Before I begin, I've never heard of Syndicate in the first place up until I saw some screenshots for the upcoming reboot that was posted on several different websites. From what I could gather on the originals, they were strategy games that let you play as an evil corporation bent on controlling the world from other evil corporations. Ah, evil vs evil: How wonderful. So, I had an interest in it from what I read about the originals, I had an interest in what was brewing. A few days later, the trailer came out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewwtznVkSxA&feature=channel_vide...

I was actually kind of amazed at what I was seeing really. The screenshots, to me, made it looked fine and showed off the wonderful tech that Starbreeze is known for. Seeing it in action, however, was another story. It has a kind of frenetic look to it that I really like seeing in FPS's but I didn't expect it to come from Starbreeze of all people. It felt like there was life to it that other FPS's are kind of lacking. Before I continue, I think I should express my thoughts the studio itself.

To date I have only played two of the studio's offerings on current gen systems: The Darkness and the remake of their 2004 hit The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (or, in another case, Assault on Dark Athena). I must say, my feelings on both games are like night day: One I loved and one I was not a fan of (sadly). What impressed me about The Darkness was how it, to me, showed me how important story was in games. Up to that point, while I would have fun with story in a game, I wasn't a fanatic about it. Then The Darkness came along and hit me upside the face with a massive baseball bat with it's great voice acting, character and atmosphere. Sure the gameplay was clunky but it had a feel to it that made it entertaining to play. And let's face it: Eating people's hearts with two demon heads is fucking awesome.

And then there was this in The Darkness. God, I was a mess after that part. 

So, when I heard that the folks at Starbreeze were bringing over their most well known title, Riddick, to current gen systems, I was ecstatic. Then I played it. Despite having amazing graphics and voice acting seen in Darkness, the pacing was off, the stealth elements was obtuse and to be honest, it just didn't hook me in the same way that Darkness did. It didn't punch me in the face; It just gave me a little slap and a I shook it off, with disappointment and just a sigh. But, enough about that, let's move onto Syndicate.

One thing I has caught my with the reception of the recent media released so far is that it isn't completely negative or positive; It's this weird combo of both. On one hand, people to be impressed with it's visuals, Starbreeze doing it, the dubstep remix of the original theme and that it still retains the cyberpunk feel of the originals On the other hand, people are upset by the fact that's an FPS and not a strategy game, the dubstep remix of the original theme and others (those uninformed) making the assumption that it's a Deus Ex 4. Seeing all of these reactions, I can't help but think that this is like EA's response to the upcoming XCOM reboot being put out by 2K. 

Hell, even people who seem to be staunch fans of the originals seem to be giving this one a slight benefit of the doubt in contrast to the XCOM reboot, which has caused reactions like this. 

Back on topic: What do I think of it? I think that it might turn out well, despite my shakey relationship with Starbreeze. It' still kind of jarring seeing them make a fast paced FPS in comparison of their other two, but I'll give them a chance and who knows? It might be freaking awesome. Or it could be a massive disaster. We'll just have to wait and see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3TrjEuXuNw

Post your thoughts below! :D