Syndicate reviews have gone live on the internet, and as always here's your trusty CVG review round-up.
In CVG's Syndicate review, our man Andy Hartup said of the EA reboot: "Play it in co-op - or don't play it at all." We'd best leave the rest of his words through the link. He gave it a 6.7.
Going from the rest of the internet's scores, it looks like everyone's agreed on good old 7 out of ten. Here's your list...
IGN: 7.5 - Syndicate hints at a fantastic puzzle meta-game, but relies on bullets flying to get through every level. Where the story walks a familiar road, the cooperative campaign's tough-but-fun arcade action makes up for the missteps.
IUP: C+ - Syndicate ultimately is a damn good cooperative game saddled with a weak story campaign. I just hope Starbreeze's next game -- whether a remake or a license or an original story -- can be consistently good across all its modes.
The Guardian: 3/5 - those with longer memories may argue that rebooting Syndicate as yet another FPS, complete with identikit hero, is a bit like remaking Citizen Kane as a rom-com starring Adam Sandler. For all its multiplayer merits, I'm afraid I'm with the Luddites on this one.
Eurogamer: 7/10 - If Starbreeze had snubbed convention and made a strategic co-op shooter with a global reach, it could have been amazing. As it is, it's the sort of almost-there effort that entertains for now but will likely be forgotten by Christmas. Pick it up for the highly enjoyable co-op, but just don't expect it to outlast its FPS rivals.
Videogamer: 7 - Syndicate's callous world of corporate dominance feels more pressing than ever in 2012, but Starbreeze lacks the confidence to execute on this chilling vision of the future.
Giant Bomb: 5/5 - The campaign gives you a great look at an interesting world, though its abrupt, too-clean ending feels out of place. It's a somewhat disappointing reward for an otherwise exciting adventure that puts a terrific and fun spin on first-person shooting.
Destructoid: 6.5 - It is a game you will never need to play, but you won't feel like you wasted your life if you do. It's a videogame about guns that pretends to be something deeper while striving for nothing more.
Comments
14 comments so far...
TheLastDodo on 21 Feb '12 said:
Hmm. Similar scores to Resistance 3, which shat all over the 9/10 scoring military shooters from a great height last year.
I'll pick up a copy on friday
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tmulford on 21 Feb '12 said:
That's what they get for not having the balls to do a proper Syndicate game. Now they have the IP back out in public view a PSN/XBLA remake of the original Syndicate and Syndicate Wars would be much appreciated though.
Mmmmgrolsch on 21 Feb '12 said:
I'm looking forwards to this game.
El Mag on 21 Feb '12 said:
I've been pondering it all day and I've finally come to the conclusion......I'm s**t at making pancakes.
dicky1993 on 21 Feb '12 said:
well i'll rent it but i did enjoy the demo, people played it properly
dookiephonic on 21 Feb '12 said:
Can't deny the quality of Resistance 3, bought it for £12 the other day, worth every penny so far.
appyday on 21 Feb '12 said:
Im getting it, I only use reviews as rough guides anyway.... if it is bad it will be used to trade in for ME3....
Simples....
KMakawa on 21 Feb '12 said:
Im getting it because it deserves a chance, and of what ive seen of it - its good signals.
I dont care much for the "It should be a RTS!!" opinion.. I feel any game shouldnt be conformed to a certain genre all of its life, so its good for me.. wednesday it'll be here
Jimmy Luxury on 21 Feb '12 said:
It's all about the pan, mate. Me and Mr Tefal have been chattin' with the batter and we've been making sweet, sweet Jif-lemony poetry together. Teflon-tastic.
sonic_uk on 21 Feb '12 said:
F*** reviews. Been looking forward to this for ages, and having played the co-op demo (offline on my own I might add) I know the gameplay mechanics are great. Of course, the full single player mode is where it's at for me, always has been, and from the videos I've seen it looks epic. Graphics don't make a game, but its worth noting in this case they are amazing too. Can't wait til friday (or hopefully Thursday if my copy arrives early which is usually the case).
Oh and TheLastDodo, you are absolutely right, Resistance 3 was a masterpiece and was one of the highlights from last year for me. Definitely more interesting with a better story than those other big budget military shooters that were released around the same time (although the one made by a certain EA I still enjoyed, strictly in Single Player mode I might add).
evilhippo on 21 Feb '12 said:
Another shooter with token RPG gloss, eh? Nope, not interested in the slightest.
Joe90_Remy700 on 22 Feb '12 said:
reviews are poor enough for this, considering some big scoring titles are pants. but i'm getting this anyway so i'll see for myself. the demo was frantic, hopefully other missions mix this up with some sneaky stuff
qSPARTANp on 6 Mar '12 said:
Just finished the single player and.........Bloody good fun! Great cover system, I really love it when developers try to keep you in the FPS experience,(except for bloody bash X to pen door ETC) it feels so natural! the co-op is pretty fun, but needs more maps!( sure this will arrive as DLC the buggers ) HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT SYNDICATE! As an old school gamer this captures about 5% of the atmosphere of the original and the story/idea bares hardly any resemblance to the originals. I guess they just wanted the name association to help sell the product? My FPS version of Syndicate would be a case of zooming in down from the isometric view of the originals and straight into the FPS view at ground level for some kick ass action! The originals also had you placed right in the middle of a city where you would be fighting off rival Syndicates and cops, you could also have about 10 citizens all blindly following you shooting at your enemies because you had used the Persuadatron on them...Brilliant! Now as for this game, how about being able to switch into each cyborg agent at will, anybody played Clive Barkers Jericho?, anybody?, ah well your loss. As for multiplayer how can you not have 4 V 4! What a stupid idea not to have Syndicate V Syndicate. I guess my dream of Syndicate as I would have hoped to have had as an FPS is dashed for now.......Starbreeze should have created a brand new IP for this game and called it something else as overall its a darn good shooter in its own respect.
sonic_uk on 7 Mar '12 said:
I agree they shouldve called it something else but as you said its a fine game and they couldve done far worse. I really enjoyed my first playthrough and will be returning to it soon for another go on the next difficulty setting on the scale.
Welcome to the site btw buddy, nice to see some new blood around here.