Syndicate
140K plays 1993 #RPG
Syndicate is an isometric real-time tactics and strategic game from Bullfrog Productions created in 1993, and initially released for MS-DOS and the Amiga. It is the first game in the Syndicate series. Set in a dystopian future in which corporations have replaced governments, Syndicate puts the player in control of a corporation vying for global dominance.
The game consists of a series of missions in which the player controls a team of cybernetically modified agents attempting to take control of a particular country. The agents must frequently overcome local police forces and heavily armed agents from rival syndicates to achieve mission objectives, which range from assassinations to capture or rescue of personnel. Agent armaments, cybernetic modifications and behavioral attributes can be controlled by the player to make them more suited for particular tasks.
The player corporation makes money through taxes gathered from occupied territories, which can be used to research and purchase more potent weaponry and cybernetic modifications. The player controls the level of taxation, with excessive taxation bringing the risk of revolt, requiring a further mission to re-capture the territory.
From Wikipedia's article Syndicate (1993 video game), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Controls
This is a PC game: it uses the keyboard the way it did under MS-DOS, and the mouse where the game supports it. Click the game screen first so it gets your key presses.
Many DOS games start with a menu or ask a question first — read the screen and answer with the keyboard. Arrow keys, Enter, Space, Ctrl and Alt are the usual game keys.
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Controls
This is a PC game: it uses the keyboard the way it did under MS-DOS, and the mouse where the game supports it. Click the game screen first so it gets your key presses.
Many DOS games start with a menu or ask a question first — read the screen and answer with the keyboard. Arrow keys, Enter, Space, Ctrl and Alt are the usual game keys.
3.5 Good job
Players 77 · 18 votes
No critic scores found for this game: this is the players' rating.
Review scorecard
- Graphics 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Sound 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Control 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Fun Factor 3.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
Overall fallback: Players 77 · 18 votes. The same 77/100 overall rating fills missing categories using the face scale; these are not separate category scores. Player rating; no critic scores available.
What the reviews talk about
Key wordspolishedsatisfyingstrategicdetailedrepetitivedifficult
What the critics said
The magazine concluded that "Syndicate is a polished and significant effort" that would appeal to fans of other Bullfrog games but "doesn't quite offer the staying power of its predecessors".
— Computer Gaming World, 1993
Next Generation reviewed the Genesis version of the game, and stated that "Often the intense strategy games of the PC domain never make much of a 16bit game and Syndicate is a prime example."
— Next Generation, 1995
Next Generation also published a positive review for the 3DO version, with the reviewer commenting, "There's been a version of this for nearly every system, and it has to be said this one takes a close second behind that found on PC.... easily the best looking and smoothest controlling version for any home system."
— Next Generation
Next Generation reviewed the 3DO version of the game again, and stated that "Of all the versions we've looked at, this is a close second behind the PC, noticeably better than the Jaguar, and miles ahead of the Genesis and Sega CD versions. Otherwise, it's exactly the same."
— Next Generation, 1995
Power Unlimited gave the PC version a score of 90% summarizing: "Syndicate is a strategic action game with fantastic graphics. Like most Bullfrog games, it is slightly different from the rest. The attention to detail is especially commendable."
— Power Unlimited
A reviewer for Next Generation disagreed with both of them, saying that the Jaguar version is "as close to the original title as is possible without the use of a mouse."
— Next Generation· about another version
GamePro gave the SNES version an overall positive review based on the depth of the gameplay, calling it "a thinking man's shoot-em-up game."
— GamePro, 1995· about another version
The editors wrote, "Very few titles provide an atmosphere as dark and seductive as the one in Syndicate, and it strikes just the right balance between strategy and arcade blasting."
— PC Gamer, 1994· about another version
From the Reception section of Wikipedia's Syndicate (1993 video game) article, under CC BY-SA 4.0. The words are the critics'; their full reviews are on the publishers' pages.
Scores
- Famitsu 22/40 (SNES) (other versions)
- Electronic Gaming Monthly 8/10, 7/10, 6/10, 6/10 (JAG) (other versions)
- Next Generation 4/5 (JAG, 3DO) ; 3/5 (3DO, MAC) ; 3/5 (GEN)
- AllGame 4/5 (PC) ; 3.5/5 (GEN)
- Power Unlimited 90/100 (PC)
From the review table of Wikipedia's article. The face takes, first that applies: the Metascore for this platform, GameRankings' average, our average of the critics (one number per publication, a panel averaged), one review alone, the players' rating. Critics and players are never mixed.
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