As a rogue-lite, top-down shooter, SYNTHETIK's core game loop is progressing as far as you can, level by level, until you either beat the final boss or get overwhelmed by enemy forces. There is a mix of temporary and permanent upgrades to acquire as you play, and finding new weapons lets you use them for the duration of your current run as well as making it possible for them to drop randomly in future runs. In the actual minute-to-minute gameplay, you have an on-screen reticle that shows the general area where your bullets will go and that area is affected by things like moving your character around, recoil, and getting hit by enemy fire. To put that final touch on things, in the midst of dodging bullets, rockets, and lasers while also maintaining your aim, you have to manually eject your current magazine and actively reload the next one. Oh, and your gun can jam on occasion. It's a lot, but it's all executed very well.

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