Syndicate revivial

[Scrobbs]

While I generally find myself at odds with the constant regurgitation of ideas within the entertainment industry, this is one that I'm kind of looking forward to.

http://www.computerandvideo games.com/article.php?id=199521

Cast your mind back to when Starbreeze struck that deal with EA to resurrect one of the publisher's "classic franchises" and Syndicate was hotly tipped. Starbreeze definitely sounds like a good fit for the gritty cyberpunk universe as well.

No more details were offered by our secret agent, but to see a current-gen remake of the PC and PSOne RTS - which still has a cherished place in many a veteran gamer's heart - would no doubt please many.

So it's not definite yet. But could still be good...

[toblix]

I played that game like a motherfucker. Syndicate Wars sucked, though, except for being able to blow up buildings. Obviously that won't be possible in a new game, though, since it would be encouraging terrorism.

[brkl]

Isn't the whole game basically about terrorism?

Starbreeze is a pretty great studio, and Syndicate was an awesome game. Could be great. I still get the basslines from the game's music stuck on my head occasionally...

[Scrobbs]

I remember an interview with Bullfrog about a bit in Syndicate Wars, where you could give your agents a flamethrower. They said you could set a mother and her baby in a pushchair on fire, and the pushchair would roll off down the street in flames while the mother cooked seperately. They elected to take that out in the end (or someone told them to more like). Shame.

Brkl - I've not heard of Starbreeze before, so that's a bit more reassuring that they are rated.

[Cigol]

You could blow up all the buildings in Mercenaries 2.

A Syndicate revival would be nice, but it's bound to be done in a different format to the original. Look at all the shitty UFO sequels, Fallout 3, etc. I wouldn't be very hopeful of anything half-decent and I imagine they'll turn it into some third person run and gun shooter and just piggy-back the license - but I'm a pessimist so whatever.

[toblix]

They said you could set a mother and her baby in a pushchair on fire, and the pushchair would roll off down the street in flames while the mother cooked seperately. They elected to take that out in the end (or someone told them to more like). Shame.

Yeah, I would've liked to see that.

[Wrestlevania]

I remember an interview with Bullfrog about a bit in Syndicate Wars, where you could give your agents a flamethrower. They said you could set a mother and her baby in a pushchair on fire, and the pushchair would roll off down the street in flames while the mother cooked seperately. They elected to take that out in the end (or someone told them to more like). Shame.

I'm all for freedom of expression and not banning or going mother-fucking mental about Video game content. But sometimes, you have to actually help yourselves in this regard; keeping that in would've been a bad idea--and would be no less malignant and pointlessly "red top baiting" today either.

How is this any different to the righteous indignation we all apparently had towards Manhunt 2's lack of self-control?

[DanJW]

I loved Syndicate sooo much. I even played Syndicate Wars, although I never completed it.

The gameplay is pretty old-school though. Not just the squad-based missions, but also the between-mission corporation management. In that way it had a lot in common with Themepark and, yes, X-COM.

If they make another it must also keep the atmosphere. I can think of no other game that perfectly captures the Bladerunner/Ghost in the Shell cyberpunk vibe. It would be all too easy to mess that up by trying too hard to be all cool and post-Matrix.

[brkl]

Brkl - I've not heard of Starbreeze before, so that's a bit more reassuring that they are rated.

Far as I know, they've only done the Chronicles of Riddick game and The Darkness. I haven't played the latter, but really enjoyed Chronicles of Riddick (even though I really don't care for the license). It's by far the best licensed game I've ever played, and special in that it has a quirky little vibe of its own unlike pretty much any other.

[Chris]

This is exciting and encouraging news!

[n0wak]

Far as I know, they've only done the Chronicles of Riddick game and The Darkness. I haven't played the latter, but really enjoyed Chronicles of Riddick (even though I really don't care for the license). It's by far the best licensed game I've ever played, and special in that it has a quirky little vibe of its own unlike pretty much any other.

They did Enclave, as well as some other obscure games, prior to Riddick. But yes, Riddick was amazing. My favourite shooter on the XBox. I was looking forward to the 360 upgrade but it got lost in the Activision shuffle recently so who knows if it'll even show now.

The Darkness was a weaker game, but it had some good character and a few interesting ideas in it. It wasn't enough to keep me captivated through the whole game but I certainly appreciated some of the design of it.

I never played Syndicate but I'm interested in it simply because of Starbreeze. I'm curious to see what they can do with something that isn't a licensed property, giving them a little more creative headspace (though I realize that they have to live up to an established game, but it's different with a game.)

[Wrestlevania]

Far as I know, they've only done the Chronicles of Riddick game and The Darkness. I haven't played the latter, but really enjoyed Chronicles of Riddick (even though I really don't care for the license). It's by far the best licensed game I've ever played, and special in that it has a quirky little vibe of its own unlike pretty much any other.

The attention they gave to NPC interactions and branching story-telling in Escape from Butcher Bay was remarkable, which gives me confidence they could make a decent city-scale game.

For example: early on, you're asked by one inmate to side with him against another (tougher) prisoner and he'd share the spoils. If you agreed, he gave you a shiv and you went to the other prisoner's cell with him and had a small knife fight against him and a couple of goons. If you refused, you'd later walk past the rival inmate's cell, door open, prisoner officers joking inside and the body of the first inmate spread across the floor and walls.

For a run-and-gun FPS, I still think this is remarkable and was very well executed (pardon the pun). The only problem I had with the game was a crippling piece of game design, where you were expected to plummet down a mine shaft in free fall, then creep through a heavily patrolled area completely unarmed and with piss-all health. But the worst part of all was the auto-save trigger at the bottom of the mine shaft, meaning you couldn't go back and try to find a safer way down or land more safely.

As a result, I couldn't get past that section and gave up on the game. Should probably give it another go...

[n0wak]

The attention they gave to NPC interactions and branching story-telling in Escape from Butcher Bay was remarkable, which gives me confidence they could make a decent city-scale game.

Did you play The Darkness, though? In some ways that was their attempt at a free-roaming city environment and the interactions with the NPCs were a little flubbed there. Mostly because of the segregation they had between "interactive kill fest" that was the city, where no plot-dependent NPCs would roam, and the restrained world of the subway stations. It seemed forced. They had some justifications for it using the possessing demon license angle, but it was just awkward. The city felt mostly dead because of it.

The reason it worked in Riddick was because of the setting. It makes sense to have different levels of interaction in a prison, when you're incarcerated without proper weapons and when you're escaping guards, but it was jarring in what was supposed to be a real city (or an approximation of one). So, I don't know. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. "The Darkness" wasn't exactly the most tantalizing of licenses.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Isn't the whole game basically about terrorism?

It ain't terrorism if it's legal...

Syndicate rocked my world... I hope they do a decent job and not just Syndicate Wars - aesthetics DO matter!

Syndicate was the only Molyneux title where you actually had total freedom to play as you wanted... IMHO.