Syndicate Catch-All

Yeah, I got Syndicate for $10 at Costco. I can't even remember why I picked it up-- I had never heard of it before. I think my mom told me I could get a $10 game and it was the most interesting in the bunch.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
MoonDragon wrote:

A Deus Ex clone for people with ADD?

Seems a tad... harsh.
a) The trailer was snap-cut-y enough to make me little dizzy, but that doesn't infer in any way that the game will be.
b) Is every pseudo-cyber-punk FPS with outlines now a Deus Ex clone?

a) There were long enough clips to show what gunplay would feel like. Seems very Hard Reset like to me. Frantic, fast-paced gunplay with significant sensory overload. BTW, that's not a criticism, just a description.

b) Not at all, but let's recap: you're a lone, tech-augmented agent of a corporation, out to retrieve some scientists. Which game did I just describe?

MoonDragon wrote:

Umm.... bleh.

A Deus Ex clone for people with ADD? Whatever... pass.

I always find it amusing when folks clearly use derogatory language, and when called out on it say 'hey, I'm just making a description.'

If it's not for you, it's not for you. We don't need to make blanket medical diagnoses of the folks who are interested in it. Personally, I'm up for a more frenetic type of gameplay in a Deus Ex type universe.

joystiq wrote:

Starbreeze's Syndicate is everything a particular group of PC gamers fears it is.

It's not isometric. It's not particularly focused on slow, methodical strategy. And you have direct control over your character, a departure from the CEO-using-mindless-drones-as-chess-pieces schtick of the original game. So for some of you, the fight's already lost. You can stop reading now.

Also from that Joystiq write-up:

It's not that the violence doesn't have a place. It fits the story and the setting, and it matches the original Syndicate in that respect, which was graphic in its own way. The story is also being written by Richard K. Morgan, who penned the modern future-noir novel Altered Carbon and a semi-apocalyptic take of his own on a corporate controlled future with Market Forces, so I know that the story won't necessarily be exploitative. But the potential for violence outside of combat made me uneasy. Maybe that was the point. Maybe that is Syndicate's point.

Sold. I think Morgan did the best he could with the existing material in Crysis 2, but Syndicate is an IP that seems tailor made for his brand of writing.

Starbreeze has a excellent track record for making interesting, nuanced FPS games. More than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt after the Riddick series.

MoonDragon wrote:
Chumpy_McChump wrote:
MoonDragon wrote:

A Deus Ex clone for people with ADD?

Seems a tad... harsh.
a) The trailer was snap-cut-y enough to make me little dizzy, but that doesn't infer in any way that the game will be.
b) Is every pseudo-cyber-punk FPS with outlines now a Deus Ex clone?

a) There were long enough clips to show what gunplay would feel like. Seems very Hard Reset like to me. Frantic, fast-paced gunplay with significant sensory overload. BTW, that's not a criticism, just a description.

Disagree; there were clips of gunplay, but they seemed sped-up to me. I don't think one can get a decent handle on the feel of a game from the initial trailer.

MoonDragon wrote:

b) Not at all, but let's recap: you're a lone, tech-augmented agent of a corporation, out to retrieve some scientists. Which game did I just describe?

You're an unlikely hero thrust into a role you never asked for, trying to save the world through magic and swordplay. Which game did I just describe?

(By the way, one could probably argue both Half-life and System Shock 2 for your question. Or, of course, the original Syndicate. That's without trying too hard to think of any others.)

Certis wrote:

Starbreeze has a excellent track record for making interesting, nuanced FPS games. More than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt after the Riddick series.

The thing is that Starbreeze have changed a lot.

Awesome! I was rewatching the launch trailer and kept thinking that Skrillex had possibly sampled or reworked the original based on that video intro from the 1st game someone posted earlier. Guess my ears weren't fooling em.

This is what I want Deus Ex to be about: playing an amoral agent in it for the money. You know, realistic and stuff

Certis wrote:

Starbreeze has a excellent track record for making interesting, nuanced FPS games. More than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt after the Riddick series.

I feel the same way. I am actually pre-ordering this game - looks like a lot of fun!

Certis wrote:

Starbreeze has a excellent track record for making interesting, nuanced FPS games. More than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt after the Riddick series.

The majority of the folks who made Riddick & The Darkness are at Machinegames now.

I can't help thinking Bioshock has a lot to answer for in terms of quickly giving access to a special power right along-side conventional weapons, it does seem like Irrational really nailed something back in 2007. It's not just Syndicate that borrows from it, but it's just an association that gets made in my head watching footage that plays out like that.

I just watched that "Executive Search" video. It strikes me of a more visceral (and more Visceral) take on Deus Ex, although I realize that's mostly due to its cyberpunk aesthetic rather than its gameplay.

I'm certainly interested to see how this looks as it develops. I'm not familiar with the original IP or Starbreeze Studios, but I've got my eye on this one all the same.

Scratched wrote:

I can't help thinking Bioshock has a lot to answer for in terms of quickly giving access to a special power right along-side conventional weapons, it does seem like Irrational really nailed something back in 2007.

The big, brilliant innovation with Bioshock was making those magic-like powers effective combat aides right off the bat. Pretty much every other game I've encountered that's tried those magic-like powers has approached them in the way that D&D does magic: weak, mostly useless powers in the beginning that become singular and God-like if leveled up. The plasmids in Bioshock, meanwhile, are immediately very useful, but they never completely supplant the gunplay. It's a smart combination with a lot of utility.

Is it just me or cyberpunk suddenly back en vogue?

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I just watched that "Executive Search" video. It strikes me of a more visceral (and more Visceral) take on Deus Ex, although I realize that's mostly due to its cyberpunk aesthetic rather than its gameplay.

It could be argued that the original 2000 Deus Ex was a first-person, visceral take on the original 1993 Syndicate. I'm glad that both re-hashes are sticking to their roots.

Rat Boy wrote:

Is it just me or cyberpunk suddenly back en vogue?

It is not just you.

Cyberpunk appears to be the new zombies.

[edit]
Does that mean that the borg (effectively cyborg zombies) are the best adversary and that star trek is the best setting ever?

Duoae wrote:

Cyberpunk appears to be the new zombies.

[edit]
Does that mean that the borg (effectively cyborg zombies) are the best adversary and that star trek is the best setting ever?

Nah, there are no cyberpunk protesters on Wall Street yet, or classic pieces of literature rewritten to include a cyberpunk universe (that I'm aware of). I don't think it's quite at the level of zombies at the moment.

But Duoae is a hipster of grumpiness. In a few years, when we're reading Pride & Prejudice: Augmented Edition and bemoaning how over-exposed the whole cyberpunk thing is, Duoae will be able to say that he was tired of it before it was cool.

Spoiler:

You're a very nice man, Duoae. :fistbump:

Haha! I never said i was tired of it. In fact i love some cyberstuff. But what i meant was that the zombie craze/revival started in pretty much the same way: a couple of big TV shows/films a few very popular games and then modes in other games and BOOM! Zombies bloody everywhere! So we're kind of in the same situation now where we've had a few popular cyber-gritty TV shows (any movies? Can't think of any) and a few games.... Soon we'll start getting modes in other games and at some point even a Bladerunner TV show.

It's the usual way things go around isn't it? One or two releases prove something is safe, then everyone piles on with their releases in the same theme seeing as someone else proved there's a market for it, and hipsters get to say they were into it before it was popular.

I finally watched the trailers. As someone who preordered Deus Ex and picked up E.Y.E. just to fill in the time while I was waiting, this is an unavoidable purchase for me. Though a release date right up on Valentine's day may be problematic.

Duoae wrote:

Cyberpunk appears to be the new zombies.

[edit]
Does that mean that the borg (effectively cyborg zombies) are the best adversary ?

Come talk to me after you've completed the endgame in RAGE

edit: also, couldn't the Geth from Mass Effect = The Borg in Star Trek?

ClockworkHouse wrote:

But Duoae is a hipster of grumpiness. In a few years, when we're reading Pride & Prejudice: Augmented Edition and bemoaning how over-exposed the whole cyberpunk thing is, Duoae will be able to say that he was tired of it before it was cool.

Spoiler:

You're a very nice man, Duoae. :fistbump:

Cyberpunk isn't ironic enough.

edit: I stand corrected

IMAGE(http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/190474.1020.A.jpg)

"Boot Up or Shut Up" is the new "Man Up, Buttercup!"

nel e nel wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

But Duoae is a hipster of grumpiness. In a few years, when we're reading Pride & Prejudice: Augmented Edition and bemoaning how over-exposed the whole cyberpunk thing is, Duoae will be able to say that he was tired of it before it was cool.

Spoiler:

You're a very nice man, Duoae. :fistbump:

Cyberpunk isn't ironic enough.

edit: I stand corrected

IMAGE(http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/190474.1020.A.jpg)

This is when Angelina Jolie was hot and had some flesh on her bones. Sigh.

I know everyone makes fun of that movie because it is cheesy - but I still like it:)

SallyNasty wrote:

I know everyone makes fun of that movie because it is cheesy - but I still like it:)

Because you're a monster.

It's worth it to see how little anyone involved in making the movie knew about computers.