Syndicate

I first played this when it was released on Xbox 360 back in 2012. I remember it being a solid four star kind of game but as I had also recently played Deus Ex: Human Revolution, my expectations going into Syndicate (2012) were heavily influenced by the experience I'd had with DX:HR and were not fully met as a result.

But I don't want to be too down on Syndicate because there's a lot about it that I really like. On the game play side of things, there's some really cool systems in the single player and I really appreciate the mix of gun play and tactically altering the battlefield with the 'hack' options. There is an effective 'bullet time' mode that exists on a separate cooldown to other abilities that becomes a vital element to the flow of combat as the player switches between weapons, abilities, and targets. The weapons are generally really solid, with their multiple modes adding to the variety.

Thematically this is one cyberpunk ass video game and there's much about the game that succeeds in generating the uneasy feeling that is associated with that genre's fiction. An early game example of this is when your partner (a stone cold psychopath) knocks on a door pretending to be 'security' and then summarily executes the civilian once the door is opened... just because... why not? There are no consequences to civilian murder in this game (although it is neither encouraged nor discouraged) and 'breaching' the minds of NPCs to compel them to do horrific things like commit suicide is waved on through without comment. Another example of the morality would be the upgrade system which requires the player to kill opponents, then extract the chip from their brain in order to acquire new abilities. It is gross, effective and underscores the creepy message that in the world of Syndicate, the value of life is lower than the value of the chips that people are carrying inside them.

The game world and its detail has a very clear and well realised dystopic style. While it definitely does the job in terms of establishing context, it doesn't distinguish itself or provide any novelty in terms of its design. Neon slums and high tech corporate towers are both very much a feature.

There's some very decent writing, pacing, and voice over work but overall there isn't enough of it and too much of what is there is hidden in notes and looping audio-logs that trigger when you're near. This is a shame because, while slightly wrote, I felt that the narrative elements of the game had some real potential that definitely wasn't fully realised.

Four years have passed since this game was released, and nearly five since Deus Ex: HR; yet in spite of the gap, I'm still inclined to compare Syndicate with DX-HR and to hold Syndicate in lower regard overall even if Syndicate's combat is clearly superior.

The biggest plus point of Syndicate back in 2012 was its co-op. This doesn't appear to be available any more on PC (when I tried to access it in March 2016), and you'd also have to assume that the population of people playing has dwindled to almost none on PS3 and Xbox 360 by now. Perhaps this game will be made backwards compatible to the current consoles? It seems unlikely.

Syndicate is a very pretty game (and visually holds up excellently still in 2016) but Deus Ex:HR made better use of the interesting world setting that both games created and is rightly remembered as the better title of the two.