Syndicate Plus™

I first played Syndicate when I was 5, and I was totally fascinated by its world. A kid's imagination did a lot to add depth into everything Syndicate had to offer, but three years ago when I took the game for another playthough (which can incidentally be seen on YouTube titled Syndicate missions), the game's flaws were obvious. The background story is still a good setup and I like the style a lot. It's dark, but not in the black and gritty way that most cyberpunk worlds (e.g. Syndicate Wars) are portrayed. The gameplay and its design have the most glaring flaws. The game world is an isometric cityscape, so navigation should have received extra care, but clicking anywhere that isn't solid walking space will make your agents run around like idiots. If you want your agents to move indoors or on the non-visible side of a building, you have to use the minimap or they will think you want them to climb on top of the building or scurry along its wall. Aiming behind an obstructing structure has the same problem, except that you can't aim with the minimap, so you're screwed there. The UI gets in the way too, e.g. when you want to set the hormone levels of your agents, you're liable to make the screen scroll. At the end of the day, the missions aren't that interesting either. There are usually no alternative ways to accomplish them other than killing everyone in your way. Enemy agents always charge at you in a straight line when you're close to them or a time trigger sets them running, so you can't ever avoid them. The developers had the notion that Syndicate is a tactical game, so the lack of tactical necessities and options is disappointing. Even if the missions were harder (like in American Revolution) or had more complex mechanics, the clumsy squad UI would disallow any nimble real-time maneuvering. I was also disappointed in how pretty much every older weapon becomes obsolete when you research minigun, gauss gun and laser, the three god tier weapons, by which time most enemy agents have miniguns too. I would have welcomed a more balanced arsenal where most items would retain their use. Although my review may sound harsh, I felt it necessary to balance the unconditional love Syndicate gets in the other nostalgia reviews. It's certainly not the most user-friendly action game today or even in 1993, but it's fun. The graphics are clear and timeless, much more so than its inferior sequel. What I don't like about this release is that it doesn't have the American Revolution expansion. It's not like you can buy it from somewhere else, so EA could have included it.