Synnergist

Synnergist is a 1996 DOS point and click adventure video game, developed by Vicarious Visions and published by 21st Century Entertainment. It is notable for being Vicarious Visions' first video game, and was reportedly made by the company's founders during high school. The graphic backgrounds for Synnergist were produced by Pomono Productions. The game "features digitized actors (almost 70) and full motion video."[1] The game had a Europe-only release.[2]

Synnergist
Developer(s)Vicarious Visions
Publisher(s)21st Century Entertainment
Platform(s)DOS
Genre(s)Point and click adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

The player takes the role of Tim Machin, a journalist in the fictional city New Arhus in the year 2010.[1]

Development and release

When the game was released, Vicarious Visions offered a prize to the first five people to discover hidden Easter Eggs.

Reception

Coming Soon Magazine gave the game 81 out of 100, Tap-Repeatedly/Four Fat Chicks gave 4 Stars, PC Player (Denmark) gave 73 out of 100, PC Games (Germany) gave 68 out of 100, High Score gave 2 out of 5, Power Play gave 40 out of 100, and PC Player (Germany) gave 2 Stars.[1] Csoon wrote "Synnergist maintains a good story line throughout the game, keeping the player's interest high in wanting to solve the mystery... Some of the puzzles can be a little difficult to figure out, and once you are stuck, the game can be slow." The site gave the game a rating of 81%.[3] In another positive review, Four Fat Chicks wrote "Here is a game that has an interesting plot with many twists and turns, nice graphics, unobtrusive sound and music, easy interface, and a good number of varied locations to explore. Synnergist has a similar mood and style to Noctropolis, with a little Gabriel Knight–type understated tension thrown in... It's a shame that Vicarious Visions didn't follow up Synnergist with any other adventure games."[2]

In a contemporary review, Petra Tsimberov of Hardcore Gaming 101 found the game interesting for being a notable example of outsider art, drawing attention to how much of its development cycle was spent while Vicarious Visions founders Karthik and Guha Bala were still in high school.[4] She noted "Wherever it fails, it’s a shame, but almost to-be expected. But where it gets things right, it’s all the more enthralling." The review went on to criticize the game's technical shortcomings but praised the game's ability to immerse and captivate the player through its painted backgrounds and atmosphere - "Objectively the whole game is really rather forgettable, but if you approach it with the same dream-oriented excitement the Bala brothers had back in 1991, it may just stick around for longer."[5]

References
  1. "Synnergist for DOS (1996) - MobyGames". mobygames.com. Retrieved 2014-09-01.
  2. "Four Fat Chicks -- Synnergist Review". tap-repeatedly.com. Retrieved 2014-09-01.
  3. "Synnergist - PC Review - Coming Soon Magazine!". csoon.com. Retrieved 2014-09-01.
  4. "Vicarious Visions History". Vicarious Visions. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  5. Tsimberov, Petra. "Synnergist Review". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
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