Syndicate is a first-person shooter video game developed by Starbreeze
Studios and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and
Xbox 360. It is a reboot of the Syndicate series developed by Bullfrog
Productions, changing the genre from a tactical shooter to a first-person
shooter. Gameplay
In the game, the player can carry two weapons and grenades. Due to the player
character's DART 6 bio-chip, the player's vision gets extended by
augmented reality, allowing him to see the digital world overlaid onto the
real. Furthermore the chip allows access to the "Dartspace" data network which
allows the player to see enemies through walls via their connection to the
network and slows down time. The player also can hack into the minds of enemies
through this data network, called "breaching", where players can force
three options on the enemy; "Suicide" where the enemy kills themselves and
damages nearby foes, "Persuade" where the enemy temporarily becomes the
player's ally, or "Backfire" where the enemy's weapon blows up, stunning them.
A four-player co-operative mode has been confirmed, with a separate campaign
based on missions from the original game. Syndicate will not use an online
pass for the co-op modes. EA Partners executive producer Jeff Gamon stated
that "If the game had included a competitive mode, it would have had an
online pass. But because it didn't have competitive multiplayer and because we
wanted as many people as possible to be playing co-op, we got away with it." He
also stated that he wanted "as little resistance or barriers to entry as
possible." Multiplayer games take place in
sequenced segments, with resupply points where the next segment begins. After
completion, a player is promoted by experience points, which are received
for kills, healing squadmates, and completing mission objectives. Certain
enemies can also be "chip-ripped" to receive additional bonuses. Also
acquired are research points, which can be applied to learn weapon upgrades, and
programming changes to the Agent's individual powers.
Plot In 2017, the Eurocorp mega-corporation
is born after the world's largest corporations merge. In 2025, Eurocorp
releases the DART chip, a neural implant that allows users to access the
dataverse, making most electronic devices obsolete. As a result of the
DART chip, the world is no longer ruled by governments, but by large
mega-corporations known as "Syndicates". However, only half of this world's
population embraces the chip, while the "unchipped" are abandoned and denied the
same benefits afforded by their chipped counterparts. Furthermore, corporate
espionage and corporate warfare for dominance between Syndicates becomes the
norm, resulting in the creation of "Agents": bio-engineered enforcers
augmented by a militarized version of the chip who protect the interests of
their corporate masters. In 2069, Agent Miles Kilo, EuroCorp's
latest agent equipped with the new prototype DART 6 chip created by
Eurocorp scientist Lily Drawl. After a successful test run of the chip's
abilities, EuroCorp CEO Jack Denham assigns him to kill Lily's counterpart
at the rival Aspari syndicate. Accompanied by his mentor Agent Jules
Merit, Kilo attacks the Los Angeles branch of Aspari and corners Chang, who
shoots himself. Kilo then retrieves his chip. Kilo also learns from an encrypted
conversation that Lily has been sharing information with Chang on creating the
DART 6 chip. After fighting off the West Meld Solutions security forces and an
Aspari agent, Kilo and Merit escape and return to Eurocorp's New York HQ, but
Merit is seriously injured in the process.
Although shocked by Lily's betrayal, Denham decides to have Kilo and Merit
keep Lily under surveillance as she is too valuable to simply eliminate. As
they observe her in her apartment, Lily has an angry conversation with a person
named Kris before she is suddenly kidnapped by the Cayman-Global
syndicate. Kilo fights off the Cayman-Global forces and follows Lily's
abductors by catching a ride on one of their transports to their floating base
in the Atlantic Ocean. Kilo kills a major Cayman-Global agent and rescues
Lily, and they learn the syndicate is preparing a war against Eurocorp.
Back in New York, Kilo and Lily land in the Downzone, where the unchipped lower
class population lives. As the two of them split up and head towards Eurocorp
HQ, Kilo is apparently betrayed by Lily, and is set into a trap with EMP mines,
severely injuring him and disabling his chips. After his chips are back online,
Kilo is given orders to either capture or kill Lily. After fighting off the
Subverters, Kilo learns that their leader Kris, Lily's ex-boyfriend and
colleague, is responsible for instigating a war between the
Syndicates. Kris reveals that he started the war so he could hack into the
Dataverse and kill the Syndicates and their chipped population as punishment
for abandoning the unchipped. However, Lily is against the idea, and she wants
to find a peaceful solution to make the Syndicates care about the un-chipped
population. Eventually, Kilo fights Kris, which ends with Kris attempting to
suicide bomb Kilo. Kilo apprehends Lily, and can kill her or let her go. If Kilo
tries to kill her, a kill switch installed to prevent exactly that stops
him, and if Kilo lets her go, he is stunned by a grenade, severely injuring
him. Either way, Lily is captured, and a barely living Kilo is retrieved.
At Eurocorp New York HQ, Denham and Merit believe Kilo is brain-dead and
send him to be rebooted while they plan to retrieve Lily's chip for any useful
information on DART 6. Kilo soon begins to remember his secret past: he learns
that Denham led a Eurocorp team to kill his parents and abduct him as a baby, as
he had the perfect genes to become an Agent. Now knowing the truth, Kilo
escapes from his restraints and rescues Lily. As Lily heals Kilo's injuries, she
reveals that all of Eurocorp's agents like him and Merit were abducted as
children because of their prospective genetic compatibility, and their
memories were modified so that they would remain loyal to Eurocorp. Lily
created the DART 6 chip in hopes of using it to make the Syndicates retain
their humanity and care about both chipped and un-chipped civilians, the
victims of their wars, but she realizes she was naive in thinking so.
Kilo and Lily head towards Denham's office to prevent him from activating
the kill switch on their DART chips as Cayman-Global attacks Eurocorp's New
York HQ. Kilo has to fight off both Eurocorp and Cayman-Global forces, as
well as several Eurocorp agents. Once he reaches the top of the tower, Kilo is
forced to fight Merit and two other agents, Agent Strong and Agent Webb, who
are under Denham's orders to kill him. Kilo defeats the two agents and finally
overpowers Merit, beating him to death. Kilo then heads towards Denham's office,
only to find that Denham has activated his kill switch, which starts to affect
Kilo's movements. As a weakened Kilo confronts Denham, Denham justifies
abducting him when he was a child by claiming he gave him a better life in
order to realize his full potential and how the Syndicates are making the world
better. As the kill switch slowly takes over Kilo's body, Denham gloats on
destroying the slums. However, Kilo manages to fight back against the kill
switch order and corners Denham. Left with no escape, Denham lets himself fall
over a ledge to his death. Lily arrives and reveals to Kilo that she lied about
Denham being able to kill them, as she was using him to distract Denham in
order to free both of them from Eurocorp's control. Now a free man and
with Eurocorp in ruins, Kilo is given a pistol from Lily, who tells him it is
now up to him to decide what he wants to do next.
Characters Miles Kilo is an agent working for
Eurocorp. He is different from other agents, as he has no special abilities
like other agents, such as accelerated speed or jumping, and projections, but
because of this, his body works with the DART overlay and modifications better.
Working with his mentor Merit, he is used by Eurocorp to stop rival
syndicates from interfering with them. Near the end of the game, Miles
discovers he had his mind changed to make a false past for him, and learns
Eurocorp killed his parents for him and his genes. In various intelligence
items, it is learned that he is 19, but due to growth acceleration, his body and
mind are at the age of 27. Jules Merit is a senior agent of
Eurocorp. He supervises Kilo throughout his time with Eurocorp, and frequently
goes on missions with him. In his file, it shows he is a borderline psychopath,
and that is used by Eurocorp to map out his targets and missions. This can also
be shown through his blatant disregard for civilian casualties at the near
start of the game. Merit is injured from a chip feedback, and spends a large
portion of the game recuperating. After Kilo is captured/recovered, he is sent
to deal with Lily's uprising, and defeated by Kilo, who after confronting
Merit in a fiery shoot out, beats him to death.
Lily Drawl is a senior member of Eurocorp. Lily manages both Merit and
Kilo, and is in charge of their welfare when the two are not on missions. Kilo
and Eurocorp learn that Lily is a member of the Resistance against Eurocorp, and
they plan what to do with her, but she is kidnapped before anything can happen.
After being recovered, she sends Kilo to a different path than she is on, leading
him into a trap, where he is nearly killed and she escapes. After finding
her, Kilo and she are captured by Eurocorp, where Merit tortures her for a
brief time. In the end, she and Kilo destroy Eurocorp, with their lives after
that being ambiguous. Reception
= Critical reception= Syndicate has received generally
positive reviews from critics. Giant Bomb awarded Syndicate 5/5 stars and
praised the weaponry and interesting world, as well as its co-operative mode.
IGN gave the game a 7.5 and praised the game's co-op, shooting, and "Breach"
mechanics as fast-paced and original, while criticizing the single-player
campaign for presenting interesting shooting scenarios juxtaposed with
generic, repetitive, and aggravating boss-fights. GameTrailers gave it an
8.2, citing the gameplay as fun and innovative, but reacted negatively
towards its predictable conclusion, and short six-hour campaign. Edge awarded
the game a score of 6/10, criticising its generic mechanics, linear level
structures, and conventional mission objectives. However, Edge concluded that
despite this lack of "imagination and ambition", the game's shooting was still
praiseworthy: "You'll do nothing that you haven't done before. You’re unlikely
to have done it in this much style, though."
Many players have criticized the light bloom effect used in the game,
occasionally obscuring the player's view during gameplay. Some unofficial
solutions for the bloom effect problem involve using the developer console to
manually adjust the game's graphics settings.
= Sales= In an interview with Computer and Video
Games, Frank Gibeau of EA, told the website that the Syndicate revival had
not been as successful as had been hoped. "Syndicate was something that we
took a risk on. It didn't pay off—it didn't work." In a recent interview with
Edge, Mikael Nermark, CEO of Swedish video game developer Starbreeze Studios,
stated that the game sold a total of 150,000 copies worldwide.
= Australian censorship= On 20 December 2011, it was reported
that Syndicate has been refused classification by the Australian
Classification Board. The board was especially critical of what it
considered as the game's excessive violence, pointing out explicit
depictions of dismemberment, decapitation, exposed flesh and bone
from injuries, and copious blood spray. EA Australia has announced that they
won't be appealing the decision or changing the game to meet the Board's
concerns—in the process complaining about what it felt to be Australia's
"arcane censorship on games"—and that Syndicate would be released on schedule
and uncut in New Zealand with an adults-only rating.
See also Anarcho-capitalism
Corporatocracy Laissez-faire capitalism
Metaverse Neo-feudalism
References External links
Official website Syndicate Wiki