Nineteen years separate the release of the original Syndicate and EA’s rebooted version. In that time we’ve seen the economic world collapse in on itself and corporations… well they’ve not really changed much at all. They just keep getting bigger. That makes it a good a time as ever to re-introduce ourselves to Eurocorp, one of a few huge organizations who have seemingly taken control of Syndicate’s near-future world.
But, if you’ve had even the slightest passing interest in the series reboot, you’ll know that more has changed in the game’s world than in the actual one. The RTS strategy has been dropped for a more immediate FPS that aims to combine fast tactics with aggressive gun play. The darkly ironic story the series had been telling has been moulded into a flashier conspiracy tale and multiplayer has been brought in because… Well, this is a game with guns in it. It has to have multiplayer.
Exposition on a mission
The game kicks off in 2069, with you taking control over “Kilo”, a corporate spy who has rather conveniently become flavour of the month at Eurocorp and given his first mission. A rival is developing a bio-chip that is remarkably similar to one your company is developing and someone inside of Eurocorp is suspected to be leaking information. Most people have these chips implanted, which connects them to their corporation and if their tech is stolen, Eurocorp could end up being deader than the stock exchange.
The story plays out in typical cyber-punk fashion, with plenty of crossing and double-crossing, shady businessman who only see the profit in any situation and, naturally, there are plenty of homeless people, who aren’t fortunate enough to receive the upgrades you enjoy. Add in some Chinese typography for good measure and Syndicate’s campaign feels like the test tube baby of Blade Runner and Deus Ex. It even manages to steal the hideously awful boss battles from Human Revolution, just with added dubstep.
Dubstep launch trailer
The familiarity of it all though makes the story incredibly hollow. Although Brain Cox and Rosario Dawson lend their voice and likeness, there’s never any real sense of momentum to the story. While Deus Ex managed to subvert some of the clichés of the genre by giving it’s protagonist an emotional reason for his actions, Syndicate offers up intriguing scenarios and situations but never really follows through on the promise of exploring them. You’ll guess every twist along the way and ultimately feel like you’ve wandered down a very shiny corridor, due to the extreme linearity of the level design.
While the graphics are pretty solid for the most part, it really can’t be over-stated just how obnoxious some of the lens flare in the game can be. Although it’s been a staple of the next-gen for quite a while, Syndicate seems to ramp it to the point where the screen feels like a second sun at certain points.
Gameplay
So, if the world of Syndicate leaves a lot to be desired, the gameplay manages to pick up nearly all of it’s slack. Those aforementioned chips aren’t just narrative gloss; they give Kilo plenty of interesting powers to go along with his exceptional skill at hitting things with bullets. Not only does enabling the chip give you the ability to see enemies through cover – fans of the Arkham series will be right at home with that – but you also have the ability to hack your enemies, forcing them to fight for you or when you’re feeling more sadistic, blowing themselves up. There’s a perverse glee to be had in using enemy guards to turn on each other and mop up the pieces.
But even with those bells and whistles, the core shooting more than holds it’s own in a world when anyone can be hacked. Guns have a vicious pop to them, giving a real sense of power every time you pull the trigger. Although it’s the usual arsenal for the most part – barring a gun that can lock onto enemies and bend bullets – there is a balance between the weapons, which means that you’ll never be disappointed when you have to swap guns on the fly. Even the pistol is a murderous joy to behold, angrily spitting bullets instead of the usual weak whimper that most gaming pistols give.
Coupled with the frantic pace of your character, Syndicate’s core gameplay is a pleasant surprise, closer to the dizzying spectacle of Bulletstorm than the more ponderous nature of other cyber-punk games, although the enemy A.I can at times be a bit too thick to represent a real challenge and, perhaps sensing this, later levels become a real slog as enemies are just piled on in waves. This infuriatingly lazy level design manages to ruin the final few missions and everything the gameplay achieves up to that point.
On top of that, the single player has three(!) different sets of collectibles for you to hunt after, if you’re that desperate to get your moneys worth, as well as collecting and recording your stats at the end of each level, with a personal best being recorded for you to try and beat if you’re really against just going online and trying out the multiplayer. Which you really should.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer borrows the structure from Left 4 Dead, giving you co-op maps that are completed in small stages, with an a main objective at the end for four players to complete. So while cooperation is the main name of the game, you’ll also be pitted against your other team-mates to see who can earn the most for kills, assists and healing. It’s not hugely original, but in carrying over the majority of the single-players entertaining gameplay achievements and removing the sub-par story, the multi-player manages to add quite a bit of legs to the short story.
Syndicate may not be worthy of the series name for fans, but it manages to be a solid start if EA were looking to develop a franchise. The game’s engine is one of the stronger shooters out there, but the excuse for a story that is offered up constantly threatens to derail the experience, and considering the campaign mode can be clocked in about six hours, that’s a pretty glaring problem. Syndicate has adapted to survive in a new era, but it’s clear that more is needed for the series to reach it’s full potential. Here’s hoping it’ll get that chance.
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