 Hacking just went high-tech. The technology of the future has dissolved all world governments. Instead, people are ruled by corporations, each with their own agendas, products, and means of enforcement. One "man" is now charged with finding renegades from rival corporations and putting them down.
1. Gameplay
It’s not often that I find a new game that I haven’t heard of at all. It happens occasionally, but I like to pride myself on being in touch with all facets of the gaming world. This is especially true when it comes to first-person shooters that have a PC version. That’s why I was surprised when I found Syndicate. Before I bought the game, I hadn’t heard anything about it. Some basic research told me that it was a first-person reboot of a much older title, but other than that I was left somewhat in the dark.  Fortunately, Rosario Dawson is going to clarify things! Syndicate puts the player into a futuristic world where nations have been replaced by corporations. The elite are interconnected to everything via an extremely powerful wireless internet system. The player happens to be one of the corporation’s elite enforcers. He is able to remotely hack into just about anything, move just about anywhere, and kill just about anyone in order to accomplish his goals. It’s a bit like high-tech organized crime, but all of it happening above ground.  1984, but with corporations? The execution of the game was decent, but I always felt like everything was a bit off. The game makes controls somewhat realistic in that the motion is almost always fluid, but this gave me the impression that controls were unresponsive. Some of the characters were modeled with absurd detail after real people (Rosario Dawson is the lead female), but there wasn’t anything particularly distinguishing about most of the environments. The hacking mechanic was pretty awesome, but the extra powers the player can use were somewhat clumsy and difficult to execute on the fly.  You can even give your friends more health via hacking in co-op. These complaints wouldn’t have been enough to tank the game for me on their own. However, there were two extra elements that ruined this game for me. First, the developers used way too much bloom lighting. This is discussed in much more detail in the “Frustration Factor” section below, but in short it sometimes made the game near unplayable. Second, the campaign was ridiculously short. My system’s game timer clocked my total time spent in the game at around 4 hours. I still believe that it took me closer to 5 or 6 hours, but either way the campaign felt extremely short. There’s not much else to say really. The idea, on paper, was pretty good. However, it felt like the development team just stopped coming up with new ideas halfway through. It’s worth picking up for $10 or so, but don’t feel like you’re missing out on very much.
The campaign of Syndicate was surprisingly brief. My playthrough on normal lasted less than 6 hours. With no alternate endings and no real choices in the campaign (an issue discussed in the “Frustration Factor” section below), there is little reason to go back and try the campaign again. There is a cooperative mode where the player can team up with friends or random online players. The mode was interesting, but felt like the normal syndicate play minus the storyline. There are RPG elements to it (the player will have the ability to purchase upgrades after killing bosses), but it never really seemed to have any real purpose. If I were playing this game cooperatively with friends, I could see going through the different coop levels. However, very few of my friends have even heard of this game (none of them own it), so that desire is absent for now.
There were three things I found frustrating about this game. First, the game used a significant amount of “bloom” lighting effects. Bloom is used to create a sort of glow around lights that can create some very beautiful images and scenes when used sparingly. However, Syndicate uses so much bloom that it would end up being blindingly bright. There were more than a few occasions when I would be unable to see enemies because I was blinded by the bloom effects on a few lights.  Let's play "spot the enemy". This is what the game looks like a good portion of the time. The second issue were some of the boss battles. Most of them were okay, but there were two that got more than a bit absurd. In one I had to hide behind a wall from the boss’ rockets or else I would get torn to shreds in seconds. In another I had to fight three enemies at once. Two of them would “resurrect” a few seconds after I killed them. The game failed to mention that I had to get rid of the third enemy first before I could kill the other two. That led to at least 6 deaths and a good deal of frustration as I tried to avoid fire from all three targets.  I hated these jerks. The final thing was the final “choice” that the game allows the player to make. The player has the choice as to whether to try and kill Rosario Dawson’s (yes, the actress) character or not. Unfortunately, the game forces the player to not kill her despite giving the player a prompt. I don’t necessarily mind the idea of not killing her (I decided not to kill her before I knew the two outcomes), but I am frustrated by games that give the illusion of choice. If the player chooses to kill her, she will kick him in the face preventing her death. The choice ends up being meaningless because you have to side with her anyway. 2. Parental Notices
This game is pretty violent, even if most of it is lost in the absurd lighting. Players will use a variety of firearms against enemies. All of these weapons will result in a large amount of blood.  Up close and personal. Some enemies will leave large splashes and / or pools of blood on the ground after death as well.  That's going to stain for a while. Decapitation is somewhat common in this game as well, especially when large weapons are used against an enemy’s head. When this happens, the enemy’s head will be destroyed and blood will fountain from the remains of the neck for a short period of time.  Note the decapitated body on the left. When the player defeats a boss, he will use a weird device to probe into the dead enemy’s head and extract a chip. That chip is used for upgrades. The process is very violent, even if the probing is only shown via x-ray vision.  At least he's not alive. I guess. There are some rare occasions when the player will get hold of weapons that will light enemies on fire. These include a flamethrower and a laser weapon. In some rare areas, enemies can also be lit on fire via objects in the environment as well.  WHO WANTS TOAST?! Late in the game, one of the enemies the player will kill will self-destruct. The explosion will completely obliterate most of the enemy’s body. However, the player will pick up a piece of the enemy’s arm and extract a chip from that instead.  That's just gross.
In one section there are references to "chip-enhanced peep shows" with some 3D images of busty ladies. Other than this, sexuality is not a factor in this game.  If it's open 24 hours, why is it barred up?
Substances are not a factor in this game.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
There is one brief area where people can be seen praying to some sort of shrine made out of Christmas lights and televisions. I really have no clue what it has to do with the story though. There are a few brief mentions of “the Harbinger”, but that is never brought up in any of the conversations.  I really don't get what the purpose of this was.
Governments in Syndicate have been replace by corporations. These corporations have their own set of rules dictated by their leaders. It’s basically like different sets of warring factions, but with some pretty awesome technology. The player will start out as an enforcer for one of the corporations. This will involve tracking rogue agents and infiltrating / fighting with rival corporations. It’s not necessarily anti-law since it would be like a spy infiltrating a hostile nation during wartime. This changes later in the game. Eventually the player’s corporation will turn against him and he will have to side with an underground resistance to fight the corporation. This is much more along the lines of anti-law, since it is fighting the established authority (even if that authority is tyrannical and did try to kill you).
The only online mode available in the game is a cooperative mode. My time with the community revealed people willing to assist new players. While no one seemed to use microphones, they were always willing to come to my assistance when I was downed (which happened frequently at first). I expect that most of the people who play Syndicate cooperatively online will be equally helpful (since teamwork is required to beat the levels).  The heavy weapons made up for my "deficiencies".
There are a few brief instances when extreme sports come into play. For example, I one section the player will jump onto the back of an aircraft in order to steal a ride to another location.  I could just fly there myself, but shipping from Amazon is expensive in the future. In another, the player will fight on top of a speeding train. Other than these, extreme sports are not a factor.
Magic is not a factor in this game.
Torture Late in the game, one of the main antagonists captures the player and the main female character and takes them back to the corporation’s headquarters. There, he tortures the main female character. While it is unclear exactly what is going on, it seems like she is being electrocuted (or sent signals of pain) via the chip implanted in her brain.  It's hard to see electrocution of someone's brain. Suicide At the end of the game, the head of the corporation that the player used to work for will jump of a building to kill himself. I have no idea why he did this.  Dude, what?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Like what we do? Want to see more? Donate to the site using the button below!
Not sure what a term means? Read the definitions!
Not sure what a review section is about? Find out more information!
|
RSS Feed