has a tasty clunk to it, and reloading shotguns has that same stock sound effect that every fictional shotgun uses, but it's beautiful all the same.
Class abilities occupy a wide spectrum from the zippy doop-woop of the Chrono Interceptor's time powers or the explosive roar of the Breacher's charges.
And the crit sound, my god. It's a high pitched but impactful PING that signifies you've just devoured a chunk of an enemy's health. The only sound more beautiful than Synthetik's crit sound is that thing trans women do where they laugh so hard their boy voice comes back for a bit.
The second is a little harder to describe.
Everything about this game carries a weight to it, and in gameplay terms this results in a game that looks like a twitchy shooter from an outside perspective, but in the moment-to-moment it's a tactical experience where options have to be weighed carefully.
Sure, you can fire weapons full auto and enjoy the soundscape, but there are three things that need to be considered here: Recoil, heat and jamming. Like in real life, weapons can veer wildly off target when fired on full and will inevitably heat up.
Furthermore, they can jam with repeated use. You can account for everything but jams are random, and while they only need a few taps of the reload key to clear, it's still an unexpected variable that's best kept in the back of one's mind during a firefight.
More importantly, though, is the mere act of reloading.
I've always been a little sad that Gears of War's legacy was the cover system, and not Active Reloading. In GoW, you tap the reload and then can tap it again at a specific frame to speed it up and/or buff the next shot.
Synthetik takes that system wholesale and adds another wrinkle: The keys for ejecting magazines and reloading are entirely separate.
This might not seem like much, but Synthetik's entire shtick is throwing wrenches in your carefully laid approaches. It's easy to hit E then R then R again while out of a fight, but doing it in the heat of battle (possibly while 4 missile pods are crushing your framerate) is a whole skill to learn.
The end result of all this is a game that looks fast and certainly is, but in reality has enough tactical shooter DNA in it that everything becomes a careful balancing act. Wearing the mask of a twinstick shooter doesn't change the fact that Synthetik is harsh, but it is fair and if you engage with it's silent lessons, it will treat you right.
Until you get a high-caliber sniper rifle and blow your head off because the bullets riccochet.
If you want any extra praise from me: I'm very harsh on roguelites/roguelikes and will often quit out of them if they don't justify why I'd ever want to do more than one run. It's a huge part of why I hold such venom for Hades.
I play Synthetik for the joy of it. I don't care what comes after, I only care about its beautiful neon present.
Oh, and the soundtrack bangs.
untill it have coop
id say this is a bad game
id say this is a bad game