Syndicate (2012) Critic Reviews

The smart players will rise to the challenge and feel like they've been appropriately rewarded for their prowess. The campaign gives you a great look at an interesting world, though its abrupt, too-clean ending feels out of place. It's a somewhat disappointing reward for an otherwise exciting adventure that puts a terrific and fun spin on first-person shooting.

The story mode is a fairly weak and linear 12-15 hour experience, but the online co-op will keep you and your friends entertained for weeks and months to come. I can see this game having a nice long life as long as they can keep the DLC coming.

Even with a few flaws in the single player area, Syndicate offers a very worthwhile experience that deserves your attention.

Syndicate delivers a convincing performance on the Microsoft console. Especially the fact that there is no online pass needed for the multiplayer mode is reason to rejoice.

Impressive lighting, gorgeous art direction, and a smooth framerate really pretty-up the experience, while voice-acting from Hollywood veterans Rosario Dawson and Brian Cox add weight to the audio.

Syndicate is an excellent shooter that does a lot of things right in the gameplay department. A fun combination of excellent gunplay combined with an okay range of abilities and powers and some well put together melee moves makes the game a mixed bag that never gets too old.

Syndicate has the potential of a masterpiece but some level design problems and an abbreviated development turn the last Starbreeze production into only a very good shooter.

Syndicate may not be the game that fans of the original were hoping for many years later, but sci-fi and shooter fans will be pleased with the overall execution of not only the story, but also the weapon techniques, game play, and co-op fun. It will provide them with enough depth and complexity to the FPS genre that it will make its own mark among similar games and never be mistaken for just another sci-fi shooter. The story may not be fresh and original, but the game play ideas, co-op action, and visual stylings sure are, which at least deserves your attention and admiration even if you haven't had this title in your sights.

Syndicate has a lot of ideas, but seems unwilling to let some of them out of the bag, instead parading them around at key moments, while some mechanics, like running through weak walls, never amounting to much.

Starbreeze's Syndicate isn't the RTS you may all remember, but it's certainly an FPS you won't forget any time soon.

Syndicate may not be for everyone. Purists who enjoyed the original back in the day might well be disappointed by the direction Starbreeze took it. But if you're into sci-fi shooters this is definitely worth a look.

A game that's merely good, rather than great. Still, the good part is well worth the investment, provided you can find the right team members to join you in a firefight.

Take some time to get into Syndicate and you'll discover it's not just another shooter with a pretty Blade Runner paint job.

While Starbreeze Studios may have some trouble convincing die-hard Syndicate fans to open their hearts and minds to the series' new style and direction, its multiplayer offering should breach many a gaming session for some time to come.

It's tight, focused and despite its flaws is easily the best shooter to arrive so far this year. In this sense, we can't help but wonder why EA has not made a bigger deal out of Syndicate.

Electronic Arts has resurrected the franchise after many years, transforming it from an isometric strategy game to a first-person shooter. If you're a hardcore superfan of the original who has an issue with this decision, nothing anyone says is going to change your mind. But if you're open to an FPS reinterpretation with loads of references to the old games, or if you've never heard of Syndicate and like sci-fi shooters, this may be the game for you.

Syndicate manages to mesh the spirit of the old with the style of the new. It's not the return some fans would have hoped for, but it expands the franchise into new territory where business is booming.

While Syndicate's sense of atmosphere leads to rare shining moments, they are thwarted at every turn by a stilted storyline, unlikable characters, and numerous pacing issues that make the experience difficult enjoy. The co-op, however, surpasses almost anything else available in the genre.

Syndicate shines for its great visuals, the intriguing world they depict and the brilliant co-op mode, while we would have liked a better developed story and more freedom during the missions. The augmented interface is sometimes confusing too, with too much information on screen and often too tiny and difficult fonts. It looks like a missed opportunity: it could have been a real gem instead of a simply good FPS.

The single player is short, but offers up a decent little take on futuristic corporate espionage. The multiplayer is where the game really shines. If you have some friends to play with, you'll have a blast.