The Weapon Systems in Synthetik news

Synthetik introduces varied new mechanics and genre unseen weapon control. Weapon accuracy is dependent on movement and recoil management while being extremely responsive. Master the correct combination of stop-and-go movement and trigger control to fire accurately. We’ve also incorporated headshots, adding a whole new layer of control to the top-down perspective, rewarding good aim and a steady hand.

Weapons all around are fast and furious - there’s many on offer in SYNTHETIK, as you’ll soon see, and you’ll need quick reflexes to survive. Don’t worry though - there’s plenty of ways to fight back!

In SYNTHETIK, we wanted to replicate the bad-ass feeling of operating a weapon (like a bolt-action rifle) manually. To accomplish this, we’ve introduced the new magazine ejection mechanic.

Your magazine can be ejected at any time by pressing “E” and can be subsequently reloaded by pressing “R” or “spacebar”.

You also have the ability to “active” reload the magazine - reloading instantly when you press the reload button again in time with the reload bar. This not only installs the mag instantly, but grants additional damage for the next shots fired and benefits from varied perks and weapon variants.

The ability to eject at any time and active reload not only adds realism and allows switching ammo types, but also creates a short reload mini-game, which is extremely satisfying when done quickly and correctly.

It’s important to note - Ejecting a magazine discards all remaining ammo in the magazine. Therefore, smart ammunition management is a must - pre-emptively reloading may cost you bullets, but could be the deciding factor if a firefight goes to hell and you’ve no time or place to reload.

Nearly all weapon types have access to multiple ammunition types, such as armor piercing, acid, bleeding hollow point, stunning soft point, and many more.
As an example, Rocket Launchers can use homing, dumb fire, or crosshair following target missiles.

We feel that ammo types offer a lot of untapped potential that most games do not take advantage off enough. We want to change that up with SYNTHETIK by making it an important choice for players to consider and also being a very visually pleasing element.
Ammo can be discovered in chests, from pickups, or are available as class benefits and can be switched by pressing “CTRL” after ejecting a magazine.

Certain weapons, items, and perks generate heat upon usage. If you generate too much heat at once and go over the critical threshold, the weapon will overheat, incapacitating your shield and causing damage, and also reducing your weapon’s firerate. Heat reduces over time, so it’s important to manage it correctly by pausing in between longer bursts or switching to an alternate weapon.

In Synthetik, weapons can occasionally jam, blocking the firing mechanism until you unjam the weapon. This can be done by pressing the reload button multiple times in succession. Jamming adds unpredictability and tension to your run, but can also be very rewarding; unjamming also fully reloads the magazine without discarding any ammo. Unjamming quickly not only feels great, but can also extend your combat uptime when done correctly.

SYNTHETIK offers a broad arsenal varied weapons. Over 60 are on offer, from realistic weaponry, such as submachine guns, shotguns, and rocket launchers, to energy rifles, chain lightning, and sawblade guns!

Weapons and items can be discovered through chests and are divided into 3 rarities: Blue (common), Purple (Rare), and Red (Legendary).

With the weaponry, our aim (no pun intended) is to make each weapon feel great and have purpose There are no bad weapons - just bad variants.

Each class has a special weapon bonus when using the corresponding weapon type and can also pick and choose from several starting pistols specific to that class.

In co-op mode, you can also trade weapons with your partner. Be careful though - friendly fire is on, so trading bullets is really ill-advised!

All weapons discovered in SYNTHETIK come in one of 20 possible variants. Each slightly or heavily alters weapon stats or adds special effects. Variants make each weapon feel different every time it is discovered, and add a lot of fun and depth to the game. Think of all the damage you can do with an infinite ammo MG42 or an incredibly accurate shotgun!

Some examples are:

Taiga Hunter - Slow firerate, low magazine size, high accuracy and damage.
Printing - Weak performance, high heat, prints new bullets straight to the magazine
Heavy - Slower movement, improved recoil control, larger magazine.
Cursed - Drastically altered stats, very high damage with a chance of self damage
Overclocked - High firerate, increased heat production and cooling
U L T R A - Rare variant, upgrades all weapon stats but reduces ammo pickup rate

Weapons can be upgraded in many ways. Each of the base stats can be upgraded 3 times and you can find upgrade kits, allowing you to add a weapon attachment with a unique effect from a selection of 3. Each weapon has 4 available attachments slots and receives a slight damage bonus when an upgrade kit is used upon it. Upgrade your starting pistol; keep all the upgrade kits for a legendary weapon; or even recycle your kits for credits - the choice is yours!

Examples:
Ammo Teleporter - Grants a chance to not consume ammunition when firing.
Twin Link - Chance to fire a spread of two bullets at no extra ammo cost.
Hotswap - Allows switching ammo types without ejection, increases heat and reload speed.
Power link 4+4 Pin - Grants a random buff upon successful active reload.
Hair Trigger - Converts the weapon to semi automatic if fully automatic, or full automatic if burst-fire or semi-automatic.

We hope you enjoyed learning more about SYNTHETIK, coming to Steam and itch.io March 15th, 2018.

As always, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, as well as joining us on Discord for some friendly banter and development updates.

- Eric & Alex