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    Syndicate

    My first ever first play so please bear with me. There's a poll for you to vote on too.

    The announcement of Syndicate sparked outrage from lovers of the original RTS of the same name (see the Headlines threadhttp://www.bordersdown.net/showthrea...yndicate-Reboo) as this title has made the move to become a FPS instead. The obvious comparison to make here is to Deus Ex: Human Revolution given that both are set in cyberpunk-ish dystopias. I would say that the play mechanic is a lot more similar to Crysis as your character has access to a set of special attacks accessed in a similar way to the nanosuit in Crysis and the focus is much more on all out action and shooting than in Deus Ex. There is next to no stealth element to Syndicate.

    I'm not a fan of FPS' myself as I am pretty poor at them so I started out on Syndicate in normal difficulty. The initial impression of the game is good as the intro is very slick and so is the interface. You can't say too much for the story as it's pretty standard fare. You can access further details on the characters and in game items, etc through some menus but I haven't done any of that really. I can't see where exactly Richard Morgan's influence is, probably in the name of some of the technologies.

    The structure of the game is very linear and it handholds you through many of the sections and gives pointers through the 'chip' in your brain, which gives you your abilities, especially in 'dart' mode which is a tactical view of each situation. As the game progresses you upgrade your chip and add to your stats (similar to Deus Ex: HR).

    Difficulty isn't too high, I've managed to progress without getting too stuck although I've died a fair few times (as I said I suck at FPS). Weaponry on offer is what you would expect too with a couple of fun larger weapons, not that futuristic really.

    I've reached the final boss of the game now and my overall impression is that this is a 6/10 type of game. I like the overall 'world' but this type of story has been told many times before (not that that's necessarily bad but the story doesn't and can't really have the depth of a novel), is pretty similar to Deus Ex, and the gameplay is standard FPS.

    Just to add, total play time for the campaign I estimate at 20 hours. I've played pretty intensively over two days though. Your time might be quicker than mine if you're not rubbish at shooters.
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    #2
    I think the story is okay, but the multiplayer I am really enjoying. I just wish there was more of it (hopefully some DLC). The multiplayer heavily relies on working together and healing each other, reminds me a lot of Borderlands as well with the co-op play.

    I would certainly recommend this if you can get for under ?25 or so if you enjoyed Borderlands multiplayer.

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      #3
      Please feel free to add more on the multiplayer. I don't do multiplayer as my 'net connection isn't good enough.

      I'd say if you're just doing the campaign it might be worth renting (for console players) rather than buying but as you say multiplayer may make it worth a purchase.

      My comments are all on the PC version BTW, not that there should be much difference.

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        #4
        I've been pretty disappointed with the campaign, most levels consist of running from point a to b and shooting literally a handful of men along the way.
        The whole game is eerily silent, barely any character interaction or dialogue other than the bookend cutscene before and after each mission.

        I'm playing on Hard and it's not. I'm 50% through the game (8 chapters out of 15) and I've played less than 2 hours.

        Played a few hours of co-op last night, which is goo and very much like the demo , although beware they have got some major bugs, the game will lock up randomly if you are in party chat, so make sure you use the in game chat instead.

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          #5
          correction, there are 18 chapters. Finished it last night, reckon it was about 6-7 hours.

          Biggest disapointment in a while. Strangely though, the last level is the best in the entire game, there are puzzles and various gameplay mechanics that don't show their faces in the entirety of the rest of the game.

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            #6
            It's down as 20 (23 milestones) on the PC version, are you just not counting the bits where you don't really do anything? You got through it fast! I reckon I was 15-20 hours but I am pretty cautious in these types of game.
            Last edited by NW2013; 28-02-2012, 17:40.

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              #7
              I started this last night, and honestly I've been really enjoying it. It looks amazing and the combat is much more satisfying than say Deus Ex HR (what i've heard it compared to).

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                #8
                I like the look of this and wanted to give the demo a go (ps3), but has anyone got it working? I just get a message saying cannot connect to server.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by StuM82 View Post
                  It's down as 20 (23 milestones) on the PC version, are you just not counting the bits where you don't really do anything? You got through it fast! I reckon I was 15-20 hours but I am pretty cautious in these types of game.
                  I'm sure the last level was milestone 18 or 19, there are 3 or 4 that aren't levels just cutscenes though, but they are counted as milestone too.

                  I thought the graphics were a bit lacking, I'm guessing it's still using the same engine that Riddick used and the cracks were showing.

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                    #10
                    Think the demo was Multiplayer only and can only imagine EA shut access to it off when game came out.

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                      #11
                      Doh, only downloaded it the day before and didn't get round to playing it.

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                        #12
                        Picked this up at last for the princely sum of ?4 and for that price so far its alright. Some nice flashy styling though the gameplay lacks refinement and the story is completely unengaging. I'm treating it mostly as a run and gun and according to the stats screen each Milestone level is taken an avg of 10 mins so at this rate it'll be over quickly. Main issue is it never aspires to be anything more than a simple corridor shooter.

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                          #13
                          The main issue is that it's not an isometric RTS.

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                            #14
                            Although it's a decent enough FPS from Starbreeze, co-op was good fun too.
                            Can't go wrong for ?4.

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                              #15
                              I didn't mind Syndicate actually. It was never going to win any awards, but it's solid and enjoyable.

                              It had it's moments too. One of (if not the first) boss fights in the game makes the best use of soundtrack I've seen. Dubstep isn't necessarily my thing but the way it ramped up as you got into the fight got me pretty pumped!

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