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EA 'doesn't understand' Syndicate, says creator

Syndicate creator Cooper sceptical about EA's rumoured sequel
Syndicate creator Sean Cooper has said he's sceptical whether EA's long-rumoured sequel to the strategy classic will ever come about, because he doesn't "think they really understand what the original game was."

In case you're wondering what we're on about, the original Syndicate was released on PC in 1993 and put players in charge of a militant global corporation, tasking them with leading cyborg agents around a gritty cyberpunk world in an RTS setup.

CVG was first to reveal EA's plans to resuscitate the franchise last year, and new sources have since backed up our findings, tagging Darkness studio Starbreeze as the developer.

Speaking in an interview with IncGamers, Cooper revealed he fears that any EA sequel to Syndicate will fail to capture the spirit of the original.

"Every time I've seen a prototype of a new Syndicate it's just been misguided," he said. "They've tried to be too quirky. They've tried to do things that aren't what the essence of the game was."

During his time at EA, Cooper claims he saw a few demo builds of a new Syndicate game and was unimpressed.

"One of [the prototypes] ... it was something about using different senses. Something was leaving a scent and the agents were following it. I remember seeing them demo it in a conference room and thinking 'what are they trying to achieve? what are they doing?'"

"The essence of the game was killing people - and that was it," he said. "Big guns. Strong dudes. Terminators essentially. If I have to kill everyone, I will. That to me was the essence of the gameplay."

Regardless, we're still confident Starbreeze can do a decent job of this. We'll bring you more when we have it.

computerandvideogames.com
// Interactive
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Posted by dweebosh
POOSLICE!
Posted by shadyMrPatch
As long as this doesn't go the way of Speedball 2 - Tournament (ie - another classic game from my youth that was re-made and turned to shite) then I'll be happy.

Used to love Syndicate.
Posted by monty_79
Never played Syndicate 1, but was obsessed with Syndicate wars. Nuclear grenades, anyone?

Go the feeling that this is going to be very 7 out of 10, just like the new Deus Ex will be. Can't they get good developers to remake these games if they have to be remade?
Posted by Godlike Ape
I never played the original, but I've heard from others it was good. I also like the "kill everything" idea, that usually works and I can't see Starbreeze screwing that up. They make killing fun :) Whether it be with demon heads and black holes in The Darkness or Ulaks in the Riddick games Starbreeze will deliver a decent game experience. Saying that, if it's not them developing it...
Posted by vulcanraven01
Well it's to be expected when the original staff aren't involved. Games tend to turn out completely different then, which begs the question, why bother if the sequel is going to be nothing like the original?
Posted by ParmaViolet
Well, the name alone is a guaranteed selling point.

I would love for this to be good - in a perfect world MS would get the exclusivity and then get Lionhead on the case (Molyneux has said that he'd love to do another Syndicate), EA could then be the publisher....everyone wins.

Still, it'll be interesting to see what they do....hated the sound of the pitch explained in the article though.

:)
Posted by bevoboro
Syndicate was my favourite game back in my Amiga days, so I would hate to see EA make a mess of it. To bring it up to date I think they would have to turn it into a squad based FPS like GRAW, but set in a cyberpunk setting. The levels would have to be quite large and sandbox as well to add an element of strategy to them. All in all I think it could be a very tall order to pull this off, but if they do it could be spectacularly good.
Posted by Black Mantis
Please don't **** this up Starbreeze!
Posted by roland82
You aint lived til you've fired a graviton gun and a plasma lance. Satellite rain was sick aswell. Please dont ruin the remake.
Posted by monty_79
Agreed with above. It would probably have to be squad based. It would be amazing to see what it would look like once you have used your persuadeatron on about 100 civilians and all of them are armed to the teeth, all simultaneously opening fire on the police or church of the new epoch members. If done correctly, this could be nothing short of amazing but alas, I doubt the developers will do that good a job. I didn't like The Darkness and I didn't really like the most recent Riddick game. Both of them lacked a certain 'magic' and the animation in Darkness wasn't that good.
Posted by Zero_Cool
I'm not a fan of Starbreeze games.

Syndicate needs to have RTS setup, otherwise it'll not be Syndicate.

I hope this doesn't become another Shadowrun (a FPS, i mean, WTF) as the developers for that game ****ed it up.

Also people on here suggesting Syndicate needs to be a squad based FPS need their head examined! Period.
Posted by Dajmin
I liked the original (which I played on the SNES) and Syndicate Wars (on PC) years ago. It was good fun, and surprisingly deep.

That said, Fallout 3's shift to first-person perspective went pretty well. I think if it used a control system like GRAW it could work pretty well, as long as the rest of the depth was in there too, and the between-mission planning.

However... if one company knows EXACTLY what it's like to be an evil global conglomerate corporation which controls the population by underhanded and sometimes legally dubious means, it's EA :)
Posted by uberd0gg
I'd love to see them do it close-up 3rd person, like Full Spectrum Warrior - I think that would work well :)
Posted by bevoboro
Yeah that would work as well. I never played FSW but I did play Conflict: Desert Storm which is supposed to be a similar game. The transision from isometric RTS to this kind of squad based play would work well IMO.
Posted by kazuya10
This games was one of my fondest memories on my old Amiga.

Hopefully this remake will do it justice. But IMO they have to keep the original isometric perspective.
Posted by ei8hty5ive
Firstly, PLEASE MAKE THIS GAME!!!

Secondly, PLEASE DON'T MESS IT UP, please please please please!!

Sydicate was such a deep game, hard too! I don't think it will really work as first or third person shooter game, it just won't be true to the original and will,in effect, make it into a 'different' game. I fear there will be pressure to make it into all out shooter with super blinged out graphics but they must stick too their guns and not succumb to the eye candy factor and focus on what made the game a true great!
Posted by cjw101
^ this

You can't turn Syndicate into an FPS of any kind. Surely that's missing the point even more than the new developers!
Posted by bevoboro
I am not advocating that they turn it into a FPS by the way, I myself would prefer that they keep the old formula. I dont think they will do that though, and a Confict: Desert style squad game is one way to keep the strategy element of the game intact.
Posted by humorguy
Well, once again in gaming media, we get support for the industry against any that supports gamers - and I quote:

"Regardless, we're still confident Starbreeze can do a decent job of this. We'll bring you more when we have it."

With what knowledge do CVG say this? Or is it just to please their EA masters? The latter, I think.

I own both Syndicate and it's add-on as well as Syndicate Wars,and I am in agreement with the creator of this game.

With the multiformat market we are now in, and with no doubt this new Syndicate being developed first for console and only secondarily for PC, I too am confident this will end up a big guns and killing everybody game.

Since the market went multiformat how many sophisticated games do we get any more? Bioware, pre multiformat, deep sophisticated RPG's like Planescape Torment and Baldur's Gate, after multiformat, where games are developed for the console market the same company gives us Jade Empire and Mass Effect. And while not saying these are bad games, they are only about 5% as deep and stat driven and open world, and all the things that used to make RPG's of their earlier pre-multiformat titles.

So I go with the creator of Syndicate, and basically any designer/programmer who created PC game hits pre 2000, versus the publisher today who use third party engines so they can produce simultaneously on multiple machines, and end up with games so bland and shallow that MMO's are now seen as sophisticated when their far from it, and now we have a generation that thinks Mass Effect is a proper full on RPG!
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