EA Officially Announces Syndicate for Early 2012 [Staff Includes Bullfrog Employees]

Ex-Bullfrog, you say?

getin001.gif
 
hey guys

anachronox 2 is being released!

only it's a fps with a whole new cast and storyline!


they thanked tom hall in the credits so technically he helped
 
mclem said:
No Persuadertron, no deal. The Persuadertron *was* Syndicate.
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Back when it came out I jumped right into Syndicate without bothering to read the manual. When I got to the first Persuadetron mission, the instructions were to go find this guy and *PERSUADE* him. I thought that was sideways talk for assassination. It took me a couple of tries to realize why I kept failing the mission.
 
i know the original's fans are going to hate on this until they are blue in the face, but I'm hyped. Have enjoyed Starbreeze's work, I prefer first person games, and the setting looks amazing
 
luxarific said:
If they're going to remake isometric IPs, I hope they pick up Crusader. Loved that universe.
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This series, as an FPS, I could deal with quite easily. They were great action games, and the perspective actually got in the way for me. Well, the controls more than the perspective. Even when I play it now I use the numpad, too weird any other way (there's just too much to do on a gravis gamepad comfortably).
 
"It was always going to be an FPS," game director Neil McEwan told us. "The original nub of the idea was to take that viewpoint from the original game and zoom into the Agent's head, and play that part. A closer experience - to become one of those Agents."
As the developer of The Darkness and The Chronicles of Riddick, Starbreeze is very comfortable with the first-person perspective. McEwan feels it offers the chance to tunnel further into Syndicate's fiction.

"We're big fans of the original Syndicate, and we're definitely paying as much homage to it as we can - bringing across the essence of the world, the core essence of what it is to be an Agent. That sounds wanky but it's true - we're taking the Persuadatron and evolving it in different ways, the weapons and brutality. On both facets of the game, the co-op and the single player, it's very key to stay true to it.

Lead game designer Vilya Sommerbakk added: "It's a dark and gritty world, and that's kind of a Starbreeze thing." Those who saw the inside of Butcher Bay will find it difficult to disagree. Even Monolith can't rival Starbreeze's feel for grime.

What would McEwan say to reassure disgruntled Bullfrog fans? "I think the game speaks for itself. We've been very lucky to work with a great, original world, and create another facet of it really. I would love them to like it. You're never going to please everyone."

The standalone four-player campaign features levels based on those of the original and its sequel Syndicate Wars. Designer Rickard Johansson talked this up - "hopefully co-op is a great nod towards the old gang" - but argued that the old Syndicate formula had had its day. "I don't want people to stop playing the old games, but time has moved on."
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:\

http://www.oxm.co.uk/33611/why-the-...on-shooter-starbreeze-talks-changing-history/
 
"I don't want people to stop playing the old games," he added, "but time has moved on."
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Fuck you asshole!

Almost 20 years from its release, Syndicate is still a revered classic and the people who played and loved it have fond memories of it.

Let's see if your fucking FPS achieves the same.
 
Acosta said:
Fuck you asshole!

Almost 20 years from its release, Syndicate is still a revered classic and the people who played and loved it have fond memories of it.

Let's see if your fucking FPS achieves the same.
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I'm going to take a wild guess that publishers are more concerned with what is going to generate the most revenue rather than making a "memorable" game. The top franchise right now has installments that are relevant for 364 days.

That said, Starbreeze has done good work. This doesn't turn me off nearly as much as X-COM.
 
Mooreberg said:
That said, Starbreeze has done good work. This doesn't turn me off nearly as much as X-COM.
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I'd also add that I think that the Syndicate universe lends itself to an FPS quite naturally, a bit moreso than the X-Com universe.

I'm not convinced, but I've warmed to the concept more than I did to X-Com.

(I have just remembered that the other thing that *made* Syndicate, for me, was the adjustable sliders for drug intake. That was a wonderful *idea*, although I rarely found much reason to do anything other than crank them down to minimum while scouting - to move the centrepoint down - then crank them up to full once the action kicks off)
 
Saty said:
:\

http://www.oxm.co.uk/33611/why-the-...on-shooter-starbreeze-talks-changing-history/
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so damn sad.

Here is RPS's take on the article

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/09/13/agents-of-change-starbreeze-talk-syndicate/

And here’s the quote that’s going to make people particularly upset. I’m not upset as such (I’m actually pretty resigned to old games being remade as shooters these days, and entirely subscribe to the ‘the old games don’t stop existing’ mindset), but I don’t think it’s a very useful or entirely accurate thing to be saying. So, take it away, designer Rickard Johansson: “I don’t want people to stop playing the old games, but time has moved on.”

Has it? Has it really? Perhaps he didn’t notice that Starcraft 2 outsold most of EA’s (and everyone else’s) portfolio last year. Perhaps he didn’t notice that SEGA refer to Total War as one of the major jewels in their crown. Perhaps he didn’t notice that Valve are spending a fortune on a DOTA remake. Perhaps what he really means is ‘publishers will give us a bigger development and marketing budget if we make it a first-person shooter.’ And that is what winds me up. The fact that Syndicate is being remade as an FPS I can actually deal with just fine – the original game still exists. Being asked to swallow claims that it’s genuinely a creative decision is entirely bitter pill, though.
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I'm sure you would like it if your campaign to screw over customers by releasing a shitty me-too FPS with a popular IP slapped on would succeed, but time has moved on.
 
guy sounds like dyack

his attitude and the attitude of the incompetents at EA is laughable. we're in an era where blizzard is releasing hugely successful isometric games and valve is making a new dota

it's not surprising though given the pile of shit they turned command and conquer into. RIP
 
Sipowicz said:
guy sounds like dyack

his attitude and the attitude of the incompetents at EA is laughable. we're in an era where blizzard is releasing hugely successful isometric games and valve is making a new dota

it's not surprising though given the pile of shit they turned command and conquer into. RIP
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eh you cant compare this with blizzards efforts. First of all, Starbreeze is a small studio and Syndicate wont have the long lasting multiplayer that isometric blizzard games have.

Bottom line is that SB needs to make some money back, and they have a better chance of doing that with the fps crowd.
 
Nostalgia~4ever said:
eh you cant compare this with blizzards efforts. First of all, Starbreeze is a small studio and Syndicate wont have the long lasting multiplayer that isometric blizzard games have.

Bottom line is that SB needs to make some money back, and they have a better chance of doing that with the fps crowd.
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because FPS games are so underepresented?

this iis cowardice and incompetence on the part of the publisher, and a complete lack of imagitiveness from the dev

i expect (or rather hope) the game does poorly and EA abandons any notion of bringing back the franchises they ruined as copycat shooters
 
Sipowicz said:
because FPS games are so underepresented?

this iis cowardice and incompetence on the part of the publisher, and a complete lack of imagitiveness from the dev

i expect (or rather hope) the game does poorly and EA abandons any notion of bringing back the franchises they ruined as copycat shooters
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so just because it has a first person view, it cant have imaginativeness?
 
Not sure how they can make it 'feel' like a Syndicate game when it's an FPS.

Syndicate was an awesome game though.

Hopefully those shots are from the console version (doubt it), because that looks nice.
 
Nostalgia~4ever said:
eh you cant compare this with blizzards efforts. First of all, Starbreeze is a small studio and Syndicate wont have the long lasting multiplayer that isometric blizzard games have.

Bottom line is that SB needs to make some money back, and they have a better chance of doing that with the fps crowd.
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Even if you're a small studio, what prevents them to make an up-to date isometric SEQUEL to Syndicate/Wars???

Like other's said, people like to play Dota, like to play Diablo, liked to play Baldur's Gate Dark Allience on PS2, like to play Starcraft.

They could get some great influences from those games, implement them into a faithfull SEQUEL, make the graphics as gorgeous as STARCRAFT 2 (with lots of detail) and e viola - here's your awesome Syndicate Sequel.

They might as well wait for a Wii U Version.


JUST IMAGINE.... you'd have Syndicate Wars with Starcraft2-esque (when it comes to wonderfully detailed graphics that don't abandon the look of the original at all)

(the following aplies for a Wii/Pointer Controlles version as well)

You would control it with the Wii U controller. Left analog stick moves the first agend, the other 3 follow. THEN, you'd have the pointer - whenever you point at the screen it apears, just like the Yoshi Pointer in Super Mario Galaxy 2 - with which you click and aim at your enemies efordlessly - just like a mouse.

You'd have the display for your weapons and stuff...

It would work greatly!
 
I bought the PAL SNES version of Syndicate off of eBay recently, as well as the North American SEGA Genesis version.

I am seriously ticked off that everything is turning into an FPS these days.
 
Nostalgia~4ever said:
the article is a bit outdated now since Magnus Hogdahl came back (the swedish version of John Carmack)
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Wait, really? That might singlehandedly get me excited for this game.
 
Sipowicz said:
his attitude and the attitude of the incompetents at EA is laughable. we're in an era where blizzard is releasing hugely successful isometric games and valve is making a new dota
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Are you comparing Diablo's and Starcraft's fanbase with Syndicate's? Of course Blizzard's isometric games are successful . It's Blizzard...
How many other isometric games are successful? Not to mention that more than 70-80% of today's youth have never heard of Syndicate. Not played...heard of.

Satchel said:
Not sure how they can make it 'feel' like a Syndicate game when it's an FPS.
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Why do you think that? I'm just curious.
I don't remember very well but didn't more or less every mission in the game leaned towards action and not tactics?
I personally think it might transition well to FPS. Also, instead of controlling 4 characters you can have 4 player co-op.
 
What would be the point of EA using the Syndicate name anyway?

To get people to download the older games if EA ever chooses to re-release them on Steam or whatever? That wouldn't make any sense, especially since the majority of FPS players hate all of the other genres. They'd be like "WTF is this shit" after downloading the old games.

They should have just called it "Generic First Person Shooter #4,692".
 
Satchel said:
Not sure how they can make it 'feel' like a Syndicate game when it's an FPS.

Syndicate was an awesome game though.

Hopefully those shots are from the console version (doubt it), because that looks nice.
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They can start by giving you four duders that you can switch between on the fly. Then they can recreate the classic isometric view on the mini-map for style points.

Perspective doesn't dictate gameplay. Some of the best action strategy hybrids ever made are FPSs. Like Uprising, for example.
 
Jenga said:
hey guys

anachronox 2 is being released!

only it's a fps with a whole new cast and storyline!


they thanked tom hall in the credits so technically he helped
Click to expand...
And people would ask "Why you mad?"
 
Shed_a_Ninja said:
What would be the point of EA using the Syndicate name anyway?

To get people to download the older games if EA ever chooses to re-release them on Steam or whatever? That wouldn't make any sense, especially since the majority of FPS players hate all of the other genres. They'd be like "WTF is this shit" after downloading the old games.

They should have just called it "Generic First Person Shooter #4,692".
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I feel like we go over this every other week.

The name has some cachet and awareness behind it. This game is set in the same universe. Why wouldn't they call it Syndicate?
 
Neuromancer said:
I feel like we go over this every other week.

The name has some cachet and awareness behind it. This game is set in the same universe. Why wouldn't they call it Syndicate?
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Well, if Shadowrun is any indication, they are pretty much pissing off the existing fanbase who will swear to not buying it and they aren't going to gather much of a new fanbase to get sales past 100,000 copies worldwide (or whatever the low number that Shadowrun's total sales got).

The delayed OXM article on it didn't help, either. It got people thinking it was Halo or some other game. Marketing has been pretty bad so far. It's a disaster waiting to happen.
 
Shed_a_Ninja said:
Well, if Shadowrun is any indication, they are pretty much pissing off the existing fanbase who will swear to not buying it and they aren't going to gather much of a new fanbase to get sales past 100,000 copies worldwide (or whatever the low number that Shadowrun's total sales got).
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Sorry, i mean no offense, but you sound like that guy that had a meltdown after FF13 went multiplatform. You know, Square shot themselves in the foot, apologize to the fanbase etc :D
 
Shed_a_Ninja said:
Well, if Shadowrun is any indication, they are pretty much pissing off the existing fanbase who will swear to not buying it and they aren't going to gather much of a new fanbase to get sales past 100,000 copies worldwide (or whatever the low number that Shadowrun's total sales got).

The delayed OXM article on it didn't help, either. It got people thinking it was Halo or some other game. Marketing has been pretty bad so far. It's a disaster waiting to happen.
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I see what you're saying, Shadowrun was probably the first of many this generation. The bigger problem with Shadowrun was probably that is just wasn't a very good game. I don't think the name helped or hurt it.
 
Neuromancer said:
I see what you're saying, Shadowrun was probably the first of many this generation. The bigger problem with Shadowrun was probably that is just wasn't a very good game. I don't think the name helped or hurt it.
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Was it? I thought GAF held that game in high regard.

Shadowrun was way worse though. There was literally nothing there for anyone who was a fan of that franchise. When I first saw EYE: Divine Cybermancy I thought it looked like a first person Syndicate. And here is first person Syndicate for really reals.
 
shuyin_ said:
Sorry, i mean no offense, but you sound like that guy that had a meltdown after FF13 went multiplatform. You know, Square shot themselves in the foot, apologize the fanbase etc :D
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That sounds nothing like the Final Fantasy XIII going multiplatform situation. It sounds more like a company arbitrarily using an old IP name and slapping it onto a generic tired-out genre for no good reason.

It would be like having Shenmue III being announced as a first person shooter. People don't like Shenmue because of the name; they like it because of the gameplay and the story. That would piss off a lot of people, to the point of them not buying it.

It definitely happened with Shadowrun (Microsoft even had to close FASA down due to the low sales). What makes you think it won't happen with this?
 
mavs said:
Was it? I thought GAF held that game in high regard.

Shadowrun was way worse though. There was literally nothing there for anyone who was a fan of that franchise. When I first saw EYE: Divine Cybermancy I thought it looked like a first person Syndicate. And here is first person Syndicate for really reals.
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Well I can't speak for GAF but I didn't care for it, it didn't get very good reviews, and it didn't sell very well.

I have a feeling XCOM is going to go the same way, maybe not crash and burn as badly but the core game just doesn't look very good to me.
 
@Shed_a_Ninja: I understand this is a different situation than Ff13 going multiplatform, but my comment was aimed at your reaction not at the situation.

Your reaction was the context and i found it similar to that guy's meltdown after Ff13 went multi. Isn't it a bit melodramatic that the 'existing fanbase will swear to not buying' this reboot? :D
 
Shed_a_Ninja said:
That sounds nothing like the Final Fantasy XIII going multiplatform situation. It sounds more like a company arbitrarily using an old IP name and slapping it onto a generic tired-out genre for no good reason.
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NPD would disagree.
 
outunderthestars said:
NPD would disagree.
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It's funny how you bring up North America and also sales.

I am not a sheep, so I don't give a shit about the FPS genre. Let the mindless drones play their games. But if it intrudes on my hobby, fuck off, I say. Thankfully, at least one company continues to make games that aren't FPS or sports.


By the way, where is the information regarding Paradox Interactive making a spiritual successor to Syndicate?
 
Shed_a_Ninja said:
It's funny how you bring up North America and also sales.

I am not a sheep, so I don't give a shit about the FPS genre. Let the mindless drones play their games. But if it intrudes on my hobby, fuck off, I say. Thankfully, at least one company continues to make games that aren't FPS or sports.


By the way, where is the information regarding Paradox Interactive making a spiritual successor to Syndicate?
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Wow. Way to cross over into true frothing fanboy mode......

angry-final-fantasy-nerd-wann1e-demotivational-poster-1216243410.jpg
 
Shed_a_Ninja said:
It's funny how you bring up North America and also sales.

I am not a sheep, so I don't give a shit about the FPS genre. Let the mindless drones play their games. But if it intrudes on my hobby, fuck off, I say. Thankfully, at least one company continues to make games that aren't FPS or sports.


By the way, where is the information regarding Paradox Interactive making a spiritual successor to Syndicate?
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You sound like that FF13 meltdown guy more and more. FPS games are played by mindless drones? :))) Half Life GAF will eat you alive :))
 
cuyahoga said:
Wait, really? That might singlehandedly get me excited for this game.
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How has playing follow the leader worked out for them so far, though? Medal of Honor was an "also ran" before it was even released. It takes balls to innovate and that's where the money is. It's not in just chasing Activision around. Especially when Activision has become stagnant, too. They ran Guitar Hero into the ground and eventually CoD will start to wane, too.
 
FStop7 said:
How has playing follow the leader worked out for them so far, though? Medal of Honor was an "also ran" before it was even released. It takes balls to innovate and that's where the money is. It's not in just chasing Activision around. Especially when Activision has become stagnant, too. They ran Guitar Hero into the ground and eventually CoD will start to wane, too.
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Medal of Honor was actually a pretty awesome SP game though.
 
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