Syndicate (360)

My love of last year's Deus Ex: Human Revolution has got me back into digging the cyberpunk genre in a big way. I was impressed by Syndicate's Skrillex heavy announcement trailer last year and recently got my hands on the game.

First off, while the original Syndicate was a 3/4 view isometric real-time 'strategy' game, this reboot is a First Person Shooter. This would have prompted yawns except it was developed by Starbreeze who made the excellent Darkness and Chronicles of Riddick games. Both of those games excelled in creating an engrossing atmosphere and engaging game world. They also both had a component of open-world/free-form gameplay to them as well.

Syndicate starts in 2069 where the world is no longer controlled by governments but by large corporations known as 'Syndicates'. Their control is made possible by the DART chip - an implanted brain chip that allows users to access the internet and renders most other electronic devices obsolete. In classic cyberpunk style the world is divided into those who have the chip (living in wealth and prosperity) and those who do not (who live in the ghettos). The powerful Syndicates employ bio-engineered/augmented security officers called 'Agents' for both protection and to engage in corporate espionage.

You control an agent named Miles Kilo (awful name, I know) who works for the world's largest Syndicate, Eurocorp, and has had the newest prototype DART chip implanted into his brain. 

This DART chip allows for several gameplay abilities that somewhat differentiate the game from the FPS norms. Tapping the Right Bumper (RB) brings up the 'DART Overlay' which adds a Matrix-style overlay to the visuals, highlighting enemies, important objects in the environment and also slows time slightly. You have three different 'Breach' abilities that are activated by targeting an enemy and then holding down the Left Bumper (LB). The Breach abilities allow you to hack into an enemy's DART chip force them to either commit suicide ('Suicide'), turn upon their allies ('Persuade'), or force their gun to explode ('Backfire'). 

Both the DART Overlay and the Breach abilities use an energy bar that is only refilled by either hacking objects in the environment or by killing enemies. Furthermore, the Breach abilities only work on those enemies that have implanted chips - so when you encounter those members of society who do not have them (and it's not much of a spoiler to mention that you do) you can't use them.

The shooting and controls in Syndicate are solid and the special abilities add flavour to all the encounters. Some later groups of enemies will have soldiers who have jammers that stop you from using Breach abilities (so you have to take them out first). There are also a good number of enemy types from heavies, to those with shields, mini-mechs and, of course, other Agents. The other Agents are your boss battles and while I'm generally not a fan of boss encounters in first person shooters, I think they work pretty well here because they force you to use your abilities and/or the environment in different ways.

You also gain experience points from each kill/hack/encounter and can then use these to upgrade your abilities in a fairly intricate upgrade tree which adds an RPG-lite component to the gameplay. 

Graphically, Syndicate is solid. I like the art style and look of the world but I still think Deus Ex: HR wins out in terms of art design and also the intricacy and level of detail found in the stages. You travel around future New York, Los Angeles and a floating city in the Atlantic. While the futuristic architecture is very well thought out and logical, there is nothing as stunning as Lower and Upper Hengsha that you find in Deus Ex. 

The faces and animations are excellent but there is some slow-down in the 360 version when there's too much going on at once - it only happens a handful of times but it's enough to mention. The DART-overlay and menu graphics are really well stylized but I felt at times the font sizes were too small and when I was trying to read emails/journal entries I had to strain.

The narrative itself is decent with requisite twists, turns and a very nice reveal towards the end of the story but it doesn't feel as fleshed out as it could be. The narrative leaves things open for a sequel but still manages to feel complete.  Starbreeze decided to use real-life actors for the other main characters who are both voice and facial captured. Brian Cox plays the head of Eurocorp and he is, as always, absolutely awesome as a maniacal megalomaniac. He was previously in Manhunt and Killzone and was brilliant in those two as well. The only other notable actor would be Rosario Dawson who plays Eurocorp's head scientist. While she is undoubtedly gorgeous I don't think she adds much to her character and I think EA/Starbreeze could have saved some money by going with a lesser-known actress.    

Syndicate features a very rich background fiction which is told through diary/journal entries and news articles you pick up. Unfortunately, none of this is really essential to the central narrative which is a shame and feels like a missed opportunity. It's fascinating reading about the other corporations, industrial espionage and also a rising revolutionary movement among deposed non-chipped individuals. The latter is somewhat touched upon in the narrative but not in as much detail as it deserves. 

After you're done the 10 hour single player story, the excellent co-op mode provides further enjoyment. In co-op you play as a team of 4 human-controlled Agents who have to take on various missions against the AI. Like all good multiplayer games (i.e. Battlefield 3) Syndicate rewards players that work together and each co-op player can play a variety of different roles from the bog-standard 'healer' to someone who specializes in hacking. The missions themselves are also quite varied from simple assassinations to stealing something from a rival Syndicate's compound and making it back out alive. 

Best of all, this is one EA game that doesn't require an online pass so if you do buy the game used/preowned/whatever you can still play this mode. 

I quite enjoyed Syndicate. It didn't blow me away but I had a lot of fun playing through the single player and co-op was engaging enough for me to forgo Battlefield 3 for a while. I think the game-world could have been fleshed out a bit more and I wish there was a bit more open-ness to the game (like in the Darkness) as it's fairly linear. Right now you can get Syndicate new for $30 and used for even cheaper. At either price, I think it's a good deal.

Lavan