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Lucien21 · 02-26-2012, 09:27 AM

Syndicate

Rebooting an old franchise is always tricky especially when you are changing the fundamental gameplay that made the originals great.

Foregoing the 3rd person strategy game in favour of First Person Shooter was a controversal decision that upset a lot of people.(including myself)

However the studio (Starbreeze) have a very good track record in this genre so I gave it a go.

I loved it. It's a lot of fun if a bit of a throwback to older sensibilities.

People expecting this to ape the recent Deus Ex reboot will also be disappointed. Syndicate is a straight forward corridor shooter with none of the freedom and choices that Dues Ex has.

You play an "Agent" of EuroCorp one of the almight Syndicate corporations that control the world. Implanted with a data chip that allows you direct access to the datanet.

This allows you to have a floating interface in your head that highlights objects with descriptions, grants you access to "Dart" mode which slows down time and highlights enemies that you have already spotted (even through walls) and most importantly gives you access to the Breaching procedures.

Breaching is like hacking it allows you to manipulate machines in the environment and also allows you to breach the enemy heads with some skills. These are "Backfire" which makes enemy guns explode, "Suicide" which make the enemies blow themselves up and "Persuade" which turns one of the enemy to your side and he fires on his comrades before eating his gun.

I found the game to be pretty challenging with strategic use of all the weapons (the standard pistol, shotgun, machine guns, rocket launcer line up) along with the Dart overlay and breaching skills, essential to continued survival. Later enemies need to have their armour hacked before they can be shot. The boss battles can be a pain in the ass until you learn the strict patterns required to defeat them.

The story is ok, standard Cyberpunk fare written by Richard Morgan, but I expected more from the man who wrote Altered Carbon (one of the best Cyberpunk novels of recent years). The voice work is great from Brian COx and Rosario Dawson, but it's pretty obvious from the start of the game who the end baddie is going to be.

Overall I had a lot of fun with the single player. A couple of the boss battles were frustrating as hell and the 2nd last level was a grindfest of just non stop enemies, but the old school difficulty and design was a refreshing challenge.

4/5

Now to try some 4 player co-op. and listen to the Dubstep remake of the Syndicate theme.

http://www.giantbomb.com/syndicate-d...ailer/17-4972/

02-26-2012, 09:27 AM	#29
Lucien21 Psychonaut Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 5,114	Syndicate Rebooting an old franchise is always tricky especially when you are changing the fundamental gameplay that made the originals great. Foregoing the 3rd person strategy game in favour of First Person Shooter was a controversal decision that upset a lot of people.(including myself) However the studio (Starbreeze) have a very good track record in this genre so I gave it a go. I loved it. It's a lot of fun if a bit of a throwback to older sensibilities. People expecting this to ape the recent Deus Ex reboot will also be disappointed. Syndicate is a straight forward corridor shooter with none of the freedom and choices that Dues Ex has. You play an "Agent" of EuroCorp one of the almight Syndicate corporations that control the world. Implanted with a data chip that allows you direct access to the datanet. This allows you to have a floating interface in your head that highlights objects with descriptions, grants you access to "Dart" mode which slows down time and highlights enemies that you have already spotted (even through walls) and most importantly gives you access to the Breaching procedures. Breaching is like hacking it allows you to manipulate machines in the environment and also allows you to breach the enemy heads with some skills. These are "Backfire" which makes enemy guns explode, "Suicide" which make the enemies blow themselves up and "Persuade" which turns one of the enemy to your side and he fires on his comrades before eating his gun. I found the game to be pretty challenging with strategic use of all the weapons (the standard pistol, shotgun, machine guns, rocket launcer line up) along with the Dart overlay and breaching skills, essential to continued survival. Later enemies need to have their armour hacked before they can be shot. The boss battles can be a pain in the ass until you learn the strict patterns required to defeat them. The story is ok, standard Cyberpunk fare written by Richard Morgan, but I expected more from the man who wrote Altered Carbon (one of the best Cyberpunk novels of recent years). The voice work is great from Brian COx and Rosario Dawson, but it's pretty obvious from the start of the game who the end baddie is going to be. Overall I had a lot of fun with the single player. A couple of the boss battles were frustrating as hell and the 2nd last level was a grindfest of just non stop enemies, but the old school difficulty and design was a refreshing challenge. 4/5 Now to try some 4 player co-op. and listen to the Dubstep remake of the Syndicate theme. http://www.giantbomb.com/syndicate-d...ailer/17-4972/ __________________ I'm not insane, my mother had me tested!