Satellite Reign

Satellite Reign stays true to the concept of small-squad real time tactics with cyborgs and miniguns that the old Syndicate games were known and loved for. Fret not if you're not a minigun fan, as stealth mechanics are part of this game as well, and they're implemented and balanced pretty well if you ask me. While sneaking, blasting and hacking through the four (and-a-half) large and connected regions of a nameless cyberpunk city, your four-cyborg squad progresses and diversifies in skill, with some nice options to specialize. Research new weapons, gear and body enhancements and equip your squad to match your play style. There is even a story, but it is negligible - the only noteworthy part being the end, which I won't spoil for you here. While the game looks good, both game graphics and UI feel somewhat flimsy and could be more polished, nothing that was a major turn off though. I finished the game in close to 30 hours and had real fun doing so. The positives: + It's fun + Squad control and general feel matches the old Syndicate games - great memories + Character progression and other gameplay additions are enjoyable and well done + Good mix of sneaking, hacking puzzles and fighting - you can't just brute force your way through the city + Some nice level design + Overall cyberpunk atmosphere is achieved well The negatives: - Very little replayability value - but so much potential for fan campaigns if they opened the game up for modding (don't know if technically feasible) - The opponent corporations are pretty bland, backstory could be fleshed out a lot more - AI can be dumb sometimes - I had some stability issues / crashes while playing through, not obscenely many but enough to bother me, especially since you can't save whenever you want (not while you're trespassing / inside an enemy compound). Verdict: 3.5 of 5 stars, rounded it up to 4 because I think they put some real effort into it, hope they continue to improve it. Would probably buy DLC.

This is the closest you're going to get to a Syndicate/Syndicate Wars sequel. You control 4 agents with different classes. However, based on your play style, you will find yourself not utilizing one or two throughout your playthrough. I personally found myself exclusively using the Hacker & Infiltrator during my purely stealth run. A stealth playthrough will unfortunately highlight some of the cracks in the game. Unclear enemy line of sight, AI can be ridiculously stupid & buggy at times such as poor pathfinding, guards escorting my agents into a secure part of a compound instead of out of it or agents continuously stopping for no apparent reason. Performance seems to be a bit of an issue as well, the game will occasionally stutter and I've faced some FPS drops on a beast of a machine. What little story is there is fleshed out through data logs about the various factions and briefings. Now that I got the negatives out of the way, let me highlight what the game gets right which fortunately enough is most of it. Firstly, it is gorgeous to look at. The blinding neon lights against perpetual rain along with the synth-heavy soundtrack nail the atmosphere and setting. As for gameplay, the real time tactical approach definitely keeps you on your toes, as you'll be scurrying from one agent to another, evaluating their situation and issuing commands accordingly. The city is split into 5 sectors. There are multiple missions per sector which will help you earn credits, acquire equipment or augmuntation blueprints to research, and to undermine a specific faction's control and security over an area. These missions can be approached in multiple ways from hacking your way through a facility and turning the enemies defenses against them, to tactically dispatching guards in your way or by being a complete ghost. Nothing beats doing some recon on heavily fortified, setting a plan to infilitrate it and then executing said plan without a hitch in one single go.

If you like tactical games like x-com, if you like squad based RTS, this is a great game. My only real complaint is the overemphasis on stealth, which is more a personal preference. Basically, if you get caught during an operation you cannot kill everyone because enemies spawn indefinitely, so when the game is distilled into its most basic elements only stealth matters. In fact, I found a two person team to be optimal for all the skills necessary to finish any operation. This makes a lot of the combat choices feel empty since pure combat isn't viable. With that said, the game is a lot of fun. The open world approach, being able to choose what targets to go after in whatever order is great. I'm not big into stealth games personally, but I enjoyed it's stealth elements. The combat is great, but hampered by my opening complaint. I will say that passive income and research over time, while a fun idea and well balanced and thought out, in practice often leads to having the game open on one screen while watching shows on another, i.e. playing the game but not really. I love these mechanics, but powergamer mentality leads to their abuse, but when you think about it, is that the games fault or the players? The morally ambiguous steampunk setting is great, You are not a hero, you are a megalomaniac doing horrible things in the pursuit of wealth and power. Kidnapping, hijacking peoples brains, theft, murder, it's all part of the game. Considering that most games, even when they allow "evil" choices still pigeonhole the player into being the champion of justice, this is quite refreshing. Overall it's a great game well worth the asking price.

Looks and feels like the Syndicate series but is a 100% stealth game, like Metal Gear Solid. Yes, we have four agents roaming and megacorporations waging war against each other; cybernetic implants, really big, big, BIG guns with crazy boosters but Syndicate stops here. Sweeping everything with a Minigun only in your dreams: you cannot withstand enemy fire for more than 60 seconds, not even against weaker forces because the enemies are infinite but your ammo not and you are only four. You must be 100% of the time cloaking, hiding, using high vents and running at the slightest signal of an alarm. Be quick or be dead! Those big laser cannons, Miniguns, plasma guns are just a fancy stuff, you will never use then. Ah, don't have Gauss Gun either :D Besides that, a very good game, worth playing. And the ending is really unexpected.

...But on Modern Hardware and with a full city to explore at will instead of mission based. You are free to do what you want to do, and there is nothing more satisfying that getting two opposing factions into a firefight with each other and you you skipping in the back door while they are busy.