Syndicate Review (PS3)

By Simon Gallagher / March 1, 2012

rating:3.5

The world these days seems obsessed with the idea of the reboot, and gamers seemingly can't disappear into their own alternate realities to escape the relentless regurgitation thanks to big-time redos for a couple of notable classic game titles. XCOM is on its way - and to the collected disgust of all who played the original it seems - and Starbreeze Studios have just released their take on Syndicate, the ground-breaking 1993 strategy game from Bullfrog. Some might immediately grown that Syndicate needs no tinkering, and that the move from top-down isometric strategy to the FPS medium would spell disaster from the out, and I might have been inclined to agree if it weren't for the presence of Starbreeze Studios at the helm of the redevelopment. The developer behind The Darkness have some form in this genre, having also extended the life of the Riddick character well beyond the lifespan of the poor film franchise, and there had to be some confidence that the Swedes would be able to inject some very welcome innovation into the FPS world after a spell away, and with a property that already had a successful foundation. But, in the cruel light of day, Starbreeze didn't quite achieve that desired success, and the 2012 revival of Syndicate feels at times stunted by the conventions of its chosen genre, and undermined almost fatally by the developmental decision to split it into single and multi-player portions, as well as by a heavily reliance on story-telling cliches.

From the rude awakening moment, Syndicate's early levels feel like little more than extended tutorials - though there is something to be said for how the game attempts to actively teach rather than taking the simpler, less rewarding Teacher Knows Best approach. It is certainly a more engaging approach to in-game learning, and the boundary into the "real game" is pleasantly blurred. The combat mechanics are good, but not great: aiming needs a little fine-tuning, and at times it feels like a slight refinement and slicker controls would have made for a better all round gun-toting experience. But having said that, the gunplay does feel substantial enough to divert the attention away from some of the more worn cliches that drive the narrative, and the AI is just about clever enough to make exchanges with enemies both more difficult and more entertaining than other FPS' from recent memory. You get the feeling that Starbreeze believed their heavy artillery with Syndicate to be the DART mode, and remote "hacking" that allows Kio to access enemy chips, as well as local technology like doors and consoles. DART mode works in a similar way to most other augmented state features, enabling heat-signature recognition-like technology for enemies, but also boosting your resilience and the effect of your shots, as well as temporarily slowing time to help with dispatching foes. It's good, and it adds a short-lived boost to your powers that can positively change the dynamic of a situation when it all seems to be getting the better of you.

The hacking is by far the more impressive, and innovative of the two additional features: aside from the techology breaching, Kilo can also hack into the chips of enemy troops, learning three destructive techniques along the way to deal with them in variously colourful ways. First up is forced suicide, which is just as grizzly as it sounds, and is frankly an odd choice for the first "level-up" behaviour given its devastating effectiveness. Then there is Backfire, which forces the enemy's weapon to backfire and allows a window in which they are unarmed for Kilo to cruelly shoot them in the face, and finally is Persuade - a mind-control technique that makes the victim swap sides temporarily before killing themselves. All cheery stuff. Each behaviour can only be used when their gauges are full, a condition that can be realised and speeded up through feats like headshots, and there is no mistaking that each feature is a necessity as opposed to an ornate and unnecessary frill to be enjoyed as a gimmick and forgotten in favour of more standard tactics. The game encourages the use of all three, based on tactical decisions, and its heartening to see the feature given such appropriate precedence, but unfortunately there are too many fundamental short-comings for the game to really shine above the Good level and into the Great one. The story arc is crudely realised and incredibly one dimensional for anyone who has even the most basic knowledge of bargain price sci-fis, and the script is woefully limited and riddled with cliche. It's yet another case of under-funding on one of the crucial and perpetually undervalued aspects of any game, and it is particularly frustrating considering your own character is but a passenger in the script, which is otherwise driven by the sum total of three other main characters (played by Brian Cox, Rosario Dawson and Michael Wincott).

It is a beautiful looking game though, despite the limited dimensions. The environments are well conceived for the action sequences, and they look very impressive, and their quality is matched, somewhat typically for a Starbreeze title, in the characters. The protagonist is very well made, and delightfully imposing, especially in combat and fast-paced sequences, and you get the sense of a developer who know exactly how to deal with heroes. There are occasional problems with level design - getting lost is a frustration that plainly shouldn't happen in a game with such relatively small levels, but it can and does with Syndicate, and while it is heartening to see a game trust gamers to find their own way, muddled design is not the best way to help that along. The co-op mode is easily the best thing about the entire game: the removal of the cliched story-telling aspects of the single player mode, and the tightening of level areas makes for a vastly more fun experience, which the decision to steer clear of the Online Pass at a late stage makes all the better. The nine levels, split by difficulty, are far better than the single player mode, and the scoring system and unlockable aspect (Expert must be unlocked by completion of the easier levels) will keep players coming back long after the game has lost its single-player appeal. Syndicate is, more than anything, an example of unrealised potential to a frustrating degree. There are flashes of brilliance, but the game is just too bogged down in cliche and feels oddly restrained, meaning they are never translated into sustained higher quality. There have been some comparisons with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, thanks to the story-line and the impetus on breaching and hacking, but stood up next to that particular gem, Syndicate is an easy second place, lacking those intricate refinements and flourishes that made Deus Ex one of the stand out games of last year. Saying that, I still liked it a hell of a lot more than I did the original The Darkness, which was all style over substance and garnered a lot of over-reactive reviews. Unfortunately though, every slipped step and off-tune note would inevitably be emphasised, because of the dreaded Reboot tag, and what is a reasonable game will probably be picked apart unjustly because it can't meet the rose-tinted expectations of those who played and loved the original.

Syndicate is available to buy on PS3, PC and XBox 360 now.