Syndicate Gets a Launch Date

[Andy Chalk]

Syndicate Gets a Launch Date

Electronic Arts has nailed down the launch date for the upcoming remake of Syndicate.

The 2008 [http://www.amazon.com/Syndicate-Pc/dp/B0050SZ2EQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1317238627&sr=8-2], although nobody suspected at the time that the real-time strategy Bullfrog classic would make a comeback as a shooter. But that's what it is, for better or worse - a determination that gamers will very soon be able to make for themselves.

EA revealed at a press event in Las Vegas yesterday that Syndicate is scheduled for release in North America on February 21, 2012, while Europeans will get their hands on it on February 24. An EA rep later confirmed those dates with Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/37506/Syndicate_Reboot_Coming_February_2012.php], although the company did not say whether the PC version would be out on the same day or would follow the console releases at some future date.

The new Syndicate will be a "visceral FPS experience" and while that's the sort of generic, made-for-press-releases description that could apply to just about any shooter released over the past decade or so, Starbreeze isn't shy about defending its decision to change the game so dramatically. As designer Rickard Johnson put it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112963-Starbreeze-Explains-Shootery-Syndicate], "I don't want to stop people playing the old games, but time has moved on."



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[rembrandtqeinstein]

It all depends on how they handle civilians and the persuadertron.

If there are tons of oblivious civilians that can be caught in the crossfire or just murdered for good old video game cruelty then it might be OK. If you can persuade a gillion people to follow you and pickup random guns and become your meat shields/fire support then it will be OK.

If there are no civilians and the protagonist is "good" then it will fail miserably.

 

[Tay051173096]

Hopefully they have kept the research and money side (areas generate it, you spend it on say a minigun and force field).

Its hard to see how bullfrogs game makes an fps without looking like deus ex...

I always thought that deus ex was based on syndicate

 

[Cat of Doom]

OMG that date is on my calender, hopefully their is a collectors edition. first Played Syndicate wars when i was 8 years old, one of y first game next to X com and Daggerfall. Still have an old cyborg model my dad got at a convention. Cant wait for the game whatever genre it is, better than nothing.

 

[Yal]

They should have announced this thing years ago, back when there was still time to do something about the negative fan reaction. I'm a whole lot more optimistic for the new X-Com than I am for this thing, those guys seem to have got the message that a "visceral FPS experience" is not what anybody wants from a long-dormant strategy franchise.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Starbreeze does know what it's doing when it comes to quality shooters, and this certainly doesn't sound all bad.. but it also doesn't really sound like Syndicate. Hopefully it will at least be good and maybe if the brand name does get reestablished they'll take a risk on doing at least a side game the way it should be done.

 

[RA92]

Funny how indie devs are making an FPS that's more Syndicate (in terms of gameplay) than this.

<youtube=KfnGU-cyUaI>

As for EA's release, eh, I'm not gonna rage, but I'll probably pass.

Oh, by the way, did ya guys get wind of the protagonist's name? He is called...



Miles Kilo

Well, that's some metric ton of imperial hilarity.

 

[genericusername64]

for better or worse

For worse, the pc market won't buy it because it's called syndicate even though it has nothing to do with rts, and the console market won't buy it because fps market is already flooded. It's XCOM all over again.

 

[ASnogarD]

I get the impression the real issue isnt wanting to exploit IP's as much as lack of imagination in thinking of new names for the games, considering how much inovation there is in the AAA market I dont think thats too far off.
So they pillage names from the past.

Oh, and time has moved on, moved from making exciting new progress into new ways to game to pumping out generic FPS titles like it was a production line spitting out cans of spam.
Wonder how long it will be before they can exploit poor nations to work in sweatshops to make even more spam... err I mean games, dammit games not spam I am sure you can tell the difference.
Cant you ?

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

It all depends on how they handle civilians and the persuadertron.

If there are tons of oblivious civilians that can be caught in the crossfire or just murdered for good old video game cruelty then it might be OK. If you can persuade a gillion people to follow you and pickup random guns and become your meat shields/fire support then it will be OK.

If there are no civilians and the protagonist is "good" then it will fail miserably.

Oh I forgot about that hilarity! How I miss the old Syndicate.

You're right though, the main character has to be morally ambivalent at best. If it turns out to be "main character realises he is corporate puppet and rebels against his former task-masters" I swear someone is going to pay.

 

[Metalrocks]

It all depends on how they handle civilians and the persuadertron.

If there are tons of oblivious civilians that can be caught in the crossfire or just murdered for good old video game cruelty then it might be OK. If you can persuade a gillion people to follow you and pickup random guns and become your meat shields/fire support then it will be OK.

If there are no civilians and the protagonist is "good" then it will fail miserably.

agree with you on this. thats what made the games so special and fun. well, lets hope and see. i wish you still can be in a group of 4 and you can select which one should have what weapon etc.
otherwise, this game gets a miss from me too.

 

[Saulkar]

It all depends on how they handle civilians and the persuadertron.

If there are tons of oblivious civilians that can be caught in the crossfire or just murdered for good old video game cruelty then it might be OK. If you can persuade a gillion people to follow you and pickup random guns and become your meat shields/fire support then it will be OK.

If there are no civilians and the protagonist is "good" then it will fail miserably.

My haphazard but fun experience with Syndicate Wars on DosBox was an extremely fresh breath of air but due to stability issues I never made it far enough to try the persuadertron. Given the little bit of evilness that I was able to experience if they do make the main character a good guy then the game will FAIL, Epicly!

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

It all depends on how they handle civilians and the persuadertron.

If there are tons of oblivious civilians that can be caught in the crossfire or just murdered for good old video game cruelty then it might be OK. If you can persuade a gillion people to follow you and pickup random guns and become your meat shields/fire support then it will be OK.

If there are no civilians and the protagonist is "good" then it will fail miserably.

I don't think a good protagonist would be possible in a Syndicate game. There aren't any good people there.

Miles Kilo

Well, that's some metric ton of imperial hilarity.

Aaaaaand you're out!

 

[Phishfood]

The whole "change it to an fps" doesn't bother me outright. Clone Commando was alright for squad combat in fps. It depends what else they do to the franchise. If they are doing another XCOM and making something that bears only a passing resemblance they are morons.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

The whole "change it to an fps" doesn't bother me outright. Clone Commando was alright for squad combat in fps. It depends what else they do to the franchise. If they are doing another XCOM and making something that bears only a passing resemblance they are morons.

Back with the original Syndicate and Syndicate Wars, there was no real strategy to it. Mostly you shot everything that was a threat with a mini gun. So i think a FPS version of this game would do well. I guess fans need to realise that its just a different take on the game. Which is fine by me. If it turns out crap then i will just play the original. Wonder if they will remake the original and sell it on Live Arcade?

 

[LorienvArden]

If it turns out to be "main character realises he is corporate puppet and rebels against his former task-masters" I swear someone is going to pay.

Oh I do hope that no one is going to pay for an uninspired FPS that mashes together some overused concepts of the FPS incest pool and slaps an age old IP on it.

Up next : Solitair reloaded ? A gripping cinematic game of tactics and reflexes with cerebal and visceral feedback and next generation graphics !

 

[Phishfood]

Back with the original Syndicate and Syndicate Wars, there was no real strategy to it. Mostly you shot everything that was a threat with a mini gun. So i think a FPS version of this game would do well. I guess fans need to realise that its just a different take on the game. Which is fine by me. If it turns out crap then i will just play the original. Wonder if they will remake the original and sell it on Live Arcade?

Yeah, pretty much. I really can see it working as FPS. I suppose modding alien swarm would be more true to the original though.

Unlike X-Com, which is completely unsuited to being an FPS and has had the aliens ripped out and the whole macro-management destroyed. Y'know, everything that differentiated X-com from any other tbs or rts. Enforcer was bad, but at least it had sectoids and lizardmen.

Syndicate for free [http://www.abandonia.com/en/search_abandonia/syndicate]
I think that is legal, perhaps not if they are trading on the name again.

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