Post by kirbyderby on Feb 8, 2012 19:59:34 GMT -5
Any bros played this yet? I figured I'd make this thread for open discussion of the demo that was released January 31st. I'm gonna go ahead and post my experience during my past hours with the demo, along with a little background information about the game.
For anybody curious, the upcoming Syndicate game is a reboot of the 1993 isometric strategy game. The Syndicate releasing This February 21st, however, has undergone a complete genre swap to a FPS. I'm curious how this has been received by players of the original series, but my post will just focus on the current game.
Background story stuff:
2069: No longer governed by politicians, the developed world is divided up into regions controlled by mega-corporations known as syndicates. These syndicates have revolutionized how the consumer interacts with the digital world. Since the consumer requires a device to access the world's data and control technology, they can do this in the blink of an eye via neural chip implant.
Civilians flocked to be "Chip'd" and enjoy all that their selected syndicate has to offer: housing, medical, banking, insurance, education, entertainment and jobs. One complete package. One complete lifestyle. In return, the syndicates gained unprecedented insights, and control, over the individual and their behavior. With little government oversight, business has become war. The syndicates will stop at nothing for ultimate market dominance.
At the first line of this war are the agents, the syndicate's bio-engineered and chip-augmented enforcers. They can breach anything in the wired dataverse, including their enemies, their weapons and the environment that surrounds them, making them the most efficient and deadly technological weapons in the world. Take on the role of Miles Kilo, EuroCorp's latest prototype agent, and embark on a brutal action adventure of corruption and revenge.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That's more of a single-player intro. The co-op, as far as I can tell, is more similar to CoD Spec-Ops, in the sense that you have a simple mission structure with varied areas from the single-player that you can play with friends or random people.
You start as a level 1 agent with basic abilities that allow you to hack into and disable automatic sentries and open doorways, a "reboot" function that allows you to revive downed teammates, a similar ability that lets you heal them, and a DART vision. I'm not sure how DART vision works other than giving you x-ray vision and probably some minor benefits. there are also [abilities] that you can choose from in your loadout. There are many of these [abilities], which are unlocked by completing corresponding missions in co-op (only one mission is available in the demo, so your options are limited). These abilities include a temporary damage boost, a damage barrier for all team members, and a "refire" ability that causes an enemy's gun to malfunction, stunning and damaging him. It probably sounds like a lot to manage, but it's actually really simple; DART vision is activated with RB (Xbox) and all other abilities are activated with the LB (Xbox). You can change between hacking and your ability(s) with the d-pad (Xbox).
The matchmaking is decent. Lobbies are managed by a host, who chooses the map, difficulty, and when to start. You can run into annoyances where the host doesn't realize he needs to start the game, but there's also a vote kick (both in lobby and in game). I haven't had any bad connections yet, but I make no guarantees. You can also have a private match if you want to play with friends or try to play solo.
Gameplay is solid overall. Guns work fine, although most of the cool ones aren't available in the demo. Most controls will be familiar if you've played an FPS this past decade. Aim acceleration is on by default, but it can be turned down or off. Melee takedowns trigger little animation sequences that get repetitive fast. Climbing on/over obstacles is slow and awkward-it's better to just side-hop onto or jump over them. Firing from the hip feels way too accurate IMO. the sniper rifle has similar hipfire to an assault rifle in CoD. You take too much damage and you are "downed" in a hunched-over clutching-the-gut-wound position. You can't attack or perform any hacks; you're limited to hobbling towards safety or the nearest teammate. Take too much more damage and you're "out"; you are inoperative and must watch the other players until they can reboot you. Rebooting someone who is "out" takes much longer than rebooting a player who is just "down", so it's good to keep your teammates alive in a fight. Overall, enemy AI is pretty good, but there are a couple areas during the mission where you can sit in one spot while enemies funnel into a slaughterhouse.
My largest issue so far is probably the other players. Many co-op bros are probably familiar with the teammate who seems to have forgotten the "team" and "mate" parts. I'm almost willing to shrug it off to new players not knowing what to do, but not only can you just look at the damn control layout before playing, there are fucking ON-SCREEN PROMPTS that even include the damn button you need to press to perform the action! Over 80% of the time, it's the SAME FUCKING BUTTON! I've even had an instance (Note: you can "chip-rip" bosses with a melee attack for bonus rewards) where I was downed right before the final boss was finished, and all three of my teammates just stood there and watched the boss and I bleed to death. Not a single one bothered to even punch the dude for free points. On the other hand, reboots and heals are worth plenty of points for people who have a functioning LB.
Small irks aside, I've really enjoyed my time with the demo. I'll have to see how the single-player pans out before I consider paying $60 just for co-op, but I'll be watching this one.
Fun Facts!
kotaku.com/5881496/ea-no-online-pass-for-syndicate
Like the URL says, EA is not planning on including a $10 fee for used purchases to play online.
au.gamespot.com/news/ea-wont-appeal-aussie-syndicate-ban-6347942?tag=updates%3Beditor%3Ball%3Btitle%3B1
The Australian Classification Board refused classification to Syndicate yesterday, effectively banning the game in Australia. The government body had particular issues with the high level of violence in the game, noting that "combatants can take locational damage and can be explicitly dismembered, decapitated, or bisected by the force of the gunfire. The depictions are accompanied by copious blood spray, and injuries are shown realistically and with detail. Flesh and bone are often exposed, while arterial sprays of blood continue to spurt from wounds at regular intervals."
Still going to be available unedited in New Zealand with an Adults Only rating.
For anybody curious, the upcoming Syndicate game is a reboot of the 1993 isometric strategy game. The Syndicate releasing This February 21st, however, has undergone a complete genre swap to a FPS. I'm curious how this has been received by players of the original series, but my post will just focus on the current game.
Background story stuff:
2069: No longer governed by politicians, the developed world is divided up into regions controlled by mega-corporations known as syndicates. These syndicates have revolutionized how the consumer interacts with the digital world. Since the consumer requires a device to access the world's data and control technology, they can do this in the blink of an eye via neural chip implant.
Civilians flocked to be "Chip'd" and enjoy all that their selected syndicate has to offer: housing, medical, banking, insurance, education, entertainment and jobs. One complete package. One complete lifestyle. In return, the syndicates gained unprecedented insights, and control, over the individual and their behavior. With little government oversight, business has become war. The syndicates will stop at nothing for ultimate market dominance.
At the first line of this war are the agents, the syndicate's bio-engineered and chip-augmented enforcers. They can breach anything in the wired dataverse, including their enemies, their weapons and the environment that surrounds them, making them the most efficient and deadly technological weapons in the world. Take on the role of Miles Kilo, EuroCorp's latest prototype agent, and embark on a brutal action adventure of corruption and revenge.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That's more of a single-player intro. The co-op, as far as I can tell, is more similar to CoD Spec-Ops, in the sense that you have a simple mission structure with varied areas from the single-player that you can play with friends or random people.
You start as a level 1 agent with basic abilities that allow you to hack into and disable automatic sentries and open doorways, a "reboot" function that allows you to revive downed teammates, a similar ability that lets you heal them, and a DART vision. I'm not sure how DART vision works other than giving you x-ray vision and probably some minor benefits. there are also [abilities] that you can choose from in your loadout. There are many of these [abilities], which are unlocked by completing corresponding missions in co-op (only one mission is available in the demo, so your options are limited). These abilities include a temporary damage boost, a damage barrier for all team members, and a "refire" ability that causes an enemy's gun to malfunction, stunning and damaging him. It probably sounds like a lot to manage, but it's actually really simple; DART vision is activated with RB (Xbox) and all other abilities are activated with the LB (Xbox). You can change between hacking and your ability(s) with the d-pad (Xbox).
The matchmaking is decent. Lobbies are managed by a host, who chooses the map, difficulty, and when to start. You can run into annoyances where the host doesn't realize he needs to start the game, but there's also a vote kick (both in lobby and in game). I haven't had any bad connections yet, but I make no guarantees. You can also have a private match if you want to play with friends or try to play solo.
Gameplay is solid overall. Guns work fine, although most of the cool ones aren't available in the demo. Most controls will be familiar if you've played an FPS this past decade. Aim acceleration is on by default, but it can be turned down or off. Melee takedowns trigger little animation sequences that get repetitive fast. Climbing on/over obstacles is slow and awkward-it's better to just side-hop onto or jump over them. Firing from the hip feels way too accurate IMO. the sniper rifle has similar hipfire to an assault rifle in CoD. You take too much damage and you are "downed" in a hunched-over clutching-the-gut-wound position. You can't attack or perform any hacks; you're limited to hobbling towards safety or the nearest teammate. Take too much more damage and you're "out"; you are inoperative and must watch the other players until they can reboot you. Rebooting someone who is "out" takes much longer than rebooting a player who is just "down", so it's good to keep your teammates alive in a fight. Overall, enemy AI is pretty good, but there are a couple areas during the mission where you can sit in one spot while enemies funnel into a slaughterhouse.
My largest issue so far is probably the other players. Many co-op bros are probably familiar with the teammate who seems to have forgotten the "team" and "mate" parts. I'm almost willing to shrug it off to new players not knowing what to do, but not only can you just look at the damn control layout before playing, there are fucking ON-SCREEN PROMPTS that even include the damn button you need to press to perform the action! Over 80% of the time, it's the SAME FUCKING BUTTON! I've even had an instance (Note: you can "chip-rip" bosses with a melee attack for bonus rewards) where I was downed right before the final boss was finished, and all three of my teammates just stood there and watched the boss and I bleed to death. Not a single one bothered to even punch the dude for free points. On the other hand, reboots and heals are worth plenty of points for people who have a functioning LB.
Small irks aside, I've really enjoyed my time with the demo. I'll have to see how the single-player pans out before I consider paying $60 just for co-op, but I'll be watching this one.
Fun Facts!
kotaku.com/5881496/ea-no-online-pass-for-syndicate
Like the URL says, EA is not planning on including a $10 fee for used purchases to play online.
au.gamespot.com/news/ea-wont-appeal-aussie-syndicate-ban-6347942?tag=updates%3Beditor%3Ball%3Btitle%3B1
The Australian Classification Board refused classification to Syndicate yesterday, effectively banning the game in Australia. The government body had particular issues with the high level of violence in the game, noting that "combatants can take locational damage and can be explicitly dismembered, decapitated, or bisected by the force of the gunfire. The depictions are accompanied by copious blood spray, and injuries are shown realistically and with detail. Flesh and bone are often exposed, while arterial sprays of blood continue to spurt from wounds at regular intervals."
Still going to be available unedited in New Zealand with an Adults Only rating.