Syndicate

Since Bullfrog burst on the scene with Populous, they have gone from strength to strength building a reputation as one of the finest development houses this country has seen. With their latest game, Syndicate, they appear set to surpass all their previous achievements. Syndicate has been in development for over three years now, and almost everyone at Bullfrog has had a hand in it at some time. The result is one of the most violent and original games the Amiga has ever seen. it is set almost 100 years in the future when the world is run by giant corporations. These syndicates forgo the traditional backstabbing and under-the-counter deals of present day business. When they have a problem they reach for the button marked ‘the lads’ and send them in to blast the opposition into submission.

Yesssss! It has arrived! Raise the flag, crack open the champers, stick a plum under a viper and rejoice, for Syndicate has finally tumbled gently through the letterbox. I had begun to think it might just never appear, fading away into the mists of time as one of those games that was supposed to happen but did not. But no. I need not have fretted, because all along it was being nurtured and developed, and at last it has crept onto the shelves of computer game emporiums from here to sunny Slough. But before we embark upon a fascinating excursion into the dark, dank depths of Peter Molyneux’s imagination, let me take you on a reflective stroll down memory lane.

II Syndicate t is about time too. Syndicate has been available on standard Amigas for nearly two years now; so long that we had actually forgotten that there was no CD32 version. However, Bullfrog’s omission came as a welcome break from routine here in the office, because sometimes, when a game is re-released, it creates more interest than some of the new games we have in. And so we had to lock it away, just in case it went missing before it could be reviewed.

Usually we skip over the plot line of a game because it is tedious and, frankly, irrelevant. But let us break with the tradition this time, because the background to Syndicate is absolutely fascinating. It is the future. World government is in the hands of three hugely powerful multinational corporations, one in America, another in Europe and the third in the Far East. The European corporation develops a device known as the CHIP, which is inserted in the neck and stimulates the brain, offering the user an enhanced perception of the world far better than any drug. It also offers the corporation the chance to manipulate the public through auto-suggestion, and it soon becomes apparent that control of the CHIP means control of the people.

Syndicate, sindi-kat, n Abbr. synd. An association of people or companies organised to promote a common interest. The new game from Bullfrog, makers of Populous 2, is sinister. If you have ever seen films like Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner or George Lucas’ THX 1138, you will know what I mean – futuristic science-fiction which is eerily life-like, and eminently plausible. Syndicate is a strategy game, where the ‘common interest’ is to complete takeover of the world. Of course, this has been the subject of films and games since the year dot, bur rarely has it been as effective as with this game. What is different here, though, is you are not the megalomaniac seeking ultimate power. Instead you are an agent who works for the big cheese, the syndicate, trying to do a job and get up the employment ladder. Morals are out of the window – you have to do what you are told, no matter how weird or immoral the orders are.

Syndicate ist kein Spiel - Das ist virtuelle Realität. Bullfrogs Zukunftsvision, bedrückend und faszinierend zugleich, beherrscht mein Leben. Nachts träume ich von Gausswerfer-Attacken, beim Frühstück plane ich einen Zeitbomben-Hinterhalt, und in der Redaktion erobern meine Agenten endlich Alaska. Die Möglichkeiten des Spielers sind bei Syndicate fast grenzenlos und ebenso vielschichtig wie die Einsatzaufträge und die Städteszenarien. Die drei Jahre Entwicklungszeit merkt man Syndicate an: Bullfrog hat den terminfeindlichen Perfektionismus bis zum Exzeß betrieben - Ich finde keine relevanten Kritikpunkte, sogar die deutsche Übersetzung ist klasse gelungen.

Everyone in the world knows about Syndicate, the violent ‘futuristic’ backdrop for internecine corporate wars fought over a global battleground between sinister cyborg agents of said corporations. If you unashamedly invest in artistic licence, it is easy to relate to the ethos, but not implementation, of the CD32 conversion of Syndicate.

Machtbesessene Großkonzerne teilen die Welt untereinander auf. Als Mann für's grobe erledigen Sie unbequeme Gegner und nehmen neue Agenten an.

All in all a very good game - one of the few (which are getting scarce lately) that make you actually come back and play it some more.

Graphics are great for the time of release, and sounds are very convincing to say the least. Background music is just fine, and doesn't get in the way of gameplay. Overall, this game is a definitive must for any DOS gamer! However, I will have to deduct one mark because of its repetitiveness. A 4 mark then!

Action från början till slut i ett spel som inte lämpar sig för pacifister. Här finns det gott om våld.

Syndicate is still a game best played with a mouse, but the Jaguar version is a heck of a lot easier to play than the Genesis version and it's much more faithful to the PC original. An excellent addition to the always-in-need-of-beefing-up Jaguar software library.

The first time I tried to play Syndicate , I had no manual or overlay, and I gave up in frustration. When I decided to give this game another chance, I found a copy of the manual on the web. After giving the instructions a thorough reading, I sat down and forced myself to learn the many controls. It took some time, but I've found Syndicate is worth it! If you are patient and are looking for a deeper game for the Jaguar, Syndicate is fantastic.

Syndicate, despite a few minor flaws, is a unique and thoroughly enjoyable action strategy game. The highly addictive gameplay is Syndicate's main selling point. Levels have pre-set goals but the way you go about achieving them is entirely up to you. Blast your way into an assassination target's lair with superior firepower or try to take him out from a distant rooftop with one long-range sniper shot.

Även om Syndicate har några år på nacken vid det här laget så är det fortfarande ett av de bättre spelen. En blandning av strategi och action som verkligen har lyckats.

Jetzt konnten wir die Zunge wieder ein- und das neue Söldner-Strategical der englischen Kultprogrammierer endlich abfahren: Am Screen entfalltet sich eine futuristische, von sieben Mega-Konkurrenzen beherrschte Welt. Auf Anhieb erinnert der in 50 Territorien zerstücktelte Globus dabei an „Risiko“, geht es doch auch hier darum, den sechs digigesteuerten Gegnern Land für Land zu entreißen, um das eigene, in Europa startende Syndikat zum vollständigen Sieg zu führen.

Zweimal überprüfte ich meine CD 32-Anschlüsse, bevor ich glauben konnte, daß immer noch keinerlei Soundtrack zum Intro vorhanden ist. Ohne Verbesserungen wurde aus Syndicate eher ein überteuertes Sündikat.

Although it's hard to learn and continues to be difficult (especially in the higher levels) as the game progresses, Syndicate is a strategy fest for any one who likes plotting and planning through a major siege. It's one of the best Jaguar games yet released.

It's still an interesting game and there's an attitude behind the whole thing that makes it relatively painless, but while it's challenging, it's challenging mostly because it's not easy to control and the 3/4 view perspective makes it tough to see what's going on. Not bad, just not great.

Syndicate is a very addictive and very enjoyable game, but I think eventually, everyone's going to hit a point of diminishing return. If you're not doing well, you'll reach a mission too consistently frustrating to continue. If you've got vaults of cash and are mopping up left and right, you'll grow complacent and bored. Rivals never encroach upon your territory, never pull any real tricks or deception, resulting in a game where you simply match raw firepower with greater raw firepower, or mash the panic buttons and watch your guys do all the work. Beautiful initial effort, a lot of fun to play, but there's obvious, grating room for improvement.

It seems that every possible combination of the buttons and pad is a different command, so the quirkiness of the control scheme can take some getting used to. The other problem is that a password system is used to save your progress; if you don't complete your research before getting the password, it's not saved. Despite these issues, Syndicate is absorbing title that strategy fans should not miss. It's not a game, it's a career!

Young gamers or those with little patience should stay away because Syndicate isn't easy. But advanced gamers and fans of the computer versions will get a satisfying bang out of the SNES cart. Syndicate is a thinking man's shoot-em-up game.

It's hard to say that Syndicate is entirely enjoyable. If you have patience to plod through the game's many missions and can overlook it's flaws, Syndicate is a hit. If you're looking for Sonic-like speed, though, you'll put a contract out on it.

Fans of the classic board game Risk will probably want to snatch Syndicate up in one of it's various formats. But a warning to the weak-hearted: Where Risk's battles are fought entirely in your imagination, Syndicate forces you to watch little people explode into bloody messes as you cackle with glee and spin your twisted web of world domination. Yikes!

Was für ein Glück, dass das Jag-Joypad über 17 Tasten verfügt, die bei Syndicate allesamt auch belegt worden sind. Ansonsten würde man sicherlich leicht die Übersicht über die vielen Funktionen verlieren. Die grafische Aufmachung von Syndicate ist akzeptabel bzw. gut genug, doch das harte Scrolling ist anfangs nervig. Auch die Figuren bewegen sich bei komplexerem Spielgeschehen teilweise sehr langsam. Man wird den Verdacht einfach nicht los, daß die Programmierer wieder einmal überwiegend den 68000er programmiert haben. Die 64-bit Fähigkeiten der Raubkatze werden erst dann ausgenutzt, wenn es darum geht, das Spielareal in Echtzeit zu zoomen oder die Atmosphäre mit guten Sounds bzw. guter Musik zu untermalen. Für Strategiefans ist Syndicate sicherlich ein Langzeitspaß.

You're looking at the best home translation of Syndicate yet. The graphics, sounds and missions all rival the excellent PC and Mac versions to the pixel. An added bonus is the adjustable zoom feature for the Jaguar. The controller does a fair job of moving the characters around, but all the buttons take some time to get acquainted with. If strategy games are your thing and you love blowing stuff up, Syndicate will do nicely.

Syndicate stands as another "could have been" in the Sega Genesis library. Depressing, considering how much care went into other Bullfrog productions that made the jump like Populous. Its matter-of-fact graphics, dead pulse music and difficulty spikes make an otherwise good game uninviting. But if you let yourself sink into its light but pervasive strategy layer, forgive the controls and bask in the warmth of the amoral mayhem you can cause, and appreciate the replayability found in the missions and in customizing your corp goons, there's a lot of game here.

Some games just don't translate well from computers to game system and that's the case with Syndicate. The interface is too cumbersome and the gameplay is missing the graphic and sonic touches that made the PC version so much evil fun. Action/strategy fans should still check it out, though.

It's not really fair to do a side-by-side comparison of Syndicate with it's computer predecessor. Yet the translation could have been a bit more comfy, give the gameplay potential of the Genesis system. Sadly, Syndicate didn't push all the right buttons.

När spelet kom första gången kändes det actionfyllt och våldsamt. När man ser dagens nya spel känns Syndicates gamla eldkastare mest som en BIC-tändare.

The low-key background music is mysterious enough, but the sound effects are weak. Adding insult to injury are constant "loading" screens - a real annoyance considering this is a cartridge! Jaguar owners desperate for something substantial may find something to like in Syndicate, but most gamers will regard it as a major snore.