Syndicate [Download]

by Electronic Arts

• Chip Enhanced Gameplay: Slow down time, see through walls, and breach your enemy and everything digital in the world with Dart vision - A neural DART6 chip implant that allows you to interface directly with the Dataverse.
• 4-Player Online Co-op: Assemble your Syndicate for global domination. A 4-player, online co-op experience like no other, with chip enhanced gameplay and 9 missions re-imagined from the original Syndicate.
• Visceral FPS Experience: Utilize an upgradable arsenal of futuristic weapons, armor and gear to annihilate your enemies and harvest their chip technology for personal advancement and sinister corporate greed.
• Sci-Fi Fiction: Immerse yourself in the world of Syndicate 2069, with a world-class sci-fi story experience, written by bestselling author Richard Morgan.

Product Details

• Downloading: Currently, this item is available only to customers located in the United States and who have a U.S. billing address.
• Note: Gifting is not available for this item.
• ASIN: B0064TYSHC
• Release Date: February 17, 2012
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,303 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PC Download

From the Manufacturer

Syndicate is the re-imagination of a cult classic franchise from 1993 - a unique action shooter set in a not too distant future, where Business is War.

Chip enhanced gameplay

Visually stunning

World-class sci-fi storyline

Synopsis

In the not too distant future, the world is divided into regions controlled by mega-corporations known as Syndicates. In this future, business is war, and you are the weapon: the latest prototype agent for Eurocorp, one of the most ruthless Syndicates in a world dominated by greed. In single-player, embark on a unique sci-fi shooter adventure of corruption and revenge, as you utilize DART 6 chip-enhanced technology to breech, manipulate and control the wired world. Or form your own Syndicate in four-player co-op and dominate nine action-packed missions inspired by the original Syndicate game.

Key Features:

• Chip Enhanced Gameplay: Slow down time, see through walls, and breach your enemy and everything digital in the world with Dart vision - A neural DART6 chip implant that allows you to interface directly with the Dataverse.
• 4-Player Online Co-op: Assemble your Syndicate for global domination. A 4-player, online co-op experience like no other, with chip enhanced gameplay and 9 missions re-imagined from the original Syndicate.
• Visceral FPS Experience: Utilize an upgradable arsenal of futuristic weapons, armor and gear to annihilate your enemies and harvest their chip technology for personal advancement and sinister corporate greed.
• Sci-Fi Fiction: Immerse yourself in the world of Syndicate 2069, with a world-class sci-fi story experience, written by bestselling author Richard Morgan.

2069 - No longer governed by politicians, the developed world is divided up into regions controlled by megacorporations known as Syndicates. These Syndicates have revolutionized how the consumer interacts with the digital world. No longer does the consumer require a device to access the world's data and control their technology, they can do this at the blink of an eye via neural chip implant. Civilians flocked to be "chip'd" and enjoy all that their selected Syndicate has to offer; housing, medical, banking, insurance, education, entertainment and jobs. One complete package. One complete lifestyle. In return, the Syndicates gained unprecedented insights, and control, over the individual and their behaviour. With little governmental oversight, business has become war. The Syndicates will stop at nothing for ultimate market dominance. At the front line of this war are the Agents, the Syndicate's bio-engineered and chip-augmented enforcers. They can breach anything in the wired world including their enemies, their weapons and the environment that surrounds them, making them the most efficient and deadly technological weapons in the world. Take on the role of Miles Kilo, Eurocorp's latest prototype agent, and embark on a brutal action adventure of corruption and revenge.

System Requirements

	Minimum Specifications:
OS:	Windows XP SP3 with 2Gb RAM, Windows Vista with 3Gb RAM, Windows 7 with 2Gb RAM
Processor:	Intel Core2 Duo (E4600) at 2.4Ghz or equivalent (Athlon 64 x 2) processor
RAM:	2 GB
Hard Drive:	10.5 GB
Video Card:	ATI 4650 or Nvidia GeForce 8800GT (min. 512mb RAM) or better
Additional Info:	DirectX 9.0c compatibile; Requires Origin account for installation and activation.

INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED FOR PRODUCT ACTIVATION

EA/ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF PRODUCT AND ORIGIN END USER LICENSE AGREEMENTS, INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT) AND REGISTRATION WITH ENCLOSED SINGLE-USE SERIAL CODE REQUIRED TO PLAY, ACCESS BONUS CONTENT (IF ANY) AND ACCESS ONLINE SERVICES. SERIAL CODE REGISTRATION IS LIMITED TO ONE EA/ORIGIN ACCOUNT PER SERIAL CODE. SERIAL CODES ARE NON-TRANSFERABLE ONCE USED. EULAS AND ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.EA.COM. YOU MUST BE 13+ TO ACTIVATE SOFTWARE, ACCESS ONLINE FEATURES AND REGISTER FOR AN EA/ORIGIN ACCOUNT. EA MAY RETIRE ONLINE FEATURES AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE POSTED ON WWW.EA.COM/2/SERVICE-UPDATES.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 45 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Subpar shooter. Nothing like the original. Obviously. July 3, 2012

By mr. e

Platform for Display:PC Download|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you combined Deus Ex: Human Revolution with Modern Warfare, you'd get this game. Sometimes I forgot I was playing Syndicate. Pretty typical plot. Typical characters. I think they ripped off Deus Ex: HR pretty liberally. What makes the game standout in particular are the special abilities like persuade and hack and suicide. not enough to make or save the game honestly. I heard the coop is fun. never tried it. nothing memorable about this game. actually rebought the original Bullfrog Syndicate from 1993 on GOG.com. That was a great game. I remember playing it back in the day thinking how awesome it'd be if this game was first person like doom. i got what I wanted and regret it. Should've gone a different route with this one. Instead of linear nonstop shooting levels, should've gone with an open world or open level design. varying missions like the original. go more in depth with the economy and public morale system. a million different things.

Overall, if you're a fan of the series, this games terrible. If you're a fan of just shooters, this game is "meh."

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing blend of modern and old, genius Co-Op. March 13, 2012

By Rukumouru

Platform for Display:PC

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Allow me to make one thing clear from the very beginning: The heart and soul of this game lies in the Co-Op, and the marketing for it has always made that point very clear.

Now that this is out of the way, let's be tidy and start with the Single Player aspect of the game.

As far as length goes, a skilled gamer with a minimal preference to explore will complete this game in 7 to 9 hours under Normal difficulty (three settings: Easy, Normal, Hard). The bulk of the game is challenging, if not too hard, and so are the boss fights (Yeah, you heard it right, old-school bosses in a shooter. I loved that) so long as you realize that you cannot just fight them blindly: They require specific strategies to take down, much like ye olde bosses from ye olden games. Which is a huge plus in my book. Bosses grant character upgrades, but unlike in co-op, they are rather limited. More on this later.

The storytelling (notice storyTELLING specifically), as in how the MAIN plot is presented to you during actual gameplay, is pretty utilitarian. Nothing to write home about; Won't bore you to tears but it's not much better than a simple "meh". It'll simply suffice to give you a reason to go around. The voice actors are actually really good at their job. EUROCORP CEO Jack Denham is particularily amazing, there is something about his voice and performance that simply drills right into your soul.

Now, the thing with this game is that there is SO, SO MUCH STORY underneath the TELLING. What is presented to you is nothing but a veil of lies and deception: There are much deeper reasons, much deeper CAUSES behind the CONSEQUENCES that you get to experience during actual gameplay.... If you like exploring, a series of collectables in the form of hidden propaganda, business cards and intelligence are spread throughout the delightful scenarios. After you have collected those, you can read deeper into the story in a menu called "InfoBank" accessible by hitting the 'tab' key mid-game. The more you collect, the more you will know, and once you have enough, if you like conspiracies and connecting the dots, you will see through the lies and discover the unlikely puppet master behind the entirety of the plot, choreographing everything to play right into his/her agenda. I will tell you this much, nothing in the game is an accident. And even though I cannot say I particularily endorse having to go out of your way to discover what the story REALLY was about, if you do, you will be rewarded with a rich understanding of a world that is significantly deeper than what you see on the surface.

Ultimately, the Single Player campaign's story is what you make out of it: Collect everything and read into the backstory and it is very interesting to see how it all lead to what you actually get to play. Don't, and it SEEMS like an empty, average and meh generic shooter full of plot holes.

Now, let's go into actual gameplay: Fast and frantic. Both you and your enemies have higher health pools and resilience than what is seen in other games like, say, Call of Duty. Also, weapons have very tight accuracy and spread even when firing from the hip: This is very reminiscent of glorious PC shooters such as quake, and even though your movement speed is lower, strafing and jumping will not affect your hip firing accuracy. Shooting missiles or explosive shotgun shells at enemies' feet is particularily endearing, and a delicious throwback to using rocket launchers in Unreal Tournament. The ultimate feel of the game is a very fun and genuinely refreshing and enjoyable mixture of old-school arcade and modern FPS gunplay.

Then there is your DART6 chip: Gives you the ability to highlight enemies in orange against dark backdrops and see them through walls as well as take more bullets, deal higher damage and slow down time (this last thing only happens in Single Player). This skill, the DART6 Overlay, lasts for a short while and recharges through time as well as murdering enemies. Beside this, there are DART6 Applications: Unique skills that can be directly and offensively aimed at enemies and are only recharged through combat: Killing sprees, multi-kills, headshots and optimal usage of Applications all grant bonus points towards recharging your other Apps and the Overlay, as well as giving you a rating at the end of each stage (how very delightfully old school this is, actively rewarding balls-out skill).

Examples of apps are Breach, which can disable enemy armors and shields, Suicide, which causes an enemy to commit suicide with a grenade, taking out any surrounding foes, Backfire, which causes up to three enemies to have their weapons backfire and cause damage to themselves as well as making them more vulnerable, Persuade (based on the original Syndicate's Persuadertron) which has an enemy change sides for a while and ultimately blow his own brains off...

Enter Co-Op, where pretty much everything I have said regarding gameplay gets MUCH BETTER.

Let's start with Applications: There are more, they can be customized, they can be upgraded. There are SEVERAL of these, none of them senseless fluff or filler. Things like putting up a shield for the whole team which, once depleted, results in an EMP blast that incapacitates nearby enemies, Damage Link which enhances the damage output of all team members momentarily, Squad Heal (exactly what it says on the tin) and so on. All of them are recharged in the same way as their SinglePlayer brethren: Through skillful gameplay.

The Breach Application, available always and by default, can also be applied to friendlies in co-op, healing or reviving them and granting bonus points to the healing samaritan. This in turn encourages tight team play, as aiding your teammates directly results in benefits for you. While breaching (healing or reviving) a teammate, you can move around and defend yourself, although strafing and jumping around while holding down 'E', while not impossible or even particularily hard, proves an entertaining task.

By earning Experience (basically the points you get by generally being awesome) you level up your character, getting a series of permanent upgrades

And this one of the aspects which is just monumentally better in co-op: As you level up, your character transforms into a lithe, high-health murder machine, reminiscent of Quake, Unreal, Serious Sam and the like. Upgrades such as 30% higher health, 20% better armor, 50% better accuracy and spread and infinite sprint are all geared towards making your character more and more like ye ole' FPS protagonist that jumps around dodging bullets and launching rockets. Upgrades are permanent and, by level 30 (takes a good while) you'll have them all.

And you will need them. Them, and teamwork. Because Co-Op is nothing like Single Player. It will kick your ass. Available settings: Normal, Hard and Extreme. Easy? Pshaw! Easy is for little girlymen!

Once you get closer and closer to level 30, you'll become increasingly "one-man-army"er, and if you are skilled in shooters, it's likely that you'll be able to beat all co-op missions in normal by yourself. However, Hard and Extreme will DEFINITELY require you to sweat bullets and have equally skilled, max-leveled peers by your side if you do not wish to be sodomized by the game. You will need good aim, a penchant for moving around dodging enemy fire like crazy and, at the same time, a blood-written oath to stick together and apply TACTICS. Yes, you heard me, TACTICS. Such as MMORPG favorites by the likes of slowly luring enemies away from their pack. Healing, reviving and team-orientented DART6 Apps will be the order of the day. Oh, and bullets flying everywhere.

The missions are slightly randomized, more so as you ramp up the difficulty: Different types of enemies will randomly spawn or come in dropships in different parts of the stages completely unpredictably. And even though the "main forces" will always appear in the same place, as difficulty increases so will the number of random enemy spawns. This, and the fact that enemies use wildly different strategies in harder difficulty settings instead of blindly charging you and spraying lead will ensure every play through every stage will be different and just as exhilarating as the last.

Recommended for people who like reading into backstory (such as MGS fans), frantic old-school gunplay and tactics(IE people who enjoyed 1990's PC FPS) and co-operative multiplayer.

No, there is no PvP competitive multiplayer. Read more ›

24 of 34 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Fun, Good Action February 22, 2012

By IWastedTIme

Platform for Display:PC Download

Hey, if you can overlook the Origin, its good fun, and runs well even on medium spec laptops! make sure you have at least a quad core and a 512mb dedicated vid card though. It was optimized well.

Good fun, you'll enjoy it if you like action.

One more thing, when you install it from the disc, or the download file, make sure to install it in another folder besides Origin Games folder. Install it in C:\

For example
C:\ Syndicate (TM)\

Because there is some issues with the date checker and the original folder, at least for me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars All about the Co Op. April 17, 2013

By Packmang

Platform for Display:PC

Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

Deus Ex borrowed a bit from the older Syndicate games, which is why some people say this game ripped Deus Ex off. I personally like this better than Deus Ex, but purely for the cooperative mode. Sadly, it is hard these days to find people to play with in a pick-up game. I love being able to upgrade your multiplayer character, and the weapon & application upgrading in co op is awesome as well. The only gripe I have is that most of the co op missions can be cheap if you try them solo, only because this mode is designed around supreme teamwork & healing/resurrecting one another if something happens. The game really should at least give you one bot if you are on your own... I've beaten half the co op missions on expert by myself, but when you get stunlocked by a Riotlance or Electron Mace, and have nobody to res you, it's annoying.

I think the only thing I reeeaaally miss from the original Syndicate & Syndicate Wars is the free roaming, where you could jack vehicles and blow up banks to get extra cash for research...or just blow up ANY building if you had an explosive weapon :D For as short as the single player campaign is, I also wish there was a Church of the New Epoch campaign like in Syndicate Wars. Overall, I'd say this game is definitely underrated, and underplayed. I really like it. I am waiting for the day when I get to play a top-down sequel to Syndicate Wars. If they used the graphics engine and control scheme from Alien Swarm, we could have a seriously awesome co-op action/rpg shooter!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I Like It! September 4, 2012

By S. B. M

Platform for Display:PC Download|Amazon Verified Purchase

Played only 3hrs so far, but from what I hear it's only about a 6hr game. I like what I played but I'm not hard to please. I sometimes think gamers get spoiled and expect to be blown away all the time, maybe I'm wrong? I like the graphics, this is all subjective. The story is servicable and for 10 dollars it's a steal. If this game was out 10 years ago for ten dollars I think more people would be blown away. If it were more money I'd say look elsewhere. Well, enjoy.