Syndicate, business is killing

Syndicate is far from new. This franchise is in fact more older than some of you guys reading this article. The only big difference is that in 1993, Syndicate was published as a strategy game having very few in common with the present day shooter continuation. Sadly, part of this game has lost its originality mostly just because it was turned into a shooter. Still, even so, Syndicate succeeds in qualifying itself as one of the best games of the year. But if you want to know why, you really need to read this review.

In a world�

Dominated by major corporations, the fight for power equals the fight for territory and technology. Now there are no more free people, everyone is chipped by one of the corporations and every chip is accessible by its manufacturer. That�s an advantage if you�re one of the few people that have a DART 6 chip model, an electronic device so powerful in its essence that it can access the ordinary chips and it can even influence the behavior of some individuals. Yes, there are some 90�s ideas here, but just a few and the strategy element is completely gone.

Tales from the single player

There�s a story there, quite a solid one, centered on Miles Kilo, one of those above mentioned DART 6 owners. And in his turn, he�s owned by one of those evil corporations. His purpose? To solve any issue and to surpass any problem in identifying and retrieving any piece of technology that he is send to find.

It�s a typical shooter with a straight forward scenario. Nothing from what you can do in the game won�t change its finale which is rather frustrating to say the least. Nowadays its not fashionable any more to publish such a simple game, the gamers want more and its quite disappointing that Starbreeze didn�t push the game a little bit more.Anyway, even so, the basic idea of the game, that of the manipulation thru the DART 6 chip is both innovative and well applied over the main plot of the game. It�s a little bit of work to get right every time and to know who and how you can manipulate.

The system called breaching means that you can make the enemy drop down the gun, point it at his comrades or why not, obliterate himself with a single shot in the mouth. There�s a little bit of instant strategy here when you have to decide who, if and how you will manipulate those in front of you, a challenge worth mentioning.

How not to dodge a bullet

Still, there are some short comings to the mechanics of the game. We�re talking here especially about those shootouts where trying to �convince� your enemies to join you doesn�t always work that well. In those cases your only salvation will be to duck behind some object and say a prayer. That�s because in Syndicate, the bullets have a path of their own and they don�t count those poor �duck behind� obstacles all that much. You can hide but there�s a good chance to be hit. Moreover, the cover-shoot-cover is poorly developed and it doesn�t offer the ideal protection. So try to shoot back and once again pray not to be hit.

And then there are those curved around the corner bullets. They go like a miniature guided missile and most of the time they get their target (one more prayer here).

Anyway, those inevitable stand outs are quit fun especially if you�ve got the right weapons for them.The boss fight will also be a subject of discontent for many gamers. That�s because the developer made a clear pathway to defeat a boss. You don�t get to be all that creative here. Instead you must rely on several steps. Even better beside the slow-motion capability the rest of the DART abilities mean zilch in these boss fights. It really does get frustrating.

Syndicate salvation

In terms of gameplay quality, the co-op mode is the only true salvation for this game. It�s fun, it�s dynamic and it brings a fresh breath of air to this otherwise kind of common shooter.Some of the internet critics have made a parallel between Syndicate co-op and Left 4 Dead. It�s ok, nothing to say there but for us, the co-op did much better in Syndicate than in its older counterpart.

Thus there are 9 different missions that combine hard action with a drop of strategy and some tasty bonuses. There are several �safe rooms� where the players can restock their ammo supplies and their health packs. And then all hell breaks loose. In fact on its hardest level, there is no way on earth for one player to finish these missions. All four co-op members are required and each of them must do its best to survive in front of those mean enemies. It is by all means a worthy compensation for a not so inspired single player campaign and in the end we�re talking about pure adrenaline here.

One more interesting thing to say here is that Syndicate co-op has the benefit of multiple modes from normal, to hard and (after unlocking it) expert that can be replayed over and over without the fear of becoming obsolete.

Syndicate at its end

As we have said before, this game has some out of the ordinary qualities, an original idea and some adrenaline rush scenes that can compete with any action movie. Thus, this is a success in commercial terms and we�re sure that it will pass the sales test with flying colors. Still we do have a small disappointment. When it comes to games, there are 3 different categories: bad, good and fantastic/awesome/extra/etc. So we do feel a bit disappointed when we see a potentially fantastic/awesome/extra/etc that gets to be only good. If the guys over at Starbreeze had of struggled a bit more, if EA wouldn�t of been what it is ( a money makin� corporate) it may just been possible to turn this Syndicate shooter in the best damn game of the year.