It's hard to criticise a difficult game, because the assumption usually made is that you're only frustrated because you're bad at it. And to be clear: I am bad at Desync. It's an abstract, neon FPS about creative killing—with a focus on movement and positioning. I've died loads, and haven't progressed very far. This isn't, however, why I'm not smitten with Desync. Or, at least, it's only part of the reason.

Levels in Desync are a series of arenas in which you fight waves of polygonal enemies. You earn points for killing in interesting ways—by avoiding damage and counterattacking, or doing a 180 spin before firing off the killing blow. Such style is only possible when you're alive, and in Desync you're quickly overrun. Survival, then, requires dashing—a short burst of rapid movement that you can use to dodge projectiles and melee strikes, or to put distance between you and the things trying to kill you.

It's the basis for a solid twitch shooter, but it doesn't feel good. There's no fanfare or feedback, just the act of moving a set distance. It isn't just the dash. For everything that Desync does competently, it's undersold by its lifelessness. Even the aesthetic feels drab. This is the murkiest Tron-like neon playspace I've ever inhabited.

Good feedback is essential, but too many of Desync's systems are revealed through abstraction or UI elements. You gain ammo from enemy drops that are drawn towards you as you get near them. But the visual markers for receiving a pickup are lost amid the general business of Desync's presentation. It's easy to lose track of these resources, and even the ammo counter is abstracted to the point of being overly difficult to read. Ammo management and weapon switching are crucial systems, but doing it effectively here requires a level of mental processing that distracts from the on-screen action.

The visual style also means it's possible to lose track of your location within each arena. I died a number of times because I dashed too close to the traps placed around each space. Arguably this is my own stupid fault, but also something that never happened in Bulletstorm—a more vibrant, detailed FPS with a similar focus on trickshots and style. While Desync has a slightly different goal, it's nonetheless a useful comparison in regards to the difference that great audio and visual effects can make to the feel of a shooter with an emphasis on style and skill.

Desync is deliberately positioning itself as a hardcore FPS about mastery of its systems and spaces. In this, it arguably succeeds. Desync is difficult, and its highest ratings require a level of prowess that could well be beyond me. But its successes are all on a theoretical level. It is, technically, a challenging shooter with some clever upgrade systems that allow for a loadout variety that could make for some interesting leaderboard challenges. And yet, there's no heart or soul. By not accentuating the speed, thrill and feedback of a great twitch shooter, Desync feels sterile.

Desync is more than its glowing retro-futuristic art style: it's an FPS marrying the  speed and reflexes demanded of ye olde Quakes, with a focus on stylish player performance. Rather than simply killing and surviving, the game wants you to do those things beautifully. Or at least, impressively.

Below are some new GIFs demonstrating some of Desync's attack sequences.  This first one shows what happens when idiots get in front of the Energy Caster's plasma ball, a slow-moving orb which the player must shoot in order to explode it:

It's also possible to freeze enemies in Desync, which means you're able to pull off more complicated death manoeuvres. Not the way water is meant to be used, but hey.

And apparently in this .gif, enemies are being trapped by the shotblaster weapon's secondary fire. It looks more like a 1990s psy-trance filmclip to me.

According to the devs, if you change weapons mid-combo special Attack Sequences await.

In Desync, Dark Zones are inverted versions of regular levels, with each having its own loadout (including, as demonstrated below, dual wielding). 

And finally, there are facehuggers. 

Desync releases February 28. I played an early version of the game at PAX Australia back in 2015, and you can read my impressions over here.

The neon, sci-fi FPS Desync didn't quite make the 2016 release it was aiming for, but it's coming pretty close. Publisher Adult Swim Games announced today that it will be out on February 28, and released a new trailer showcasing its high-speed, Tron-meets-Bulletstorm gameplay. 

"Desync is an intense, single-player first person shooter that begs you to play dangerously and creatively," the accompanying announcement says. "Switch weapons and move masterfully to unleash Attack Sequences—special moves that deal bonus damage and effects. Launch an enemy into a trap with a well-placed shotgun blast, then destroy another while they’re in the air. Think quickly and discover new combinations to maximize your score and decimate the leaderboards." 

We played a little Desync at PAX Australia in October 2015, and even then it was impressive, if punishing. As Shaun put it, "Managing the scarce shotgun ammunition, administering rare health buffs and hitting the shift key to dodge enemies is a lot to parse at once, but that’s where the appeal of Desync lay: it’s relentless." 

The system requirements are pleasantly minimal, too: I don't know if these are final (although at this point I think they must be), but according to Steam all you'll need to play is a 2.4GHz dual-core CPU, 2GB RAM, and Windows 7. A purchase option isn't available yet, but Adult Swim said Desync will sell for $15.

Desync looks beautiful. It s a super-hard, twitch-oriented FPS inspired by classic arena shooters of yore, but it s the chrome-hued 1980s sci-fi inspired art style that stands out the most. Developed by Melbourne indie studio The Foregone Syndicate, Desync focuses on fast movement and precision aiming, while its instant respawn rhythm captures the compulsive spirit of Super Meat Boy or Lovely Planet.

I played part of one zone at PAX Australia yesterday. Armed with a shotgun and pistol, it s important to switch rapidly between the two while fending off waves of fluoroscent green gnats and silver polygonal knights. The former are like facehuggers get too close and they stick to the screen, requiring a vigorous wriggle of the mouse to shake away. Meanwhile, knights are best taken out with the shotgun, preferably up close. Managing the scarce shotgun ammunition, administering rare health buffs and hitting the shift key to dodge enemies is a lot to parse at once, but that s where the appeal of Desync lay: it s relentless.

It s tempting to draw parallels with Hotline Miami: both come coated in a psychedelic 1980s patina (though the studio says they were inspired more by Fract OSC), and both feature encounters that require dozens of attempts to master. While it doesn t have multiplayer, Desync features leaderboards that track progress and performance on a very granular level: mobility, accuracy, the variety of your attacks and situational awareness are all (somehow) monitored and tallied, and then listed on a scorecard after each encounter.

"We track everything you do mouse movement, different events," said lead designer Travis Avery. "If I shoot a rocket at an enemy's feet he'll launch into the air, and that's one event. Then if I kill him in the air, that's another. 

"Tracking everything you do in the game threads into a style system which tells you how you played, how aggressive you were, and all that goes into a leaderboard," he continued. This means you can also track the playstyles of your friends if they beat your score you'll be able to figure out exactly how they did it, and how that differs to your own.

Meanwhile, sidearms can be modded, and the game features a list of combos that are unlocked as they re performed. One required me to finish off an enemy midair, while another involved shaking off a facehugger and then murdering it while it tumbled to the ground. There are also killstreaks and overkills which reward health buffs, but it s difficult to keep track of what the hell is going on in Desync. It s punishingly fast. It releases some time next year through Adult Swim Games.