Syndrome (PC) Review

Syndrome starts off—like so many other horror titles—with the main character waking up on a spaceship from some sort of trauma; in this case, extended cryo-sleep, which has caused the crew members to be unsure of their surroundings. It is quickly learned that something has managed to kill most, if not all, of them, and players are guided through the ship by two very conflicting voices from other parts of it. It's all fairly rudimentary, and yet, in the halls of this spaceship, it feels surprising new.

Unlike most modern horror games, you are actually equipped to defend yourself. From the standard guns to a fairly practical multi-tool, the protagonist is decked out and ready to brawl. What's nice, though, is that more common survival horror tactics can be resorted to, such as hiding in lockers and sneaking past enemies. Fans of Alien: Isolation or the Amnesia titles will find plenty of fun here, as will anyone who prefers to just deal with their problems with some good old fashioned violence.

The layout of each objective is fairly standard horror fare. You need to go to this room and grab this, but either something's blocking the path, or the pieces of the objective are spread out enough to take longer than possibly necessary to complete even the simplest of tasks. It's not really a big hindrance, though, as Syndrome is still fun and engaging. It's actually easy to forget that any given quest is really just a fetch quest when the player has to be willing to do so much extra work to complete it. Even if it's the same old song and dance, it is enjoyable.

Syndrome's greatest achievement comes in both the visual presentation and the overall feel of the game. A lot of modern games are going retro, and for many that means pixels, sprites, chip tunes and an overall SNES feel. Syndrome is one of the few games over the last few years to feel like a 90s shooter. It has a very distinct System Shock impression that is both fresh and classic. One example is the use of save points. Gamers have become so used to auto saving that the use of save points feels almost new again. It also adds to the overall tension of the game, which teeters between mildly and superbly terrifying.

Another major perk to Syndrome is it doesn't just relish in jump scares. Enemies initially appear as something akin to a mirage, making the player question their own judgment as they stalk the hallways, perhaps with unfriendly companions. Truth be told, perhaps with a bigger marketing campaign or the proper word of mouth, Syndrome could be an instant retro style indie classic. Even the voice acting is cheesy enough to remind gamers of the 90s, but good enough to feel engaging and worth listening to.

Unfortunately, this astral trip isn't without a few blemishes. It's nice to say, though, that they are few and far between. The game has a tendency to remind that a particular door is locked, or that a key card is needed, every time you're within ten feet of whatever it's referring to. It can be a bit irritating to be constantly reminded that something needs doing, just because the player wants to explore a bit. Another grievance is the loading times, which feel almost absurd, on occasion. It breaks the immersion when the game takes so long to load, but, thankfully, these moments are sparse. It's just as sparse as moments of texture issues and occasionally lagging camera movement. Still, these are not prevalent enough to ruin the experience at all.