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Syndicate Reboot Coming Next Year

Posted by Soulskill on from the what's-old-is-new dept.

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."

7 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. How can it be a remake... by Amarantine · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...if the remake is a different genre than the original? Syndicate was no fps...

    1. Re:How can it be a remake... by professionalfurryele · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Third person RPG and first person RPG are compatible genres. Both tell the story from the perspective of a protagonist who is the player. Fallout 3 being a (pretty decent) oblivion clone with guns was not especially unnatural. Now WoW is not a Warcraft game, and having been a fan of Warcraft I was very disappointed that we got a MMORPG instead of something compatible with an RTS. But you know what, it wasn't a remake, it was the next iteration in a series. They weren't trying to make another Warcraft style game and at the time Warcraft was frankly a bit tired as it was implemented, so I don't really feel justified bitching about it. Series take different directions. Similarly if they made a Civ6 which was in the style of Paradox Interactive titles like Europa Universalis I wouldn't bitch at first, both because it would be a new direction and because these represent compatible genres.
      That is not what this is. The squad based RTS genre is not tired (the FPS certainly is), it is completely ignored because it doesn't play so well on consoles. But we need a gimmick to make our latest FPS more appealing! I know, lets slap on the name of some old piece of IP we happen to have the rights to, preventing anyone else from release a genuine re-imagining and piss off all the fans. You know what is really sad, it will probably work.

    2. Re:How can it be a remake... by professionalfurryele · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It cant be a good game, and be Syndicate at the same time in this genre. Syndicate divorced you from the consequences of your actions by allowing you to control a squad. You ordered persuasion and murder rather than doing it yourself. You cant do that from a first person perspective. So either you make a good FPS, or a good Syndicate game, but you cant make both in one game.
      My point was that Fallout 3 was not a new direction, and I never complained at the time. It was an evolution of a concept. Fallout Tactics on the other hand was a bucket of shit, for precisely the same reason this will either be a bucket of shit, or not be Syndicate. You cant capture the essence of the Fallout universe in a TBS game.
      Warcraft gets to go in a different direction because at the time RTS games were tired as was the perspective on the Warcraft universe offered by the RTS genre. Do you want to try and argue that morally ambivalent, squad based real time strategy is tired? Do you want to try and make the case that the FPS genre isn't over done?

  2. So in other words... by Xest · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:So in other words... by Xest · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But you can replace the old 2D isometric engines with a nice 3D engine and get some fantastic effects- that is after all basically how the RTS genre has evolved, but the genre hasn't died off. I see little reason you couldn't redo a game like Syndicate or Desert Strike with a modern RTS type 3D engine.

      When you say full 3D helicopter games, do you mean full blown flight sims? To me that's a separate genre and not really the arcadish top down blastfest type of feel I'm looking for - effectively it's a different genre, although I do like them too.

      Not sure what tablet you have but ScummVM works on Android. I'll admit I'm amazed we've not seen a resurgence of those type of games quite yet on tablets, they're absolutely ripe for that type of adventure game. Still at least I can replay DOTT on ScummVM on my phone ;)

    2. Re:So in other words... by SharpFang · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Syndicate would play out pretty great in 3D as RTS where you control disembodied camera to drive the guys, with option to switch to FPS controlling one of them.

      But if you do away with "control a tactical team" and change it into "control one guy" you lose the main point of the game. It's not isometric graphics that defined Syndicate, it was the tactical aspect of splitting the team.

      Sacrifice half the team to draw enemies away from the target, then assault it with the remaining agent. Send one by one each of the 4 agents to tear further through lethal defenses. Split the team and ambush the enemy. Send away one team member for a vehicle, then drive it like a tank. Send one agent on a suicide mission, self-destruct at the target. Complete the mission using remaining agents. Split the team to kill four hits at four locations before the enemy can react. Set one agent with a flamethrower behind a corner creating unpassable wall of fire while others perform the mission tasks.

      And of course "Persuade" half the town, arm them and run the mob at the target.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  3. FPS is now the only genre. by MimeticLie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?