Expectations must be neutral when writing a review, and though I went into Synthesis of Corruption with a blank slate, I didn’t expect to come out beaming. I don’t doubt there will be naysayers ripping it apart for various reasons, but from my experience, it was excellent.
VidyGames’ (who also did the excellent Plastomorphosis) title leans heavily on Half-Life. A scientist is late for work, his co-workers are dabbling in things they aren’t supposed to, and by the time he does rock up, the shit has hit the fan, and there’s a generous amount of crab-like face huggers piggybacking off the whitecoated schmucks tasked with killing you. Who says being tardy is a negative thing?
In Synthesis of Corruption, you play Ned Ace. Yes, I know. For some reason, he’s been fingered (ooer!) by The Supreme One (the bloke who runs the facility), and given exclusive access to areas the other nerds can’t reach. Naturally, they’re a little envious of him and don’t like the fact that they’re hauling arse while he turns up when he likes.
The brief civilities between scientists and gun-toting security guards wear thin when an explosion sends the story into motion, and Ned finds himself on a mission to save humanity by stopping whatever it is these idiots have unleashed. Be mindful that this is both a puzzler and an FPS. It’s not fast and fierce, more, “Where the hell is that keycard?!”.
The throwback Goldeneye-ish visuals and Half-Life narrative were very welcome. Often, these sorts of games are that cliche love letter, but don’t quite pull it off. Synthesis of Corruption does pull it off. It doesn’t attempt to be anything it isn’t and is consistent throughout. Ned will shoot numerous mutants, twiddle various combination locks, and pierce his body with syringes from all the damage he takes.
From a first-person perspective, Ned will typically have to locate a key, shut off a valve or two, or find hints to a combination lock. In between these tasks will be those little face-hugger/crawlers that can easily be one-shot, as long as they don’t dart at you by surprise. Ned takes a lot of damage in the game, but interestingly, overall combat is easy. In the entirety of the game, I died twice. One time was testing whether the floor did damage (it was lava), the second was under/overestimating a jump.
Throughout the facility are rest areas for saving the game and a device that refills health in addition to the syringes, so there’s never really any concern with the weapon-wielding side of things. A crowbar will start you off, before the trusty handgun, shotgun, and then the submachine gun, add to your arsenal. It’ll be no surprise that the shotgun is the go-to. The real challenge, for me at least, was tracking what to do/where to go as there are no objectives, and bizarrely, when going to the menu, the gun will open all its clips!
Occasionally, you will collect a card or head(!) and a small waypoint will flash up where you have to go, but it never remains, so expect plenty of wandering. I have been guilty of this since the days of the original Doom, so maybe it’s my sense of direction; however, for context, I’m good with maps, and I finished most of Dreamcore. Just sayin’. Those elements were the most frustrating, as were the tiny boxes you have to move about to use as a platform to reach higher areas. Honestly, though, it’s all very minor.
These past couple of weeks, I’ve had my hands full with reviews and previews, and Synthesis of Corruption has been the game I’ve been playing most, and solely on the Steam Deck. While it is a little niche for nostalgia hunters and won’t appeal to small dick, BFG-wielding dopafiends, I personally found it very enjoyable and would say if you’re of a particular age where you remember the original Half-Life, or a fan of retro games, this is a decent indie game you might want to experiment with.
