We’re thrilled to finally unveil the next generation of immersive VR action with Synapse.
At nDreams, we’ve pioneered the possibilities of VR gaming over the past decade and are always looking to push support, such as with the smooth, run and gun action gameplay of Fracked on PS VR. We wanted to push things even further with our first next-gen VR title on PS VR2 in a way never seen before.
Launching later this year, Synapse is the result of that hard work – combining brutal firepower, expressive 1:1 telekinesis and iconic art style. Additionally, the game was created from the ground up to be a PS VR2-only experience.
We couldn’t be happier to share our trailer for a taste of Synapse’s jaw-dropping gameplay:
Transforming gameplay for next-gen VR
Virtual reality heightens your senses, making you feel so immersed and involved in the world around you and we wanted to fully explore that with Synapse. We saw the opportunity with PS VR2 to create a new expressive mechanism perfect for virtual reality: telekinesis. We’ve seen in non-VR games how telekinesis can bring so much to combat and gameplay, but VR transforms the experience, making telekinesis even more immersive with full 1:1 motion control.
We’ve adapted telekinesis handling to be instinctive and expressive, giving players new ways to take down enemies and progress through levels. A key part of this is improved eye tracking aiming which gives players pinpoint accuracy when targeting their telekinesis and combines with motion controls to make using telekinetic powers a whole-body experience.
Creating the future of VR combat
We were proud of the reception to Fracked’s run and cover gunplay when it launched on PS VR in 2021 – it was fast, visceral and uncompromising, yet also fully accessible and intuitive. We were finishing the game just as we were starting to work with PS VR2, and we knew that was the perfect foundation to build on with Synapse. Our new game evolves that core gameplay, making full use of the Sense controller’s analog sticks, adaptive triggers, and haptic feedback, but we wanted to go beyond that.
We wanted to give the player the freedom to shape and master their fighting style through dual wielding, with telekinesis in one hand and a lethal arsenal of weaponry in the other. How you use this deadly combination is up to you. For example, something I love about Synapse’s pistols is the ability to reload by slamming the magazine against any surface you choose: the back of your hand, the cover in front of you, your chest, or my favorite – the head. of an enemy that you propelled towards you by telekinesis!
There are so many abilities and combat styles for players to discover, from using items as weapons or mobile cover, to telekinetically launching enemies into the air and blasting them with your trusty gun while truly unleashing your inner anti-hero.
Harness the power of PS VR2
A next-gen hardware launch is always an exciting time, especially for us as developers. Early in the development cycle, we could see that the graphical fidelity of this generation of hardware was going to take a huge leap forward. So we focused on customizing Synapse’s surreal mindscape visual style to showcase the PS VR2’s OLED display and seismic boost in graphics power. The monochrome art style with its bursts of vibrant color can only really be done justice on the stunning 4K HDR display with foveal rendering, showing the vividness and sharpness of the world on a level we’ve never seen before.
Synapse will launch exclusively on PS VR2 later this year and we can’t wait to show you more about the game and the journey we’ve been on as we head towards launch. In the meantime, we’d love to hear what you think of what you’ve seen so far, let us know in the comments!