Let's assume you're old enough to have played and loved the original Syndicate.
You may well be feeling a bit gloomy about EA's latest effort, then. Gone is the loftytactical viewpoint, the mean-spirited, peculiarly British humour, and the focus on brainwashing armies of civilians and strategically using them to do unspeakable things on your behalf.
Instead, it's surely just another shooter, right? You'll probably be running and gunning, ducking behind a wall and waiting for your health to regenerate, and at the climax to each level you'll almost certainly end up fighting an overblown boss of some kind - probably a malfunctioning robot with propellers for hands, or a Pomeranian with four heads. You still get dogs with four heads in shooters, don't you?
You can't run and gun, health is something you'll really have to manage in order to stay alive, and if there is a four-headed dog lurking in there somewhere, it's probably being kept back for DLC.As for the separate four-player co-op campaign? Well, maybe you should check out the new demo. Seriously. You might be pleasantly surprised.
First surprise? There are gentle nods to the original Syndicate everywhere you look. That Western Europe mission you can now download from Xbox Live or PSN is loosely inspired by the Western Europe mission that kicked off the original game, for starters.
There's the same basic assassination objective, the same sky-scraping streetlights, and the same warren of industrial buildings to work your way through as you head towards your target. Leather trench coats flailing, rain lancing in, and troops scattering: either the old Rasmus line-up has joined the army (topical!), or,new perspective aside, Starbreeze's game is actually starting to look a little like classic Syndicate.
And while it doesn't often play like Syndicate, it at least plays like an online shooter based around some of Syndicate's cherished ideals. Your squad of four will have to stick together and work together if you want to survive even the simplest of the co-op campaign's missions, and you'll be moving through levels built for a much slower, more thoughtful kind of combat than anything you might encounter in a Halo or a COD.
For one thing, you'll have carefully selected upgrades for your chips before battle, allowing you to boost your movement speed when bleeding out, say, or improve the strength of your armour.
You'll also have handpicked a range of breach apps. These are futuristic hacking tools that let you to heal a team-mate with a squeeze of the left bumper, perhaps, or increase your entire squad's damage-dealing abilities, or convince an enemy's gun to explode painfully in his face the next time he tries to point it at you.
Breaching allows you to change roles constantly, moving from the frontlines to support whenever necessary, and shifting from super-soldier to super-nurse in seconds. It's smart tactical stuff, and who doesn't secretly think of themselves as super-nurse material, anyway?
Comments
28 comments so far...
zinaptik on 1 Feb '12 said:
avoid if you cannot find 3 good/thoughtful players/friends this game is a death zone. nothing worse then having team mates who run in COD style forcing you to heal them over and over again who then run off/quit leaving you to sort out the problems/start new game.
EvilWaterman on 1 Feb '12 said:
Yeah, defo a game for friends or like minded people.
On a side note, i remember my parents buying me and my bro the original at a car boot sale back in the day. I had it on the Amiga 1200!
togrtc on 1 Feb '12 said:
I just do not get along with FPS games - So i will forever be miffed that this is just not the original with better graphics.
Fr33Kye on 1 Feb '12 said:
I really liked the syndicate co-op demo. I'm glad the multiplayer and single player seem awesome.
Metatasian on 1 Feb '12 said:
I don't give a s**t about "nods to the original", this is nothing like the original, f**k EA/Starbreeze.
Breen09 on 1 Feb '12 said:
I love you.
thirdwatch on 1 Feb '12 said:
Sounds great, but it doesn't support local coop though which is where I spend almost of my coop time. Pity
DarthSeaBass on 1 Feb '12 said:
Amen brother!
360_Fan on 2 Feb '12 said:
I wish you didn't compare this to Brink. I will have to download the demo.
appyday on 2 Feb '12 said:
I enjoyed Brink (shhh, dont tell anyone else....) and after playing the Syndicate demo they are slightly similar in feel, although it reminds me more of a faster paced Killzone 3....
A game that will now go head to head with the Darkness 2 for my february cash....
richomack360 on 2 Feb '12 said:
So, another day and another disguised begging letter from Starbreeze (as they are clearly concerned at the fact that the majority of people who have seen or played this are thinking "meh")
I am sorry, saying "there is a mission LOOSELY based on a Syndicate original" does not cut the mustard with me, it might as well say "there is a mission that has a buildingthat looked fairly similar to a building that may or may not have appeared in the original"
Also, the article says you can't run and gun, yet are after the CoD crowd.....are these developers simpletons or something ? You will never get the run and gun aspect out of an FPS - very few "tactical" (or in this case bastardised) FPS's actually work, and usually they only work after the "OMFG a new shoooota game has come out" crowd has gone anyway and decided to put the CoD disc back in their Xbox with their mutant hands.
..and yes I played the demo t'other day...and it was rubbish. Halo CE was far more polished when it came out a decade ago, its not even as much fun as Goldeneye was when that came out ! It lacks the technical superiority of BF3 and explosive enjoyment of CoD, it doesn't actually have anything and feels like a really cringe worthy hanger on to a great name.
Weapons were predictable, didn't feel meaty, collision detection was terrible, laggy, servers were jammed - all the hallmarks of a classic EA online bodge job (and I bet they will have the cheek to demand an online pass when this vile piece of cack is eventually released) and I still do not know why there are "agents" in this game that have personalities and a beret - did they not understand the concept of the original ? Perhaps not, hence why you see begging article after begging article after begging article nearly every week from Starbreeze / EA trying to convince people to pick up their awful hash job - honestly, if you buy this then you are not a friend of the video game industry, you are just another sheep who wants spoon fed FPS's - sorry, but that's my opinion, don't like it ? I don't care.
My interpretation of this game can be imagined in this way - A legendary band is standing for a photograph, in the background you can see a few creepy people miling around hoping to get some of the limelight because they are loosely associated with the band - those creepy people hoping to make a quick buck are Starbreeze and the legendary band is the original Syndicate.
Remember - the more you keep buying this bastardised FPS's the more the $$$ companies will make them, killing off any chance the industry has of getting out of the FPS rut.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 2 Feb '12 said:
Well apart from the setting. And the weapons, and the tone. And the fact that its called syndicate. and that from the looks of things missions play out in a very simialr manner except you only control one guy instead of four.
I'm happy to see it again. i loved the oringal and the demo was fantastic in its own right. If it was up to people like you we'd all be playing the same games over and over again untill the cows come home,. If you don't like the new on it's simple don't play it. Go get an amiga emulator and replay the orignal again.
This doesn't detract from anything it only adds so why the hate. We'll never see another syndicate like the original and i'm happy for that. I'd rather have an intersting reboot than a disappointing remake any day of the week.
richomack360 on 2 Feb '12 said:
So you would rather have a disappointing FPS in its place instead ? Sorry, I have played it, didn't like it and I can voice my opinion about it - believe people who have been playing games for a long while (such as myself) do know that if we dont like something we won't buy it.
Believe the "hate" is because syndicate could of worked as an RTS, its a shame a lazy developer took an even lazier option and then releases article after article trying to justify their decision (if they know they made the right decision they wouldn't release begging articles). I would of rather they left the franchise alone until the RTS crowd was back, or left it all together.
I hope the game bombs badly, very badly indeed and puts off any other developer attempting to ruin the original spirit of a game for a quick buck
WHERESMYMONKEY on 2 Feb '12 said:
Syndicate did work as an rts. Its also as a series had fps elements before. You could actually play through the whole of syndicate wars from the perspective of one agent if you wanted too and it was incredibly fun in the process.
I'm excited for this game because it has Molyeneux's blessing. It's being made by a damn fine dev that makes quality fpss. Go play riddick and the Darkness if you don't believe me and its EA at least tying to bring back a series in a way thats relevent. yes you could make a new RTS but the problem is that no bugger would play it. So what would be the point. If this game is successful chances are a lot of people will be interested and going and playing what it was inspired by and we might get a nice spangly HD remake of the original on XBLA/PSN.
As i said this doesn't take anything away from the series it only adds you can still play Syndicate and was right now. no ones stopping you. You don't have to buy the new game. But if you want to stop looking like an idiot you could always stop with the baseless accusations and implications that this article is written by anyone other than a member of the CVG staff who last time i checked were an impartial third party and not members of either EA or Starbreeze.
They're not begging articles they're merly reports that seem to suggesst that despite fears that this game would be as you say a cash in on a great name. It is infact shaping up to being a great game on its own merits.
richomack360 on 2 Feb '12 said:
Beliee they are begging articles. I don't think it's shaping up to be a great game as only a few minutes ago one of the devs admitted he is not "super satisifed with it" - great adverstising for your game or what...
I know I can still play syndicate now, I havent for a while, but you never know. I have played Riddick and a bit of the Darkness and didnt find their work enjoyable, perhaps I just dont like Starbreeze games ? and I dont want to have to fork out £40 on a vile mutant game to get an XBLA version of the original - the fools should of released that first to generate the interest in the brand or inculded it as unlockable / part of a bundle - again, silly devs.
Yes it was written by CVG but there always seems to be dozens of articles about this bastardised game every week with some begging story / masked apology - it does make you wonder.
ensabahnur on 2 Feb '12 said:
As a player of the original game on Snes i've gotta say i actually enjoyed the demo and i think that the new games looking like it could be pretty good. It certainly isn't "just CoD".
To all those bemoaning the fact that its not an RTS and just flat out refusing to even give it a chance why don't you just download it then make your decision.
richomack360 on 2 Feb '12 said:
I would assume they have lest they make the chronic mistake on commenting about something they haven't tried
I have tried it and thought it was abysmal, not the same vibe when i picked up halo, goldeneye, original syndicate, it was just pants. (to quote Dominic Diamond)
freds1 on 2 Feb '12 said:
From the horses mouth. Yeah, I'll give it a chance, when it's in the bargain bin or in a Steam sale.
One minute it's give it a chance, the next it's could've done better
delmariachi on 2 Feb '12 said:
If EA approached Starbreeze over the remake then the bottom line is that they wanted an FPS, no shock there.
Starbreeze are pretty much known for it, they did a RTS ages ago which got average reviews, so again, they'd be in the bad books of Syndicate fans if they tried to recreate the original Syndicate (although at least they stuck to the spirit of the original). I think the reality of it, is simply they are on a hiding to nothing no matter what they produce. And that is down to EA
Having had a go at the demo, I have to say i'm vastly underwhelmed. Feels like an amalgam of Deus EX, Ghost Recon and any FPS you care to mention. Nice idea but so far not executed that well.
There is room for improvement, but unfortunately in a genre which is the gaming equivalent of Mr. Creosote, his famous line of "f**k off, i'm full" comes to mind. The camels back has taken that one extra straw too many, and with it, a great franchise could be ruined, which to a vast fanbase that had high hopes in the first place, is a very sore point.
richomack360 on 2 Feb '12 said:
That is exactly how I feel about this game.
It’s a terrible demo, it will sell poorly at £40 and the 2nd market for it will not exist as most people wouldn’t want to pay £20 for this 2nd hand then fork out extra money on the inevitable online pass (that’s if there is any shops that do 2nd hand in the near future)
Bye bye Syndicate, I apologise on behalf of the decent gaming community that your reputation has been tarnished.
Starbreeze / EA – get lost.
sibear on 2 Feb '12 said:
I've been gaming for a long, long time and this game's demo was really good. Smooth tight controls and interesting ideas. Starbeeze are a great little developer and taking their comments out of context is ridiculous. Every dev says that they could have done more with their games. I think this game will do pretty well and if it doesn't then there is a very high chance that the Syndicate RTS coming later this yer will be canned. I'll certainly be picking this up. It will be nice playing an FPS that COD lovers are incapable of playing.
ensabahnur on 2 Feb '12 said:
+1
Though i haven't heard of a Syndicate RTS, are you sure you aren't confusing Syndicate and X-Com which has 2 games due this year?
sibear on 2 Feb '12 said:
Yup, I was. Sometimes my brain just doesn't work
Symptoms of old age. My earlier comments still stand though.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 2 Feb '12 said:
[quote="richomack360"
It’s a terrible demo, it will sell poorly at £40 and the 2nd market for it will not exist as most people wouldn’t want to pay £20 for this 2nd hand then fork out extra money on the inevitable online pass (that’s if there is any shops that do 2nd hand in the near future)
Bye bye Syndicate, I apologise on behalf of the decent gaming community that your reputation has been tarnished.
Starbreeze / EA – get lost.
Yeah hate to break this to you but its not getting an online pass. So if you pick it up 2nd hand it'll be the full game.
As part of the gaming community i'd like to say you don't speak for all of us and i'm going to get this game because i'm a fan of Syndicate, Cyber punk and the dev that made it. I don't think i'm the only one either.
sibear on 2 Feb '12 said:
Nope you're not. I'll be picking this up day 1 too unless it get's horrendous reviews which I don't see happening.
Metatasian on 2 Feb '12 said:
Guys, people keep saying that RTS's don't sell, yet there is a AAA remake of Command and Conquer coming soon, as shown by the teaser trailer a few months back, it looks awesome and will sell a s**tload. There is NO reason why a proper Syndicate RTS cannot be released now and make money. Especially because it's already an established franchise and remembered as being awesome by everyone whose played it.
A good game will sell, the fact that this $yndicat£ remake is an FPS signifies trepidation and anxiety by the developers, the game may be ok, it may be awful, but they expect to make a profit solely due to it be an FPS because they know stupid people will buy it expecting COD. If they decided to put the effort in and make a great AAA RTS sequel/Reboot of the original they would have pleased fans or the original, made new fans of the franchise and sold a bucketload. FPS = lazy, money grabbing developers/publishers.
Essentially, I don't care if this remake is good or not, I have no interest in trying the demo because I won't be buying it anyway. IT IS NOT SYNDICATE. It's like calling Mario Party 9 or Mario Power Tennis 'proper' Mario games, they're not, they are spin offs. This remake is a spin off, it's NOT a proper Syndicate game so I don't care about it and will not give it a chance. I already have BF3, MW3 and Deus EX HR so I have no desire to purchase another sub-par FPS which we all know is just riding on the name of the original and won't be as good as those 3 anyway.
richomack360 on 2 Feb '12 said:
WHERESMYMONKEY
You Sir is exactly what is wrong with the industry today. No wonder we have so many pi55 poor FPS's out now. i trust you will be buying Road Rash FPS or Rolo to the Rescue FPS ? or would a Flicky FPS take your fancy ?
I know, silly me - I disagree with a remake, that makes me not a fan ? Don't think so.
You are a fan ? Nope, if you a PROPER fan, loyal to the brand you wouldn't entertain this tosh (and yes I have played the demo) the game may try to be technical, but the average moron playing it will still only be able to bring his CoD style gaming to the table, run and gun has been programmed into the FPS crowd for years - thus making it average.
I still beliebe this will bomb, and I will be laughing. Laughing hard.
SpandexArmstrong on 3 Feb '12 said:
Imagine if the game played with the original overhead view with the option to hit a button & get closer to the action in first person mode at any time. Now that would have been the way to bring Syndicate into the modern era! Everyone wins that way too.