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Synapse is shaping up to be the next must-buy game for PSVR2

It feels fracking great to play.

Ian Higton avatar
Video by Ian Higton Video Producer
Published on
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Ever wanted to feel like a Sith Lord with a gun? Because thanks to Synapse, the upcoming PSVR2 action shooter from nDreams, you soon will! Or at least that's how I felt playing through a short demo of Synapse for this week's episode of VR Corner (above or on YouTube).

In that video, you'll be able to watch 12 minutes worth of Synapse gameplay as I use telekiniesis to crush enemies and explode red barrels with one hand and shoot them to smithereens with a gun held in the other. This delicious dual-wielding combo works really well and, if you've ever played nDreams' previous VR shooter, Fracked, you'll have a good idea of how fluid the shooting mechanics are here.

The smooth simplicity of Synapses' gunplay means that you're able to effortlessly utilise its other big gameplay mechanic, telekinesis. Thanks to the PSVR2's eye-tracking functionality, you merely need to look at an object that you want to hurl and then, with a squeeze of the trigger and a flick of your wrist, off it goes - into the sky or into an enemies face. It's up to you.

The monochrome monoliths in Synapse look great through the PSVR2's 4K HDR screens and those occasional bursts of colour make the game world look ever so stylish when it's in motion.

What I really enjoyed though was the way that you could psychically lift an explosive red barrel with a gentle pull of the trigger and then pop it like and balloon over an enemies head with a full squeeze. It made me feel incredibly powerful and, when combined with shooting and movement, it provided a unique thrill that only a VR game could deliver.

Although the demo was rather short and only featured two guns and some basic telekinesis powers, it hinted at something really special from the full release. As you'll see in the video, Synapse seems to be taking a roguelike approach to its gameplay, at least in the surreal mind-scape areas that the demo was set in anyway. Here's hoping that this makes for a longer experience than Fracked because, as much as I loved that game, the 2.5 hour runtime was a massive let down.

As you'll be able to tell from my video though, I had a lot of fun with the Synapse demo and it's honestly got me really excited for the full release. There's not been a huge amount of games out for the PSVR2 recently that have seemed like must-buys for the system but, going by this demo alone, Synapse here might just be the change that Sony's headset needs.

Synapse is due out on PSVR2 on July 4th and I'll be featuring more of it on Ian's VR Corner as soon as I'm allowed.

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