When I first got “Syndicate”, I thought it would be something along the lines of governmental espionage with great twists and turns. Sadly, this game didn’t quite live up to that expectation. It did, however, provide a pretty fun time with great graphics and practical superpowers.
In the game, you’re about 55 years in the future, and things have taken a turn for the worse as political governments have pretty much disappeared and regions are controlled by corporations known as syndicates. Big Brother has advanced, and now just about everyone you come into contact with has a computer chip installed in their head, including you. This makes for interesting opportunities within the game because you’re able to hack – or breach – the chips of others and force them to commit crimes and even suicide.
This game provides an interesting look into the aspect of reality, as your own perception is augmented by information that you can change and adjust almost at will. Don’t like something? Change its color and see if that helps. It’s interesting to think what their world is like when the people around you are basically paying for their reality.
When I started playing this game, it seemed like a blend of “Halo” and “The Bourne Identity” with a splash of “Call of Duty.” Needless to say, I was pretty impressed. Some of the animations were pretty disappointing, but if you can get past the unrealistic motions and speech of some of the characters, this game can actually be entertaining. I think I killed a guy that looked like Hitler, so that’s always a plus.
The game play is pretty decent in this title, but if you find yourself in a situation where you wish that you could use your magical chip to alter something that isn’t allowed, it can be a bit frustrating. The ability to breach various object and individuals is really interesting and is critical for survival in each mission. Extracting chips from developers during the game allows for mental upgrades that can be tied together for various skills and purposes. Getting better weapons known as “Legacy Weapons” adds an element of fun, but I must admit, some of them are a bit impractical.
All in all, I would say this was a pretty decent game and is a huge leap from the original 1993 version. With technological advances like these, we might just have a “syndicated” future ahead of us.