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EA Returns To Desert Strike Series, Not Syndicate?
An anonymous reader writes "Plenty of Brit sites have been reporting on new games which Electronic Arts is working on, some resurrecting some of the old legacy franchises. In particular, Spong.com is claiming that a Syndicate remake and a Desert Strike follow-up are in the works. Well, the other sites seem to be steering clear of the Syndicate story, with one claiming Spong 'got their wires crossed'. However, GamesIndustry.biz has a very good article clarifying the Strike game, mentioning that EA Northwest are developing it, as well as revealing that Scot team Visual Science is working on the recently discussed GoldenEye, so both of those games now seem to be a definite. What do Slashdot readers think of returning to old titles like these - especially from a company like EA, whose quality of output is sometimes a bit questionable?"
I don't think EA are really capable of doing anything original anymore, but a remake of Syndicate would be the next best thing.
If they can improve upon the original game and not taint the memories of it in a bad way, then I'd say it's a good thing. I do remember spending many hours on Jungle & Urban strike (Desert strike got me started but I never bought that)... ahh the Mega Drive ruled.
Oh - heres some details on how to hack their site... http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=96479&ci d=8252632
A revamp of Syndicate or Syndicate Wars selling for $20-$30 would be nice. Nostalgia alone would be reason enough for me to buy it, although new graphics and some new missions couldn't hurt.
;)
My favorite tactic in Syndicate was to use the Persuadertron to minionize everyone I saw until I could persuade agents, then redline adrenaline and rush the enemy. You could get loads of new agents that way, but if there weren't many people around it could take forever. Another fun thing to do was persuade mass amounts of civilans, then arm them with leftover weapons and go around shooting things. Nothing like giving 50+ people miniguns/gauss and shooting everything you came across
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I'm suprised more isn't being made about Vis Sci apparently doing a new GoldenEye game. Vis Sci are a great bunch, that few people have heard of. It just goes to show that EA have a lot of respect for them.
Check them out here
whose quality of output is sometimes a bit questionable
I actually couldn't agree more with that part of this post. EA makes the finest sports games around. I don't understand why they would try and undertake difficult sequals when the only games that they really do well are sports oriented. Lets face it, EA makes some kick ass sports games, but can jack up almost anything else. That's capitalism, find what your good at, and do it.... now if Microsoft would figure that out and stick to making hardware and games (because they actually do a damn fine job with hardware, and their games are pretty good) then the world would truly be a better place. Now if only SCO could find something it could do well.....
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EA's creative direction is permanently stuck on a scale from mediocre to abominable. An analogy with the Borg would be apt: they assimilate gaming's most creative forces in order to gain control of their valuable assets, after which the identity /and/ creativity of those forces are wholly subsumed, dispersed, dispensed with.
Desert Strike was originally made by EA, and its generic nature is completely typical of their product. That it's getting a remake comes as no surprise. Syndicate, on the other hand, was essential Bullfrog, whose distinctive charms and talents as a game company are no longer with us thanks to EA. I would neither count on EA to make anything that could actually live up to the series' good name (in fact, I'd sooner count on them willfully desecrating it in their $$$ hopes of appealing to the everyman), nor would I count on them tackling the richness of content that is Syndicate: they'd be too damn intimidated.
There's only one thing to say: :)
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EA ruined the Command & Conquer series for me, which used to be a pretty cool strategy game w/o any of that US/Chinese army VS. the terrorists-*crap*. Not only did the game feel bloated, but also the storyline was untimely (released during or shortly after Afghanistan), so that it wasn't fun playing it for long.
I only mention this because the story of Desert Strike already deals with similar themes, so I don't see how EA can *improve* it. Personally, I play games to escape the news, _not_ to relive it.
Makes sense...
Bullfrog closed up shop years ago I think. A new syndicate would be awesome, but the Strike series was done by EA on their own back in the day.
Besides, Moleyneux is at Lionhead right now, and I highly doubt they'd have the IP rights to use the Syndicate franchise. I could be wrong though.
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Considering all the hulabaloo over GTA3 in our over-litigious socieity, I'm not surprised that EA is steering away from making a new version of Syndicate. I haven't played the game in 10 years, but I remember lighting civilians and enemy agents up with flamethrowers and miniguns.
Even an M rating doesn't prevent kids from getting their hands on violent games, and once people start making noise about them, it's a PR nightmare for the company.
Desert Combat is a Battlefield 1942 mod. Desert Strike was an old series which casted you as a helicopter pilot with games on the Gameboy and the Genesis to name a few. Both Desert Combat and Desert Strike are two different games.
EA made some pretty good games (and some turds) back in the 16-bit days. The ROAD RASH series truly kicked ass, they were certainly among EA's finest games. But when was it last updated... the Nintendo64? Come on, EA, bring this classic back!
Circumcision is child abuse.
It makes more sense for a mainstream-serving company like EA to wedge in a shooting game between their weekly releases of Sims expansion packs than it does to release a remake of a beloved game where you had to have a fair bit of strategy to survive.
Here's hoping an independent group somewhere picks up on the Syndicate story and makes their own re-release, because none of the console-friendly publishers in recent memory are going to touch it.
AFAIK, everyone who was involved with the 2 Syndicate games went to either Lost Toys(RIP), Muckyfoot(RIP) or Lionhead
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is there a way to play syndicate in XP? I have it somewhere, but its a dos game if I remember correctly.... hmmmm, need to figure something out.
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms,
By waiting for this, I either get a stable version or sufficient warning not to buy the game (journalists reviews aren't enough - they said Black and White was good when it first came out...)
Note this is just big names with marketing budgets. If I genuinely think a game has been released when it's ready, rather than when marketers say go, then I may consider buying it early.
the syndicate series was one of the most forward-looking series of the last decade.
The gameplay included absolutely everything available that made GTA such a huge hit - plus destructable environments, more RPG-style gameplay, and full 3d out of the gate.
I never understood why someone didn't buy the rights to that sucker - or at least buy the rights to rerelease it so I don't have to fight with DosBox just to get it to run.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"