By Jim Rossignol on May 2nd, 2011 at 12:44 pm.
RPS chum Stephen Totilo met up with Fred Wester from Paradox recently, and they had a little chat. Reader Lasse Bertheussen points out that this little chat contained a brief mention of Syndicate, which is currently being remade by Starbreeze. Here it is:
And down the line? Well, this is how Wester’s mind works: He loved the ruthless isometric tactical classic Syndicate back in the day. He also works in Sweden and is therefore privy to the fact that a neighboring studio is making a new Syndicate for EA and that the game is “more of a like a GTA wannabe than it’s like the original game.” Therefore, he wants Paradox to make its own riff on Syndicate. They don’t have a game design in mind yet, but that’s the dream.
I’m smiling. Are you smiling?
02/05/2011 at 13:03 westyfield says:
Right on!
02/05/2011 at 13:07 CMaster says:
Right
02/05/2011 at 15:16 Nick says:
Right.
02/05/2011 at 15:24 Wulf says:
No no no. It needs to come more from the heart. Suck in that gut, raise that chin, breathe deeply, and say it proud. Do it in a way that would make Cave Johnson proud!
02/05/2011 at 15:49 BathroomCitizen says:
Right.
02/05/2011 at 17:48 Tacroy says:
We’re done here.
02/05/2011 at 13:08 sendmark says:
Yeah I read this on the weekend, great news.
Have to say I do also like the sound of a GTA-style Syndicate as well though, if by that it’s free-roaming in a cyberpunk city. Or at least the idea of it, more likely to be just a soulless cash-in on the name.
02/05/2011 at 13:21 mouton says:
I am not smiling.
I am grinning.
02/05/2011 at 13:22 Teddy Leach says:
I am smiling.
02/05/2011 at 13:24 Axyl says:
I’m touching myself with Joy!
Syndicate was, in my opinion, the greatest thing to ever come out of Bullfrog.
God, i hope this one doesn’t get canned.
02/05/2011 at 13:38 JFS says:
Dungeon Keeper?
02/05/2011 at 13:38 Beebop says:
Canned? They haven’t got access to the rights yet. That’s why I’m not smiling.
02/05/2011 at 13:41 Wulf says:
I always thought Dungeon Keeper was the best to come out of Bullfrog, too. And Black & White was by far and wide the best of Lionhead. I’d love to see spiritual successors of both. Or direct sequels! (So long as it’s a sequel to the gameplay mechanics of Black & White 1, rather than Black & White 2, which was lesser.)
02/05/2011 at 14:29 CMaster says:
@Beebop
You misunderstand, they have no intention of trying to get the rights to Syndicate. They’re more thinking of developing/funding a game with Syndicate-like gameplay.
02/05/2011 at 14:32 Setroc says:
“Rights?” Said Fred Wester, CEO of Paradox “But we can produce our own original IP.”
02/05/2011 at 19:27 Kent says:
Dungeon Keeper? More like Theme Hospital :P
02/05/2011 at 20:45 BAReFOOt says:
My nipples explode with delight!
02/05/2011 at 13:25 Icarus says:
Pleased.
02/05/2011 at 13:37 Keilnoth says:
I am.
02/05/2011 at 14:01 Berzee says:
The only thing I know about Syndicate is that you like it.
Nevertheless I will smile.
:D
:D
:)
02/05/2011 at 14:02 Berzee says:
T_T
02/05/2011 at 14:59 pandora says:
へ（＾＾）ノ
02/05/2011 at 14:07 bill says:
*smiling*
02/05/2011 at 14:07 Tarqon says:
Where are those Fred Wester novelty accounts when you need them?
02/05/2011 at 14:10 Escalus says:
what a sha- hold on a tick! yessssss
02/05/2011 at 14:11 Daiv says:
Of course I’m smiling. The Persuadertron won’t let me do anything else.
02/05/2011 at 14:36 Chakawi says:
Ha! I even heard the sound it makes when I read this :)
02/05/2011 at 14:14 Shadowcat says:
So… someone is doing an official new Syndicate, but it sounds a bit crap, and someone else has gotten all the way to the “dreaming” phase of creating a better remake (increasing the grand total of New Syndicate dreams experienced by game developers by approximately 0.00001%). Where was the this’ll-make-you-smile good news in that? Maybe I blinked at the wrong moment.
Not that I don’t hope for the best, so good luck to them, but honestly this is about as tenuous a news item as you could possibly get.
02/05/2011 at 14:32 Icarus says:
Because this time the guy doing the dreaming is CEO of a publisher with a habit of putting out good indie titles. Hence, pleased.
02/05/2011 at 14:41 Archonsod says:
I’m afraid Mr Wester shall have to cease and desist. His publishing outfit is making the rest of the industry look bad.
02/05/2011 at 14:48 JanH says:
Grinning done. Where do I preorder?
02/05/2011 at 14:53 Lacero says:
This post needs more comments so he realises how much money is in it.
02/05/2011 at 15:02 utharda says:
I Fredrick Wester approve of this message!
(was out of town)
02/05/2011 at 15:10 BobsLawnService says:
As far as fanciful ideas spouted by CEOs go it’s a good one. Let’s hope something good comes of it.
02/05/2011 at 15:28 Pijama says:
Err, hm…
Dunno, I am skeptic. Paradox has some real bad issues with development and management – it acts like it’s a huge developer with boatloads of resources when really is a small company. So it tries to do four games at the same time while not even managing to get one in proper working order, not to mention polish: to give an example, I know they are Swedish, but their games have some of the worst English spelling ever; which although may seem an inconsequential thing, it becomes glaringly awful.
If someone wants to do a new Syndicate, better do it damn properly and not some Firaxian cheap-ass remake.
02/05/2011 at 15:34 Easydog says:
I am smiling. And touching myself…
02/05/2011 at 16:07 Captain Hijinx says:
*In Gruff Syndicate Cop voice*
Move Along.
02/05/2011 at 16:55 vastad says:
I really feel a graphically-updated Syndicate sticking close to it’s original gameplay would be the perfect way to adapt the Shadowrun fluff. Far better than the abortion that was the multiplayer game.
Maybe my Nostalgia Goggles are on full power but I really liked the Genesis game and Syndicate Wars both.
02/05/2011 at 18:16 Nick says:
try the snes shadowrun game too, its really good.
02/05/2011 at 19:53 Wulf says:
That actually was really great! The SNES version of Shadowrun, I mean.
03/05/2011 at 08:07 Thants says:
I always though Shadowrun would make a great Deus Ex or Vampire: Bloodlines type game. (And the Genesis one is the best one!).
02/05/2011 at 17:25 cavalerie says:
I’m cautiously optimistic.
02/05/2011 at 17:49 Claw says:
Oh, Bullfrog. How I loved your games.
02/05/2011 at 18:35 Conor says:
Right.
02/05/2011 at 18:51 Narretz says:
I wonder why every good tactics game of the 90s must become some stupid 1st or 3rd person shooter. And with every good tactics game I mean UFO and Syndicate. I hope I will see the age when there is again a broad base of players wanting a more sophisticated take on gaming, rather than what is produced right now.
02/05/2011 at 18:55 Yog-Sothoth says:
I’d love to see a GTA style game set in a cyberpunk city. After the success of Red Dead Redemption I’m surprised we aren’t seeing GTA style games in every setting imaginable.
02/05/2011 at 22:36 Dances to Podcasts says:
Prey 2?
04/05/2011 at 05:26 destroy.all.monsters says:
I would too – but then I like cyberpunk in everything (maybe not peanut butter).
02/05/2011 at 19:20 Gabbo says:
I’m intrigued, but I can’t really say I feel anything else until I actually sit down and try my hand at either game. Sadly, Syndicate was not a game that caught my attention when I was younger.
03/05/2011 at 02:04 MythArcana says:
What inspires studios to completely change classic games and alter working game mechanics and formulas? We have seen this happen a thousand times and it fails miserably each and every time; the hard core Syndicate fans will reject it and new players to the franchise will already have 120 games competing against it.
Jagged Alliance 2 comes to mind in this instance. There have been numerous clones, but none of them actually got it right to come close to the original. Silent Storm came the closest, but it was still no JA.
Dungeons is another great example of what happens when you slaughter a classic Bullfrog title – it just simply falls flat and slips into the annals of forgettable moments in gaming.
03/05/2011 at 03:06 SoupDuJour says:
I approve of this message. Make it happen.
03/05/2011 at 10:42 Robert says:
Maybe my intellect was not fully developed yet when it came out, but I was not that impressed. It was fun while it lasted, but there was better stuff for me.
And I’m having this sad-smile-while-shaking-my-head on my face, by the clusterforming so very common in gaming, and other media of course.
03/05/2011 at 13:50 xcession says:
Minigun
That is all.
03/05/2011 at 16:22 rocketman71 says:
GTA wannabe?.
Not smiling. Let’s hope they make me.
04/05/2011 at 05:24 destroy.all.monsters says:
Do want!
Gauss gun. The equivalent must be there.
I have no idea if they have the talent there to make this happen but I’ve been waiting for a proper sequel for ages. No Syndicate Wars doesn’t exactly count. Ideas were terrific but the implementation was lame.
Also Syndicate MMO. Make it happen.
04/05/2011 at 11:24 Andrigaar says:
Ah, another company trying to modernize and reinvent an old IP and angering the fans that just want an updated sequel/remake. I had no idea it was going in some GTA-like route though as that sounds horrible for the genre.
I’ll not be optimistic about Paradox’s spiritual revival, but I will keep my eye out.