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Syndicate

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GF Rating
6.1

1227 ratings

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GF Rating
6

Above Average

Built for Coop, Flashy but hollow

posted by Vhashaar (Puyallup, WA) Mar 25, 2012

Member since Mar 2012

7 out of 7 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

Syndicate is a first-person shooter title set in an imagined future where corporate greed and a vastly-enhanced Internet have created a world where profits dictate all morals. In the single-player campaign, players walk the path of an enhanced state-of-the-art corporate agent who executes the will of his masters through shooting many, many minions of other companies and unnamed rebels.

The hook comes in the use of neural enhancements and technological powers bordering on sorcery. From causing enemy weapons to malfunction and jam to persuading enemy troopers to fight on your side (and later committing suicide), your agent is a superhuman being. Unfortunately, the enemies in the single-player story have been drinking the same mystic brew - their damage resistance is legendary. Bullet soaks rush you without remorse - on normal difficulty you'll have to scamper for cover and fight the enemy with bitter determination (unless you've selected a very specific character upgrade path)

I found the adventure to be initially exciting (the art team in this game have rendered a pleasant - if cold future world), but as the campaign went on, things turned sour (mechanical difficulty, bland mechanics, alarmingly resilient enemies).

The multiplayer seems to be the true emphasis here. While characters have occasionally sunk through level textures or refused to load into a session, this is something you want to try out. The enemy difficulty can be punishing with only two of four players present - but when four teammates join forces, things get deliciously tense.

In short, your Syndicate is sent to eliminate VIP's or retrieve data. Objectives often change within levels. Your group is sent to push through heavy resistance with mutual healing, resurrection, buffs and support. Ranks (level-ups) earn passive buffs while acquired tokens lead to ability and weapon upgrades. Rewards carry over upon failure and the frantic pace is addictive.

This game is made for multiplay

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GF Rating
5

Fair

Too much going on

posted by catchacase (HILLSBORO, OR) Mar 27, 2012

Member since Mar 2006

10 out of 11 gamers (91%) found this review helpful

Maybe its a sign that i am getting old, but this game felt to me like there was too much going on. Part of it is that the game has a visual element that items in the area will randomly pop up signatures, but in the heat of combat, this caused confusion.

You get abilities that allow you to do things like distract an opponent, to outright causing them to kill themselves. However, with people running everywhere its hard to get a good bead on the one you want to actually use the power on.

Even without this, combat is chaotic, with people running everywhere, enemies suddenly appearing in sniping positions, flying drones that move about like a bee on speed, etc, the list goes on.

I only played for about 2 hours, which was long enough for me to decide that the chaos was not worth the time.

If you like that kind of chaos, the game offers some fun weapons and interesting abilities, but is still a straight shooter at the end of the day.

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GF Rating
6

Above Average

Mediocre shooter, with some good sci fi

posted by Shonsu (SAINT LOUIS, MO) Feb 6, 2013

Member since Feb 2013

1 out of 1 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

Overall I thought this game was satisfactory. It feels a bit rushed as though a lot of things were left out, but the abilities you get do help to separate this from other shooters. I do feel that the last 1/4 of the game was the most disappointing as things seemed to rush from one thing to the next.

Lastly... the ending. No spoilers but the ending was absolutely horrible in my opinion. Horrible enough that I took a point off just for that reason.

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GF Rating
5

Fair

Blah!

posted by chuck74 (SAN DIEGO, CA) Feb 24, 2012

Top Reviewer

Member since Dec 2009

10 out of 15 gamers (67%) found this review helpful

Overview
================
The words that come to mind are blah, boring, and generic. This is a bargain bin shooter. It is a rent at best. The few tricks like breaching to give it a fresh feel just don't help it overcome being a boring and generic shooter.

Pros
================
1) The co-op is okay....at least better than the campaign.
2) You could play co-op without an online pass.

Cons
================
1) boring story
2) bad graphics
3) just okay controls (pretty much modern warfare, but less responsive)
4) just plain generic and boring

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GF Rating
8

Very Good

through and through?

posted by bITEmE (NEWVILLE, PA) Feb 25, 2012

Member since Dec 2010

3 out of 6 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

So far this game is nice. In my opinion, better than MW, BF, Fear3, Rage, and a host of other popular games. It is a FPS with a fairly decent storyline. The game gives you a little more than most with a speacial HUD you can access for limited time that gives you the ability to see enemys behind cover and also slows down the action a bit. Very useful because it gets quite hectic. Also there are special power up moves that can be very helpful, such as one is to make a chosen enemy commit suicide by gernade wich in turn kills other enemys nearby. Theses special moves can be used once the a meter must be refilled by killing enemys quickly or by headshot. the is also another powerup system wich is like Dead Island or Deadspace, where you permantly keep the powerups like more health or less fireing recoil.

Overall a fun game with alot of elements, I am only on the 4th level so not sure if it will remain fresh throughout the game but after the first boss, who moves like Neo in the matrix, Im fairly confident this will be a killer game through and through.

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GF Rating
4

Weak

Questionable

posted by tylerca (CHULA VISTA, CA) Feb 23, 2012

Member since Jan 2012

3 out of 6 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

Haven't played the game in CO-OP and I am sure that what they are wanting people to buy this game for, but for campaign mode, sorry, its like a high budget movie that goes no where. Makes you wonder how some of these games even get funded.

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GF Rating
4

Weak

Eh.

posted by MrBadass (SADDLE BROOK, NJ) Feb 26, 2012

Member since Feb 2012

2 out of 4 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

Deus Ex did it better with the same theme. Boring story. OK graphics. Controls seem floaty and imprecise. The character is pretty uncoordinated for being a super-hyped, elite agent. You can only sprint for like 10 steps before you cannot slide any more. To me this guy should be able to do double back flips off of the wall, slow time and rip head shots mid air. For all the hardware in his head, all they could come up with is three applications? Why no melee system? The cover system is useless as the enemies flank you almost immediately so you have to run and gun and hack and run and slide and hack.

The only good thing about the game is the premise and theme. The implementation is rather poor. I could have done a better job designing this game.

Overall, the game is just too gimmicky.

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GF Rating
4

Weak

SYNDICATE = FAIL

posted by Tirade (GLENDALE, CA) Apr 9, 2012

Member since Oct 2009

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

It's sad that I also have to give syndicate my FAIL rating. It seemed like an interesting and action-packed game. I wanted to explore further, but the FLOATY controls made it almost impossible to aim properly and hit anything. I bailed after the first level, what a shame. I literally couldn't wrestle to the controls to hit the bad guy standing 4 feet in front of me. Played for 20 minutes then, pop out the disc, back in the envelope, back to gamefly. Fail.

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GF Rating
6

Above Average

Game starts slow, but play it!

posted by OneBadWood (BEAVERTON, OR) Apr 8, 2012

Member since Mar 2012

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

If it didnt freeze all the time it would get a 8. like i said the game starts slow but have patience and you will enjoy the gameplay and story

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GF Rating
1

Horrible

Not worthy of the title

posted by fyreblayd (RIVERSIDE, RI) Mar 28, 2012

Member since Mar 2009

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

Do not rent this title if you are looking to relive the old syndicate days. This is a first person shooter and a poor one at that. The controls are sluggish and was not even worth the time that I spent playing it. One hour and it was back in the envelope and ready to be returned.

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GF Rating
3

Bad

OMG ITS TERRIBLE

posted by VINCE47 (Terrell, TX) Mar 6, 2012

Top Reviewer

Member since Jan 2008

1 out of 3 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

Dont even rent unless your into brain squeezing / eye popping torture.... ive already spent too much time on this....

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GF Rating
1

Horrible

Meh~

posted by cpt4500 (LAGUNA HILLS, CA) Feb 28, 2012

Member since Feb 2012

1 out of 3 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

Corporations taking control of the world/governments isn't new to video game platforms but could have been executed better by EA.

My biggest complaint is how the applications become introduced to your character. Once you "obtain" a application you get ported into a VR training zone (Metal Gear could show this game pointers with VR missions/training). This totally takes a side step from the horribly written story/plot. When ported back to the main game I find my self wondering what last I was doing.

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GF Rating
1

Horrible

sending back tomorow

posted by College_boy505 (MIAMI, FL) Mar 13, 2012

Member since Feb 2012

1 out of 5 gamers (20%) found this review helpful

this game sucks bad

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GF Rating
10

Perfect

Crash/Freeze

posted by Treezy_85 (JOHNSON CITY, TN) Feb 24, 2012

Member since Feb 2012

1 out of 12 gamers (8%) found this review helpful

the game crashes/freezes so if u want to take a chance get it but Ea puts out games like this all the time. But Ea said they know about it and are making a patch hopefully really soon.

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GF Rating
7

Good

110 % GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT game

posted by george69 (LUTZ, FL) Feb 18, 2012

Member since Dec 2008

1 out of 30 gamers (3%) found this review helpful

110 % Great ( fantastic background ) Wish all games were this GOOD !

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GF Rating
9

Excellent

A Cyber Adventure

posted by alexisBeyond (HIALEAH, FL) May 16, 2013

Member since Feb 2013

+ Good graphics and cinematics
+ Good Story
+ Fun Co-Op
+ Good gameplay
- Sometimes gets a little confuse.

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GF Rating
5

Fair

Good Idea but needs more thought put into it

posted by chargerbrett (REEDSBURG, WI) Apr 23, 2013

Member since Apr 2013

It was a fun game. There is a little too much going on while you play however. The heads up display makes it difficult to really know what you can and cannot do options with. All the futuristic stuff is really cool. If you are into sci fi and that type of stuff this is worth a rent. I would not buy however. A lot of shooting, would be better I think if there was a little more stealth moves.

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GF Rating
7

Good

Good game

posted by Justwondering (DORCHESTER CENTER, MA) Apr 12, 2013

Member since Apr 2013

Had a little trouble trying to make it through the levels because I didn't know where to go but defiantly a good game.

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GF Rating
1

Horrible

sums it all up

posted by ronaldo91 (NEW RINGGOLD, PA) Mar 30, 2013

Member since Jun 2010

horrible game

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GF Rating
8

Very Good

Great, but not astounding...

posted by Duke_13 (PORTLAND, OR) Mar 15, 2013

Member since Jan 2012

I just got done playing this game called Syndicate, and I gotta say it wasn't all that bad, and I do? wonder if 150,000 copies sold worldwide was justice enough for this game. Underrated? Maybe. I'd LOVE to see a sequel, and there are plenty of worse games out there that got their OWN sequels...but I guess they're allot more expensive to make these days. One complaint I have about this game? personally is the narrow weapon variety, mechanics that are reminiscent of Killzone, not to mention the overuse of strobing effects that would've given problems to ANYONE with a history of epilepsy, and I guess the ending didn't "WOW" me. It was ambiguous, but it had no zazz in making me crave more. I started getting on the co-op and it was certainly addictive and fun. I played it a while longer just to get the rest of the trophies I needed. I'm just thankful that there were people who were still playing it, or just picked it back up!

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GF Rating
9

Excellent

Impressed

posted by Billy1234744 (SAMSON, AL) Feb 5, 2013

Member since Feb 2012

This games title might fool you, it is not about the mafia. Its a darn good shooter game with enough hi-tech thrown in to tickle your intelect. To me it also falls into the could,nt put it down category. I finished the game in a few days, which for me says a lot about it, I.m not as fast at playing these games as some people are, but by finishing it in a few days that means I really liked it, which I did. If you like shooter games I would highly recommend this one. But it does,nt have an M rating for nothing, be ready! Thanks Game-Fly for the opportunity to rent and play, but in this games case I did both, rent and buy See Ya! Billy

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GF Rating
1

Horrible

Really bad....

posted by muffun1017 (TAMPA, FL) Jan 25, 2013

Member since Jul 2012

one of the worst games i played here. Good idea terrible execution.
STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!

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GF Rating
1

Horrible

horrible game

posted by shonnuff (LYNCHBURG, VA) Jan 1, 2013

Member since Nov 2012

This game is terrible plain garbage. It's boring not interesting at all and besides it's seems to be designed to keep you respawning and guessing, absolutely garbage.

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GF Rating
7

Good

A lost opportunity

posted by EvilAngelSora (SPOKANE, WA) Dec 9, 2012

Member since Dec 2012

Syndicate is an ejoyable game from start to finish. I enjoyed fighting each boss, using my abilities to keep a fight fair, and even the gun play was enjoyable. Even with these positives, the game falls short of becoming good enough to be considered of a purchase or rental. Bad AI and a few game play elements make this title seem less pleasing.
The spot Syndicate pleases is with its boss fights. I had to think more than just run and gun to defeat them, and they each brought their own type of strategy. I recall fighting the first boss and not being able to get his health down much. Give him the ability to move incredibly fast and you've got trouble. A couple of fails later do I relize my mistake.
As is in every shooter, you'll eventually come across overwhelming enemies to hurdle over. Syndicate shows you that planning ahead before taking action is the best route to take. I was covered by at least twelve at one point. Six of them were hiding behind cover while the others were trying to flank me. At this point I activate my D.A.R.T ability. This slows time down to give me an advantage and see where my enemies are. I look and see that three soldiers are right next to each other, a perfect time to use my suicide ability. I lock my ability on the middle soldier and watch as he takes himself out, taking the other few with him in the process. And although this may sound like a solid game thus far, it really begins to show its weak spots later on.
The enemies in Syndicate are far from intelligent. I recall countless times that I was in troubles and needed to find a place to hide and recover. I hid behind a garbage can and see that the enemies aren't trying to get me. Instad they're coming over one by one. This got me past so many situations that the game became a lot less strategic.
I would continue to say more but I've run out of space. I personally think the game is a "rent", and that's after you've played everything else.

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GF Rating
7

Good

Good but could be better

posted by matgreg (BROOKLYN, NY) Sep 12, 2012

Member since Sep 2012

I thought the gameplay was great, and the different powers (or breach apps) were fun and imaginative. My only hang-up was the story. It all seemed very rushed, and the ending was a little too tidy for my liking. Aside from that, rather important detail, I really enjoyed it.

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