Synduality is a new sci-fi shooter with mechs, AI, and dangerous foes

Collect resources and avoid other mechs

Synduality is a new sci-fi shooter from Bandai Namco Entertainment with crystals to collect and giant alien enemies to fight. But the most dangerous threat might not be them, but other players.

This new mech game debuted at yesterday’s Sony State of Play, showing off its combat and style. The thrust of Synduality is that you’re in a dystopian future where poisonous rain and aggressive, mutated creatures have changed the world.

You and your AI partner need to build a home for humanity, and to do that, you need resources. As a Drifter, you make a living collecting AO crystals. (No, not that AO.) And so you set out in your mech, dubbed a Cradle Coffin, to find some and bring them back.

Things are not so simple, though. The aggressive creatures, called Enders, will try to stop players from collecting AO crystals. You’ll need different kinds of weapons to fend them off, all of which are customizable to your Cradle Coffin. But then there are the other players.

It’s a dangerous world for a mech

Synduality is a PvPvE game. So yes, while playing online, you may run into other characters trying to complete their own missions. And they might even try to stop you from completing yours. While that’s not really super-helpful for humanity, it does mean sick mech battles.

In a PlayStation blog about the game, producer Yosuke Futami says the team was interested in how humans and AI would interact in the future. To wit, alongside your mech, there’s also the flying character you see zooming around, who is your AI companion Magus. Magus can give you directions, hints, and warnings. Bandai Namco says there will also be unique dialogue and interactions with Magus, depending on the situation.

Synduality seems like an interesting concept. I’d like to see more about what the customization and progression looks like. Right now, it reminds me of extraction-style shooters like Tarkov. That setup, with a heavy dash of mechs, could be neat. We’ll hopefully see more, as Bandai Namco is targeting Synduality for sometime in 2023.