Platforms: PC
Developer: The Foregone Syndicate
Publisher: Adult Swim Games
MSRP: $14.99
Introduction:
In many ways DESYNC is the stuff hardcore gamers dream about. In the culture of gaming where turning up the difficulty is considered a badge of honor, DESYNC forgoes the difficulty meter for being just flat out tough, and if you can git gud at this game, that’s an accomplishment in and of itself. DESYNC is fast, relentless, and at times (a lot of times), just a plain old asshole. But that’s fine if that’s the kind of game you’re into.
As a whole, it’s tough to recommend DESYNC to anyone other than the most devout fans of challenging games. That said, it’s immediately apparent that that’s precisely the target audience that developer The Foregone Syndicate was aiming for, so if anything, you have to commend them for sticking to their guns. So to speak at least.
As always, here’s a breakdown of what you need to know about DESYNC.
Did I mention that DESYNC was fast?
Holy crap. This is not a game to play without a good night’s sleep and/or without caffeine in your system. DESYNC is all about pace, precision, and execution, and if you can’t keep up with even one of those three phases of the game, you are totally screwed. Miss a single shot, and it feels like a colossal failure, and in many cases, it ends up being just that.
One of the first weapons you unlock, the Shotgun, relies heavily on the interplay between the three phases, as your only means of recovering ammunition is by landing your shots. And if you’ve played any shooter of any kind before, you know that landing hits with a shotgun means going up close and personal. In other words, DESYNC has managed to turn a conventional genre weapon into the most high risk, high reward context I think I’ve ever seen. And that’s something I really appreciated about the game.
DESYNC is a legit rage quitter.
There was a multitude of times where I felt like I just had to stop playing DESYNC and step away from the mouse and keyboard. In case you haven’t inferred, you can expect to die a lot in this game, but the thing about the appeal with difficult games is that each death is supposed to teach you something. Or at the very least, you should know exactly why you messed up and feel like it was your fault.
DESYNC doesn’t always do that, and it’s in these moments that the game can just feel like it’s trolling you. The game’s format is relatively straightforward; progressing through levels involves clearing out waves of steadily more challenging enemies. The environment around you provides help in doing so with various types of traps for you to lure your foes into. It’s incredibly satisfying when you manage to leverage both your weapon and the environment, which results in you earning more arcadey points.
Unfortunately, the speed of the game doesn’t always allow for you to pull off these maneuvers, and a lot of times you’ll end up defaulting to your weapons. I found that my use of the traps was more of an instance of luck rather than skill, which ended being a pretty big letdown.
Story? Don’t worry about the story.
If you’re looking for a narrative, you’ve come to the wrong place. DESYNC is all about arcade-style action, and its levels are broken up in a way that emphasizes replay value over progression. DESYNC wants you to be good at it, not give a crap about why you’re shooting the Tron-like neon colored enemies of its world.
Verdict:
DESYNC can be an addictive experience that will make you better at other games but not necessarily better at it. If you’re the type that enjoys the challenge of facing death after death after death, you could certainly do a lot worse than DESYNC. The game comes at a budget price of $14.99, and its limitations are simultaneously apparent and embraced by the developers.
DESYNC is one of those games that stubbornly sticks to its design principles without worrying about alienating a larger number of gamers. It is easily one of, if not the most fast paced games I have ever played, even if at times, it is to its own detriment.
