The original Styndicate game had players glued to their seats when it was released in 1993. You simply had to play it. The top-down nature of the game was also a bit of a novelty. The graphics were not the best, certainly not by today’s standards, but it had excessive violence (if thats your thing) and exciting missions.
Nineteen years later, Starbreeze Studios took it upon themselves to reboot the franchise to some mixed reactions. The most obvious difference is the change from isometric view to a first-person shooter.
In the original title, players took control of a squad of trained hitmen to complete various missions. In the 2012 version, gamers assume the role of Miles Kilo, the latest Syndicate prototype agent, to put an end to a business war that has erupted over chipping citizens and controlling their lives.
As part of the tutorial, players are thrust into a mission of running on roofs, eliminating enemies and generally causing as much damage as possible. All the aspects of the title are explained in the first mission, with the exception of the DART 6 bio-chip technology, which gamers will experience in their own tutorials. It also sets the scene for the title’s pace and over-arching narrative.
While the title should work in concept, something is off. The graphics are on-par with similar games in the genre, the level of detail deteriorates when approaching doors, windows and posters. During the cut-scenes, there are moments of clarity, but are then interspersed with moments eyebrow-raising graphics. Just to give you some perspective, the graphics during the cut-scenes are slightly worse than the gameplay graphics in Deus Ex.
The gameplay has that same offish sort of feeling. There, but not quite there. The sensitivity on the controller’s sticks has a strange elasticity to them, and the camera seems to whip around the character — instead of smoothly following from behind.
During the game players will pick up a weapon that can fire bullets around object, but it does not help much if the hit detection is off. It could have been worse than the previous games, but it will take some aiming to hit the right spot (which is not always guaranteed). Gamers will know something is wrong when their accuracy is 62% with a LMG, and 57% with a minigun.
During the course of the story, players will also unlock the DART 6 bio-chip upgrades, where players can force enemies to commit suicide, back-fire their own weapons, and persuade them to attack their squad. It is often easier and more enjoyable to watch the AI turn on each other than waste bullets.
The more enemies you defeat, you the more your chip get upgraded by levelling-up, allowing various perks, base health and shield activation. Upgrades also allow you to extend the DART mode where players can temporarily slow down time, do more damage and avoid getting hit.
While the game makes use of the standard FPS controller layout, some weird choices were made in order to accommodate the scheme of Syndicate. The left stick is clicked in (and held) for running, and is also used to bash through doors. It just feels weird to hold down the button, just to let it go and press it again. On the odd occasion, the character will also battle to crouch when the corresponding button is pressed for the first time, but comes right after some motivation.
At the end of the playing day, players of the original franchise might not be as thrilled with the reboot as they hoped. While there are many elements of the title that work (like the upgrade system and general mechanics), some aspects just do not feel right, or do not work well together.
There is also a certain lack in true variety, as the title starts of exciting, but moves into the dangerous territory of becoming boring very quickly. Many ideas could have been expanded on, or are just wasted within the game — which is rather sad, as the title had a lot of potential but ultimately disappointed.
Our score: 7.5/10
Charlie Fripp – Online editor
