Syndicate Review
Competent sci-fi FPS that borrows from the leaders of the genre. Single player misses but the co-op has some interesting qualities.
The co-op has three difficulties, normal is genuinely fair with even a semi-competent team of three or four people. Hard is very difficult and I was never game to try the Expert difficulty. Damage dealt by enemies in hard mode will drain health very quickly. Once damaged enough players go into a downed state and call for a reboot. It can be hilarious when players go into this downed state because they shuffle hunched over. Players can even bash a button to shuffle faster. The harder difficulties are for players who will sink a great deal of time into the co-op.
My special shuffle attack will begin soon!
There is some variation when replaying each of the nine levels. Changes might result in certain containers not opening in the docks level. You might see more robots in the streets on China. These are minor alterations but it’s just enough to keep you on your toes when replaying missions. You can play the co-op alone but it will get very difficult against enemies who can disable you. Fewer players means slower progress forward although the game seems to make things a little easier. Co-op doesn’t end if your entire team is killed, it merely takes you to the last generous checkpoint.
If you are the type of player who loves to constantly revive and heal downed individuals while dancing around enemies, then this game is for you. Or if you just enjoy the gunplay and the constant momentum then you’ll get some value out of the online component. The net code is satisfactory, occasionally warping characters, but it was very playable as host or peer. Simple objectives, bland locations and repetitive gameplay dilute the intriguing co-op mechanics. With a small online population, that will continue to shrink, it will get harder and harder to justify buying Syndicate for the co-op. While the co-op is certainly enjoyable the visuals can be extremely disagreeable.
There is bloom...and then there is Syndicate
Syndicate has the worst bloom implementation of any video game to date. No other game has produced such visuals saturated with light that it physically made my eyes water. It is clearly a design decision, persisting through each level and online. Not content with just bloom damaging your eyes, the game bleeds lights from the edge of the screen. This feature can’t be switched off or reduced. It ruins an otherwise decent, although bland, visual package. The graphics engine certainly runs well though, maintaining a healthy 60fps with only a few brief stutters on a mid range system.
Having not played the original Syndicate games, I had no expectations before playing this reboot. Syndicate draws inspiration from many shooters but struggles to define itself in such a saturated genre. The best part of Syndicate is the co-op, offering unique content that encourages team play. It may consume more hours than the single player portion depending on the shrinking online population. Syndicate doesn’t break the shooter mould but it provides a satisfactory experience that may charm a select few.
Our ratings for Syndicate on PC out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Performance
(Show PC Specs)
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 @ 3.2GHz
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB
RAM: 4GB DDR3
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB
RAM: 4GB DDR3
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
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