Alive and Re:Kicking Part 1 – Syndicate

 

The first title in our series of pieces is also one of two isometric strategy games due for the modern treatment. While Syndicate launches tomorrow in the US (21st February), us Europeans have the pleasure of waiting until Friday. Like so many releases of late, it’s taken the FPS route to bring it up to speed for today’s hardcore market.

The classic 1993 isometric strategy game saw gamers take on the role of a seedy and brutal CEO at Eurocorp, one of the market leaders in a futuristic cyber-punk dystopia. Your task was to command a team of deadly cyborgs on the ground to steal information from your business rivals and murder the competition all in the name of financial success.

While this classic game has seen an expansion pack for the original PC version and a Playstation version in the shape of Syndicate Wars, it has remained in the annals of history long forgotten until now. It has, however, resurfaced in its original form on Good Old Games, available as a download that can be played on modern computers, and that’s great if you’re a fan of the original or want to dip your toes in Bullfrog’s classic before Starbreeze’s game launches.

All said and done though, had it launched in its original format in downloadable form on the Xbox 360 or PS3, it simply wouldn’t be able to stand against more modern titles, or even those from the last decade. Its repetitive chip-tune soundtrack may seem quaint at first but it doesn’t reach the standard of some Indie games, never mind full blown titles, and begins to grate painfully on the ears.

Modern gamers need a plot to get behind. Most recent games worth their salt have deep and involved storylines that pull the player in, giving them a reason to continue, no matter how shallow the gameplay is. A series of mission briefing screens becomes an obsolete method of storytelling when you think that classic franchises like Command and Conquer used live action sequences to pad the story out and give the player a reason and rhyme for their action.

On top of this, simple point and click mechanisms are dated and not best suited to both consoles and PC. This type of control scheme has seen major overhauls on consoles due to the lack of available buttons, with the inclusion of radial dials and awkward button combinations, but it’s a system that works best with a keyboard and mouse.

While classic in its origins, it will remain a classic until it has been worked over for a modern audience, and that’s where Starbreeze have stepped in. They’ve have taken the concept, added their trademark up close and personal approach to combat and added a story based campaign, with a selection of co-op missions to bolster the package. Simply because it’s a first person shooter, doesn’t mean that it’ll be yet another bland gun-toting affair.

Starbreeze have a pedigree in storytelling, The Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness being perfectly shining examples of how to tell a dark story and atmospheric tale. Their team have an amazing ability of turning even the smallest bit-part into an interesting and fully fleshed piece of the product, so there’s hope for the story yet, but it remains to be seen if it can avoid old clichés.

From hands on time with the co-op demo, it’s clear that the gunplay is nicely weighted and satisfying and that’s probably the most problematic issue signed, sealed and delivered. The much lauded breaching mechanics have been well implemented to add a nice dollop of cream on top of what appears to be a more than capable shooter which should provide a decent challenge when the difficulty is hiked a notch.

Thankfully, we won’t have long to wait and its release could prove once and for all, that Starbreeze are a great developer that have been highly underrated. Failing that, the hordes of angry fans that cried out against its revival will have made a very good point. Let’s hope they’re wrong though.

Syndicate releases for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC 21st February 2012 in the US, and 24th in Europe.