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Syndicate Reboot Coming Next Year
Electronic Arts has announced that the popular 1993 cyberpunk game Syndicate is getting a remake. This time, instead of being a tactical action game, it'll be a first-person shooter, and co-op play is planned. The Guardian's games blog sums up what the new Syndicate will need in order to succeed: "The biggest challenge will to replicate Bullfrog's brilliant story-telling and its keen eye for cyberpunk details. The original titles were also fascinating for their amorality – players were neither rewarded nor penalized for gunning down civilians or destroying vast areas of real estate, reflecting the wider themes of urban nihilism and social breakdown. Fans certainly won't be appeased by a vaguely near-future shoot-'em-up with some hackneyed hacking mini-games tossed in for cyber-credentials."
I loved this game. Group of four guys with mini guns mowing down everyone in their path. Good times. Still only a pale shadow next to Stacontrol 2.
I probably won't be the first to say this, but seriously, fucking lame.
WWJD -- What Would Jimi Do?
(Smash amp, burn guitar, take home the groupies)
...if the remake is a different genre than the original? Syndicate was no fps...
It's going to be a really really shit version of Deus Ex.
Seriously what the fuck is the aversion to the classic genres nowadays? Where are modern day games like Cannon Fodder, Syndicate, Desert Strike, Magic Carpet. Hell it's hard to even find RTS games like the original Command and Conquer now, they're all just a bit too futuristic. The original C&C was at least set reasonably in near future but the latest in the series are all about fucking UFOs and aliens and mega-robots.
There's so many genres out there that have basically just died off and are begging for modern day remakes done properly. By done properly I mean not turned into some shitty FPS that'll probably flop.
First XCOM, now this. What I don't get is why. It's not like the typical FPS gamer today was playing strategy games in the 90s, so why all the old properties? What's the point in recycling IPs if your target audience has never heard of them?
Ok, I'll admit that like everyone else commenting so far, I'm pretty pissed off at this "reboot". It sounds, to me, that they've just ripped off Deus Ex, maybe put a small tweak to that formula here and there, but ripped it off none the less.
I have no problem with this.
I like Deus Ex and the game that they're proposing actually sounds like it could be good (The developers are decent, too). There aren't enough games out there like Deus Ex, so why not?
My problem is that I still want a new Syndicate game. This is Syndicate in name only, in much the same way that C&C: Generals was C&C in name only. I still want a strategy game that allows me to have a squad of 4 people running around a city, persuading an army, shoving them all into a car and going on a rampage - all in the name of corporate glory. There may not be many Deus Ex-Style games out there, but there's a hell of a lot more of them than there are Syndicate-style games.
Syndicate was ahead of its time and it still is by most measurements (So was Deus Ex. Human Revolution, while still a great game, is a cut-down version of Deus Ex)).
I have a degree in making computer games, but my day job ended up being a regular boring IT fair. I've been thinking of starting a personal project, an open-source game, I just hadn't decided what. I considered making a Syndicate clone, but with rumours of a reboot, I figured I'd hold off as I doubt I'd be able to make anything as good as a AAA developer like EA. Having heard this news, I'm seriously considering starting my project (Especially since Corporate Mayhem - http://mayhem.sourceforge.net/ - seems to be long dead). It may never come to anything, but what the hell, it doesn't look like EA is going to do much better.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
This is keeping in-line with EA's strategy of take something good and rape it... rape it... rape it... rape it...
I thought a lot about making a mod of Dungeon Siege that would be a multiplayer version of Syndaicate Wars.
I think that perspective, which matches the original but the characters are obviously much bigger, is the best. Not only does it display the multiple levels of the syndicate world well, with a good view of your surroundings, but seeing how your character responds to the environment is half the fun (getting shot would push your character across the street, ditto for explosions). It would work best with say 16 players, they get divided into 4 syndicates so whereas in Syndicate Wars you controlled 4 people you'd control only control 1 (I guess this could be optional). You'd have to stay within a certain distance of your teammates and if say 3 of them moved in a direction then the contrarian would get pulled along.
When you die it would naturally be quite a wait till respawn so you'd go to a level that perhaps included players from lots of other games and would just be a deathmatch or something. Then when you're game was ready for respawn you'd get transfered back to it.
EA GAMES - We screwup everything.
I absolutely loved the original syndicate. It was one of the first games that I ever bought on my Amiga 1200. I remember saving up for it and everything! This sounds erm.... nothing like the original however. So what's the point of it?
While I loved the original Syndicate I'm plain sick and tired of all those reboots. Rebooted comic books, rebooted movies, rebooted games and it seems like 90% of music is either covers or uses samples from old hits that they're hard to distinguish from the original. Why not try something original for a change? Is imagination and creativity in such short supply or is it that the accountants who run all those industries have no imagination at all? oh, and get offa my lawn!
Am I seriously the only person left alive on this globe who absolutely can't stand FPS games? It seems as if that's all they make these days :(
So you're telling me this will be an FPS based in the near-future with morally ambivalent scientifically enhanced soldiers treking around an urban environment?
Gee, I wonder which recent successful game release could have spurred you into entering that market segment.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Like everyone else, much excitement at this post's subject line, followed by much disappointment upon reading TFS. Syndicate Wars was a decent sequel, so I guess there is still plenty you could do with this franchise other than making it an FPS. Yes, I am prejudging, but the only way this could suck more would be if they retained the lousy ending from the first syndicate, heh :)
What's the point in recycling IPs if your target audience has never heard of them?
Easy, new ideas are hard to come up with. It is far easier to steal someone else's idea and re-implement them. Hollywood makes plenty of re-makes of movies that would have little relevance to modern audiences, but the ideas behind them are still good (and the average studio executive has a hard time deciding what to have for lunch).
FPS is probably my favourite genre, but even I am annoyed that we seem to only have three major genres any more: FPS, RTS, and RPG/"Adventure". I love a good turn based strategy or RPG but they aren't made by major studios any more, and the indie versions don't live up to the late 90's games.
IMO the reason everything is being re-made as an FPS is because they sell so well on console. A bad FPS on console probably out sells any other game genre on PC. Consoles are just not good for the old school complex genres like XCOM and major publishers pretty much don't make PC only games any more.
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CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
Old-timers like us who loved the original are not going to buy it because it's a completely different type of game.
Kids who haven't played the original are not going to buy it because they've never heard of it.
So, why? Marketing wise it makes no sense.
Syndicate was a very good game, mainly because of his humor and of his lack of political correctness (the 'persuasertron', the flame thrower and the awful civilian screams , etc.). I doubt that EA could really make a real remake of this game, that will probably be just a gentle ersatz.
Bazookas for everyone !!!!
See, syndicate was ... 'syndicate'. it basically brought a new format to tactical action/strategy games. this was what it was and this was why it was successful.
and then, an ea exec probably thought, 'what previously successful game title remains, which we havent fucked up for some profit yet', and remembers syndicate. and then he says himself 'hmmm.... fps games are popular these days. why not fuck up the entire game to be a fps by changing it totally and use its name to make money' ?
and then there was 'making money' in the sentence. it sounded good. and his superiors came and heard him tell. they liked 'making money' phrase.
and so, this was how another classic which redefined modern gaming was fucked by Ea.
Ea - you never fail us in fucking up things !! thank you. what would we do without you !! we would have to play original, progressive games !!
Read radical news here
First, "brilliant storytelling"? I don't remember much of that in Syndicate at all. The intro consisted of someone getting run over, turned into a cyborg and then shooting the "viewer". The rest of the cutscenes were a guy in a blimp throwing his lamp, and a party underneath the blimp, to my knowledge. The in-game text consisted mostly of "kill this guy for this reason" or similar.
That's part of what made Syndicate great - no junk, nothing getting in your way (every cutscene was skippable with any keypress), just you, a target, and a city to hunt them down in. Syndicate was simplicity and atmosphere - I can remember my brother crowing about the Blade-Runner-ness of it all, from the cutscenes to the pre-game interface to the cities. And who can forget that voice that confirmed your commands - "Ser-lected"?
Syndicate was simple, fun gaming. You didn't need a million keys on your keyboard to play (1, 2, 3, 4 and space if I remember rightly - and everything else on mouse), you weren't forced down any one avenue and the dynamics of "hyping" your agents, controlling four separate agents, loading weapons, the persuadertron, and controllable vehicles were relatively new and interesting (First ever game to feature car-jackings?).
It ran on everything (386 with 2MB if I remember), didn't need a ton of power, worked virtually intuitively, had decent saves, and the only downside was an impossibly unbalanced last mission (which was weird because all the others were pitched just fine).
But it sold because it was simple to play. Start New Game, take the default load-out, click to move, right-click to shoot, both-click (a vastly underused input mechanic) to hype temporarily. To enter car, click. To leave car, click. To change weapon, click. To separate your agents, click between them. It was a grown-up Cannon Fodder, with a bit of resource management thrown in (persuade everyone you can, then sell their weapons for upgrades). Hell, it even had radar so you could never get lost.
Syndicate Wars itself was a bit of blasphemy to the Syndicate fan because it lost a great amount of the simplicity. Full-3D FPS? Why? What's wrong with a 3D-esque layout that players can change if they want? It's C&C:Generals all over again - let's take an estabished isometric Dune-like game franchise and turn it into an FPS. Would you do the same the other way around?
Personally, it can stay in development for ever. But the second the original comes up on GOG.com, (they've already done a few Bullfrog titles this year) I'll be buying it.
game making tools and engines developed quite. despite it requires hardware, rendering detailed 3d landscapes and models are much more easier than anything else, because they can be done through automation and powerful computers.
art, on the other hand, is as hard as it was. gameplay, is also as hard as it was.
you can make shitty stories pass unnoticed or ignored while someone is jumping around with a 3d toon in adrenaline stream, but you cant do that with a game that would need to put gameplay first - 2d isometric games, or adventures, or strategies, or anything else than a fps.
and instead of trying to appeal to artistic sense of players or try to offer them actual fun through risky and hassle-prone gameplay making efforts, you just pop up an engine, pop polygons, pop textures and let them jump around.
Read radical news here
Duke Nukem: Mahjong Edition
That is typical for the whole entertainment industry. Don't take any risks in any form.
Syndicate was so good because it was a new idea, a strategy game with cyber-agents, with mixed some RPG elements, like equipment, where you had the freedom to do anything you like. Syndicate didn't had any story, it was just a very good game play and a novel idea. Either you are good guys and pick your targets with snipers/lasers or you are the bad guy who just kills everything, it's up to you. In addition there were some strategy involved.
So instead to make a real good game, with novel ideas, they just take the name beloved by many fans, make the no-risks-genre (FPS) and spend some 100M$ for special effects. The sad part it that it will sell, just like the SW prequels.
http://www.mueller-public.de - My site http://www.anr-institute.com/ - Advanced Natural Research Institute
Rape meeeeeeeee!
Clearly you've not heard about the punitive DRM they've got lined up for Battlefield 3. It's turned more than few preorders into 'never going near that ****' round this way. It's called Origin, and it's just as bad if not worse than Ubisoft's anticonsumer stunts. EA are never going to change from their narrowminded policy no matter how much poll tested puff they have their talking heads spew out.
on the face of the computer industry.
next up 'lets remake kings quest as a first person shooter'
EA represents everything that is soulless and wrong.
every creative, visionary company of the 90s that came within 10 feet of EA corporate has withered and died, like they were infected by some kind of black plague of the soul.
A completely derivativ unoriginal poorly designed rushed buggy knockoff that will do nothing other than kill off the genre. EA's got form for this kind of monkey business.
Seriously, everything on the market is FPS these days. They did the same thing to Fallout. Can we have a little diversity in game play please?
...
I know I stand utterly alone in this but Bioshock fucking sucked. This was supposed to be the spiritual successor to System Shock? Yeah right. It was a barely acceptable shooter but System Shock was never just a plain shooter.
And now Xcom to be turned into a shooter... oh yes, straying from the strategy part by simply slapping xcom on another genre worked so well before hasn't it.
Oh wait, it hasn't. Xcom in space basically butchered the franchise. But this time is SURE to be different because what the world needs right now is another FPS...
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
So you are the one to blame for 99% of games being fps'es. That means if we kill you, the world will finally get something new and original.
Now is it worth killing a human being, even if it isn't a particularly good example, for the sake of gaming. That is a though call...
I will have to think about this...
Don't start any long books.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I understand that EA has hired a ton of the Bullfrog team that worked on the originals, but no Peter Molyneux means this is doomed to failure (aside from the fact they took a four player squad based RTS style game, and turned it into what will likely be a massively generic FPS).
Defender of Microsoft and Communism!!!
Seems FPS is where it's at right now. Since I tend to play anything 'but' FPS I really hope the genre will burn itself out soon. I've noticed in the past that usually when a heap of games in the same genre -or a single amazing game in that genre- comes out, that players will lose interest in that genre as it becomes 'saturated'. Pretty soon after that games in that genre are hardly made anymore for a period and will provide room for games of different genres and new types of gameplay. I just hope this is also the case for FPS, as the current focus on that reduces the options for everyone with different tastes.
Seriously, why an FPS? Anybody else remember Full Spectrum Warrior for the Xbox? Take that style of gameplay and apply it to amoral cyberpunk enforcers with no free will of their own. THAT would have been a Syndicate remake updated for modern game consoles. This is just a pathetic attempt to cash in on an old license that most gamers don't even remember (and therefore won't be offended by the changes).
It's going to be a really really shit version of Deus Ex.
Except it is being made by Starbreeze studio who did the brilliant Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butchers Bay game. In fact playing DXHR I was struck by how much it owed to Riddick, but really didn't live up to the physicality of the "take downs" and melee combat in that game. I was against this Syndicate FPS until I saw that it was by Starbreeze, now I can't wait to play it.
And people need to realise that this is the announcement that the game is almost finished. NOT THAT DEVELOPMENT IS STARTING NOW. This game would have been in development before anyone knew anything about DXHR.
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CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
All game franchises eventually turn into first-person shooters with light RPG elements. It seems to be a type of thermodynamics for games.
What a terrible thought -I assume you mean the current one, Human Revolution-: a copy of a tedious, linear, game that lacks any character!
A true horror.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
After XCom and Fallout, another IP milking as an FPS?
Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games and probably will love playing this one too, but it make no sense. There are no good strategic games released in the past few years, and they keep converting strategic games to FPS??
What the hell is the point of reviving the Syndicate name if all they're going to do with it is produce yet another uninspired first-person shooter? Young gamers won't recognize the name, and anyone who does wants something more akin to the original. I guess EA is banking on the gaming press to remind us all of the connection, that it will somehow legitimize the remake. And inevitably few older gamers will be suckered into getting this.
The promotional poster, with it's contrived machismo is evidence that this game will be crap. The fact that EA is working on this is an automatic no sale for me. With these big budget games they seem to spend more money on advertising than they do on the actual game. They only invest enough effort to ensure the game runs, but otherwise the whole affair feels decidedly low rent.
And for the love of god, won't first person shooters just fucking die? I don't have any inherent problem with FPSs, but does every single goddamn game need to be turned into one? I guess the halfwits EA needs their own Deus Ex.
Coming soon from EA; the FPS of Populous.
The horse has already been beat to death, but I have to jump in anyway. I have been waiting for a new Syndicate game forever. I actually liked Syndicate Wars because it introduced some new dynamics to the game. Being able to rob banks was pretty cool, especially with the enhanced police response that came along with it. It was a nice change to the "persuade the whole city" for money route of raising cash. They also adjusted the squad dynamics. In Syndicate, you could arm everyone with miniguns and be good to go. Toward some of the later missions in Syndicate Wars, you had to mix up the weapons. Miniguns were practically worthless against vehicles so you needed one or two guys with lasers. But lasers were pretty worthless against enemy agents, so you had to have a minigun and probably a sniper rifle to balance things out.
I played the first one so many times that it got to the point where I could pass almost every mission with a single guy armed only with a pistol and a persuadatron.
The new one will fail. It will fail for many reasons. However, it will be so full of fail primarily for one reason. They have taken away the suicide operative dynamic. Sure, it wasn't really good strategy and it was pretty expensive. But who didn't love cranking a guy up to full speed and rushing him head-long into the target only to blow him up with a Ctrl+D?
The FPS dynamic takes out the uber cool, from the blimp POV of your agent taking out a good portion of a city block, complete with who knows how many civilians running away like flaming torches.
Any one else getting sick of all these "reboots" ? Reboot this, Reboot that, etc. Enough with the freaking reboots already.
Translation: reboot = Redoing the original game, but a marketing money grab hoping to win fans based on nostalgia but completely misses the atmosphere of what made the original great in the first place!
In Syndicate, the idea is you are the head of a corporation, that kidnaps people, and turns them into mindless zombie/cyborg terrorists, which you control from your office. By making this game a FPS, you lose that aspect of the person in the field being an automaton to do your bidding.
Then again, they could have taken a lesson from the game. Put "Syndicate" on the box, and watch the mindless automatons go to the store and buy it...
'this is how you are supposed to behave towards employees'
Clicking on a Syndicate Reboot Coming next Year story and finding out its an FPS is like picking up a smoking hottie at the bar then when you get home finding out her cock is bigger then yours. Epic fail.
Just call it any name -other- than Syndicate, please EA?
Things you will be missing in the "reboot":
*Atmosphere - this is my personal opinion, which i feel to be so justified, because no games so far can capture the truly brilliant cyberpunk atmosphere of Syndicate. No games so far, got that EA?
*Teamwork, Syndicate style- when I played syndicate i usually pay little attention to strategy and such. Because in Syndicate teamwork means better weapons and better upgrades for ALL agents so they can fight together as the force of doom from hell. And that is surprisingly fun. No use a super single agent while you are surrounded: you need all your agents AND best weapons to truly make the stand. And you do that in the middle of a crowded street, civilians and police be damned!
*Personality - FPS means personal, you control the character and see what he sees, experience whatever he is going through. In Syndicate nothing is personal. Target runs away fast and jeopardize the whole mission? Blow up entire building with your agent's self-destruct capability and let other agent collect briefcase/whatever from the remains. Your chance to become truly amoral and stays within the objectives AND rewarded. This you can do (and not do in other games, for almost 20 years). Surprising.
In original Syndicate we already had this. In Syndicate Wars we had this plus destructible environment (we can even nuke any damn building we please). Syndicate reboot (if the leaked article gives any indication) means we got nothing of these.
EA will make this anyway, sadly.