SYNCED

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SYNCED is a single player and multiplayer shooter game. It was developed by NExT Studios and was released on September 7, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

# About SYNCED **SYNCED** is a futuristic free-to-play co-op shooter developed by NExT Studios and published by Level Infinite. In a world overrun by Nanos—rogue technology that has brought civilization to its knees—you will take on the role of a Runner, deploy with your squad or fight alone with your tamed Nano. Venture into the collapsed world for intense PvE and PvP combats and uncover the sec…

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64%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,164 reviews

gameplay118 positive mentions

monetization31 negative mentions

Fun and innovative gameplay combining PvE and PvP with unique nano companion mechanics.
Excellent visuals and graphics with smooth animations and immersive world design.
Fairly friendly free-to-play model allowing progression without mandatory spending, with PvP balanced to avoid pay-to-win.
Cooperative multiplayer mode engaging and fun especially when playing with friends.
Variety of weapons and customization options, rewarding gunplay and strategic combat.
Regular updates and developer responsiveness promise ongoing improvements.

Low player population resulting in long matchmaking queues and frequent solo play.
Repetitive and grind-heavy PvE with limited mission and enemy variety.
Clunky and sometimes unresponsive controls and movement causing frustration.
Convoluted UI and multiple currencies complicate gameplay and monetization.
Presence of pay-to-win elements in PvE through gacha and expensive microtransactions, including a complex battle pass.
Frequent bugs, crashes, and performance issues impacting user experience.
Invasive anti-cheat software raising privacy and security concerns.
PvP mode diluted with bots and cheaters, reducing competitive integrity and enjoyment.

gameplay
316 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
58%
5%
The gameplay of Synced offers a unique blend of fast-paced third-person shooting with tactical, co-op, and rogue-lite elements, highlighted by innovative companion mechanics that add strategic depth. While many praise its smooth combat, engaging progression, and blend of PvE and PvP modes, the experience is often marred by repetitive grind, balance issues, and intrusive gacha/pay-to-win mechanics. Overall, the gameplay is enjoyable and solid for a free-to-play title but may struggle to maintain long-term engagement without refinement and better monetization balance.
- “Synced is an innovative and thrilling third-person shooter that stands out from the crowd thanks to its captivating blend of fast action, tactical gameplay, and engaging co-op mechanics.”
- “The gameplay and loadouts are what I like. Gameplay is fun, dynamic and offers lots of options and ways to advance.”
- “The core of Synced lies in its cooperative gameplay. The combat mechanics feel satisfying, and the variety of weapons and abilities at your disposal keeps the gameplay fresh.”
- “It had potential and was fun for a short time. Vanilla weapons are not that great. If you want to have a good experience prepare to waste some money. Common to epic cosmetics are basically just reskins. Missions feel kind of boring. PvP side was totally overpowered if you buy certain weapons with pay-to-win methods. Overall pay-to-win mechanics and cash grab.”
- “The main gameplay available is a linear progression of levels where you will often hit difficulty walls until you either wait for daily quests to reset or pay for boosters/more salvage runs.”
- “The gameplay dynamics shift to a repetitive grind for mods and power levels, particularly when you reach a certain stage in the game.”
story
309 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
78%
7%
The story in the game is generally seen as basic and somewhat underdeveloped, with an interesting premise involving nanotech and an evil corporation but lacking depth and strong character connection. While some players appreciate the lore and the narrative progression through missions and cutscenes, many find the storytelling sparse, repetitive, and overshadowed by grinding and monotonous mission design. Overall, the story offers a decent backdrop but is often criticized for lack of variety, pacing issues, and limited impact on gameplay engagement.
- “The storyline is captivating, and the missions are designed with such complexity that they never become monotonous.”
- “The attention to detail in the world-building is remarkable; every nook and cranny tells a story of a world in chaos.”
- “Speaking of the story, Synced offers a narrative that's both thought-provoking and emotionally charged.”
- “Honestly I just hate being forced to go through missions just to play with the larger pool of players.”
- “Typical p2w trash, missions all basically the same, spend more time in loading screens than the actual missions, feels like a mobile game, plays like one, just as predatory as one and you should probably not waste time and money on this joke of a game.”
- “However, you'll quickly find yourself grinding the same missions in the few environments the game has to offer for the sake of upgrading your power level, so you can unlock a harder mission that will drop 'better' mods (understand the same ones with a higher number attached) that you will grind to unlock the next mission, etc. 10 hours in, I felt like the game had already shown me its entire hand and there wasn't much keeping me in.”
graphics
122 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
41%
5%
The game's graphics are widely praised for being impressive, detailed, and immersive with beautiful visuals, smooth animations, and modern design, often exceeding expectations for a free-to-play title. Some users note occasional optimization issues, with performance struggles on higher settings or certain graphics cards, while a few criticize the visuals as muddy, outdated, or overly realistic to the detriment of gameplay clarity. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong point, contributing significantly to the game's atmospheric and engaging experience.
- “The visuals are impressive, with detailed environments that help immerse you in this chaotic, tech-driven world.”
- “The graphics are breathtaking, and the character design is impeccable, making you feel truly immersed in the game's dark and atmospheric setting.”
- “Graphics wise it holds up well and even supports ray-tracing, DLSS, frame generation, etc., meaning that anyone can max their frame rate or graphics as they see fit.”
- “Then they bumped up the graphics to a nonsensical degree, locked settings on low which was surprisingly the only setting I could run, and 1080p wasn't even selectable anymore.”
- “The graphics in this game are too muddy and earth-toned - the graphics team fell for the game engine trap where they got caught up in making more realistic graphics which detract from the gameplay.”
- “It needs optimization, graphics are weirdly outdated, reminds me of games from 2015.”
monetization
81 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
52%
38%
The game's monetization heavily relies on predatory free-to-play practices, featuring multiple currencies, gacha mechanics, and extensive microtransactions primarily focused on cosmetics and battle passes. While some players appreciate that spending is not mandatory to enjoy gameplay, many criticize the confusing, mobile-like UI, pay-to-win elements in PvP, and slow, grind-heavy progression tied to purchases. Overall, monetization is seen as intrusive and a major detractor from the game's potential and player experience.
- “Thankfully, the monetization is not overly aggressive, and players can enjoy the game without feeling compelled to spend money.”
- “Cosmetic items are the primary focus of microtransactions, which is a fair approach to keeping the game accessible to all.”
- “Heroes are earned easily if not given for free, so monetization isn't bad.”
- “They literally took away everything that made this game great in the beta stage; imagine Warframe stripped to the bone (keeping the mods), monetization slapped in your face every time you start the game, weapons behind a gacha system, slow progression that halts if you do not have enough power and/or the best weapons.”
- “Throws in every bad free to play monetization practice just to make a quick buck.”
- “This is one of the worst monetization schemes I have seen.”
grinding
71 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
Grinding in the game is a significant and often divisive aspect, with many players finding it excessively repetitive, tedious, and progression-blocking due to farming the same missions for incremental upgrades. While some enjoy the grind and find it rewarding, especially in PvP, others criticize the lack of meaningful progression, limited build variety, and frustration caused by RNG mechanics and mandatory group content. Overall, the grind is heavy and can feel like an endurance test rather than engaging gameplay for many, despite solid combat and weapon systems.
- “Progression grinds to a halt pretty quickly and you find yourself farming the same 20 minute mission over and over hoping for mod drops.”
- “However, you'll quickly find yourself grinding the same missions in the few environments the game has to offer for the sake of upgrading your power level, so you can unlock a harder mission that will drop 'better' mods (understand the same ones with a higher number attached) that you will grind to unlock the next mission, etc etc... 10 hours in, I felt like the game had already shown me its entire hand and there wasn't much keeping me in.”
- “There's a progression blocker 'elite run' that is mandatory so you can upgrade your PvE power that is not solo or group friendly (majority of players don't even pass this point), it's very tedious and requires you to have a specific weapon... which is tied to gacha... very bad gameplay design.”
optimization
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
53%
25%
Optimization for the game is highly inconsistent, with many users reporting significant performance issues such as stuttering, frame drops, and lag even on high-end hardware, particularly in open areas and during load transitions. While some players experience smooth performance and praise ongoing improvements, the overall consensus highlights the need for major optimization patches to fix bugs, improve stability, and make the gameplay experience consistently playable across a range of systems.
- “Keep adding stability and performance improvements every patch, the game needs it.”
- “Honestly a pretty cool game, once they throw out a few optimization patches this one is going to be a banger if they continue to support it.”
- “Game optimization is smooth for me & my friends on 2070 supers and RX 5700s.”
- “There are many bugs that need to be patched and optimization issues in the game that are left alone, please fix this.”
- “I noticed this already at the end, however, low optimization. There are a lot of games that devour more and better quality but they are optimized, and with my 3000 this game lags on medium settings as if I were sitting on an old 720p.”
- “See the specs I listed is over the recommended specs and still can't get a solid 60 fps and my settings are maxed. Definitely some issues of optimization and the core of the game needs to be reworked. A lot of screen tearing when moving and the game tanks badly on open areas. I played the open and closed beta back when I had my RTX 3060 which is equivalent to the 2060 Super and was better on that GPU. I would not recommend this game until it is completely patched to fix the bugs in the game. It's a good concept but poorly executed.”
stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The game suffers from frequent bugs, glitches, stutters, and performance issues such as freezes and frame drops, even on high-end hardware, making it frustrating and occasionally unplayable. While some users acknowledge it is a new release that could improve over time, stability remains a significant concern impacting matchmaking, controls, and overall gameplay experience. A few players report a more stable experience, but the consensus highlights the need for optimization and bug fixes.
- “Runs great, which is kind of rare for a new game.”
- “I have a high-end rig (Nvidia 3070ti, 32 GB RAM) and no matter if I run ultra or medium settings, the game routinely stutters, freezes, drops to 8 FPS, has slow rendering with a lot of pop-in and poor textures, and generally takes ages to load or do anything.”
- “Frame drops everywhere, freezes up all the time.”
- “It makes it very hard to do things like dodge when it freezes as often as it does; I've checked my hardware and found no issues on my end.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
88%
13%
The game evokes strong emotional responses, ranging from deep attachment and nostalgic memories to being a thought-provoking and emotionally charged experience with excellent voice acting. However, some players found it frustrating and disappointing, expressing anger and boredom due to its pacing and perceived lack of polish. Overall, it delivers a memorable emotional impact for many but may not resonate with everyone.
- “This game created a strong emotional attachment, giving me awesome memories during the time I played.”
- “The story is both thought-provoking and emotionally charged, adding great depth to the experience.”
- “It's a visual marvel, a strategic masterpiece, and an emotional rollercoaster all in one.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is appreciated for its lighthearted and playful moments, especially when playing with friends, adding a fun and engaging atmosphere. Some users find comedic value in the game's quirks and gameplay scenarios, though occasional frustrations are noted. Overall, the humor enhances the experience by mixing fun interactions with entertaining game mechanics.
- “With some fixes to make it funnier, I see a future for this game. Keep it up!”
- “It's a cool game with so much fun playing with friends.”
- “The graphics look good and the gameplay is funny.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The game offers high replayability through customizable character development and engaging playstyles, combined with well-designed levels and a compelling storyline. Both PvE and PvP modes provide rewarding and enjoyable experiences, contributing to an almost infinite replay value for players.
- “As you advance, you can fine-tune your character and playstyle to fit your preferences, adding depth and replayability to the game.”
- “Very replayable levels with great storyline and depth.”
- “PvE is very much replayable just as much as PvP; both are pretty fun and rewarding.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
Character development is generally praised for being exceptional and emotionally engaging, with players feeling deeply invested in the characters' fates. However, some critique mentions a need for improved character design, noting only a few characters stand out as useful in gameplay. Overall, the detailed and immersive character design contributes positively to the game's atmosphere.
- “The character development is exceptional, and you'll find yourself deeply invested in their fates.”
- “The graphics are breathtaking, and the character design is impeccable, making you feel truly immersed in the game's dark and atmospheric setting.”
- “The attention to detail in character design, weapons, and environments is commendable.”
- “Need better character design, in my opinion; Deadcut and the Doctor are the only useful ones for PvE.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's music, reminiscent of StarCraft 2's soundtrack, stands out positively and is notably praised. However, some users express dissatisfaction with the overall game experience, though this does not detract from the soundtrack itself.
- “The game's soundtrack deserves a special mention.”
- “Music in this game reminds me a lot of StarCraft 2.”
- “Cringe story, PvE is even more cringe arcade Fortnite gameplay, no Cyberpunk music, and cringe 65,344 pounds office workers sitting in game chat constantly spamming how great this game is. In reality, it's the biggest trash I ever downloaded and played.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's breathtaking graphics and impeccable character design create a deeply immersive and dark atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience. Users praise the engaging ambiance that complements the combat and story.
- “The graphics are breathtaking, and the character design is impeccable, making you feel truly immersed in the game's dark and atmospheric setting.”
- “Great atmosphere, engaging combat, decent story.”