It’s solid, playable, and capable of chewing up a few hours, but it’s not compelling in the least. It’s just okay, incapable of raising much more than indifference. There is nothing wrong with Syndicate‘s single-player mode, but there’s nothing right either. There are other shooters on the market that have done the whole “mess with an enemy’s mind” schtick in a far more involved, satisfying way, which makes one ask - why didn’t Starbreeze steal some gameplay from those games alongside their narrative ideas? ![]() It’s a bog-standard shooter with some tech-magic thrown in. Simply put, the game has not been designed around any of its unique gameplay additions. The powers at an agent’s disposal are the powers that a psychological predator would have, yet combat is so in-your-face and ordinary that they feel like cheap gimmicks. The core combat is solid, but repetitive, offering old-fashioned FPS gunplay with the occasional chance to make an opponent blow himself up. Truly empowering uses of the agent’s talents are almost always scripted, not improvised on a player’s behalf. Opponents usually only spawn after you’ve entered a wide-open combat zone, which totally undermines the point of DART Vision and limits the application of breach abilities. You cannot, for example, see through walls and find enemies before you meet them in order to soften the targets. Not only that, but Syndicate never capitalizes on its ideas to create unique scenarios for their implementation. Possessing the ability to see through walls and cause mayhem among a rival syndicate’s forces is certainly gratifying the first time one does it, but that’s the problem - it’s done too many times, and the initial glee soon wears off. Meanwhile, Persuade can force a foe to turn his gun on his comrades before putting a hole in his own head. Suicide will cause an enemy to hold a live grenade in his hand, taking himself and any bystanders out of the battle. Backfire makes opponents’ weapons explode, knocking them back and dealing damage. As players progress, they also unlock special breach abilities to demolish an opposing force. Breaching is essential for breaking the shields of various enemies, and it can even disarm grenades. If one looks at a computer, it can be hacked to open doors or take over automatic gun turrets. This breach mechanic is Syndicate‘s ace in the hole, though it also turns out to be its crutch.īreaching is performed by pressing a single button while looking at the desired object. This chip grants our silent protagonist a range of physical enhancements, as well as the ability to “breach” machinery and the human psyche. As a cyborg agent, players are armed with a new technological advancement, the DART 6 chip. Characters speak obtusely and make ambiguous allusions to more interesting horizons, not because they’re hinting at some jaw-dropping revelation later (one never comes) but because they truly have nothing of value to say.įortunately, there’s plenty of violence in between the vapid story bits, and it’s slightly more engaging than the writing. The sad truth is, nothing important ever happens. ![]() ![]() Much of the story is littered with moments of exposition in which inscrutable characters say mysterious things, hoping against hope that you’ll actually believe something important is happening. This wouldn’t be a bad thing, if not for the fact that Syndicate wants you to believe it’s more than that. This is what Syndicate‘s campaign is like from beginning to end - inconsequential sequences, as vague as they are pointless. The reason for being there is vague but it doesn’t really matter, as it’s not long before you’ve broken free and begun a sociopathic murder spree that may or may not extend to screaming pedestrians. ![]() Syndicate‘s narrative campaign has players waking up handcuffed to a chair while a masked stooge merrily rearranges your face with his fist.
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