Rock, Paper, Shotgun

When Is Syndicate Coming Out? I’ll Tell You

By Jim Rossignol on September 28th, 2011 at 3:13 pm.

Phallic.
I’ll tell you: according to Gamasutra, it’s coming out in February of 2012. The 21st in the North America and the 24th in Europlace. That’s relatively soon! Yes it is. Also, there’s now a website for the game over here. It’s not much of a website, but it does say this: “AT THE FRONT 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.”

Miles Kilo. That’s his name. That’s your name. You are him.

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145 Comments »

  1. Hoaxfish says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:15

    Now nobody will accuse them of jumping on Deus Ex’s coat-tails

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    • dontnormally says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:53

      “In Syndicate, you are not one of the soldiers stuck in a bad situation, you are one of the puppet masters. You run your own company and train and deploy soldiers on missions. You are a part of the evil that’s actively destroying the world for profit.”

      http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/37207/Analysis_Is_Syndicate_A_Broad_Franchise.php

      Miles Kilo does all that?

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    • Gap Gen says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:01

      Well, yeah. Deus Ex: Human Revolution felt very true to the original Deus Ex, and reverent of what it tried to do. This game sounds nothing like Syndicate, and removes the chilling idea of building a corporate military with abducted, brainwiped cyborgs in place of Generic Gelhair Man. So sure, it’s carving its own path in ignoring the source material.

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    • Dreamhacker says:
      09/28/2011 at 19:05

      Damn, I was betting on them naming him “Jake Rockstone”…

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    • FunkyBadger3 says:
      09/28/2011 at 23:16

      I dunno, Mason Gelhair works for me. Is his faithful sidekick Sydney Blackingman going to be around as well?

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    • Hoaxfish says:
      09/29/2011 at 09:21

      Clearly as an enhanced being he should’ve been called Jimmy Gunhands

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    • The Tongue says:
      10/02/2011 at 00:44

      Whats the bet he ends up remorseful and becomes a “good guy”?
      I hope not, but lets face the trend.

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  2. Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:16

    And will he have a British partner named Kilometres Pound?

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  3. Bodminzer says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:16

    So, which shop do you think we’ll have to preorder to get that gun? And what’s the betting it’s a different one from the one that gets you those clothes?

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  4. rustybroomhandle says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:17

    Miles Kilo … well, his name does at least cover both metric and imperial systems.

    EDIT: @Frankie The Patrician – missed it by that much… yours is better anyway. :)

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  5. codename_bloodfist says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:17

    Little did you know that his maiden’s name is Gram.

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  6. Kieron Gillen says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:17

    That minigun will never fit underneath his coat. Therefore, for me, this is a true Syndicate sequel.

    KG

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    • Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:20

      It will be if he has at least three of them…and a sniper rifle, persuatron and two gauss guns…

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    • Kieron Gillen says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:22

      I spent about 2 years of my Stafford life riffing jokes about Syndicatemen’s coats, whilst hanging around with 3 friends, in syndicatemen’s coats.

      KG

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    • Greg Wild says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:39

      It’s the little things, that keep you going in the Grey Midlands.

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    • abigbat says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:48

      So long as deep voiced men throatily vocalise the weapon names at the touch of a button I’m happy.

      “Minigun. Minigun. Uzi. Minigun…”

      I don’t even care how the game plays.

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    • Inigo says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:23

      If you wheel out that old “my brother and I mercy-killed people on fire in Syndicate” chestnut again I will kick your balls out through your mouth.

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    • Gap Gen says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:04

      My wardrobe is augmented.

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    • Man Raised by Puffins says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:48

      Mine is a little threadbare. Yeah, rip.

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    • Kieron Gillen says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:59

      Inigo: Don’t worry. I was going to roll out the anecdote about the time my brother and I mercy-intercoursed your mum. There’s a general familial interest in my balls in mouth, if I remember correctly.

      KG

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    • TeraTelnet says:
      09/28/2011 at 18:13

      Oh snap.

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    • Lars Westergren says:
      09/29/2011 at 09:32

      Wow, the rebooted Kieron is much darker than the previous one!

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  7. Will Tomas says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:18

    At least Sonic Team, way back in the day, did the pun properly. Miles Prower.

    Miles Kilo just sounds like someone was flipping throught the weights and measures section of the Berltiz English phrasebook.

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  8. Joe Duck says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:19

    Sounds awful. Sounds rushed and generic. Sounds like a cash in of the old name. Sounds like a game built by committee. Sounds like a design born out of a market tendencies, Retro IP, FPS with a cyberpunk setting.
    Sounds like a no buy, to be honest.

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    • Solskin says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:28

      Sounds like you’ve decided it’s an awful game despite knowing practically nothing about it.

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    • Unaco says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:44

      Rushed… Yeah. Even though they’ve been working on it for at least 3 1/2 years.

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    • abigbat says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:49

      @Solskin – this.

      Sounds like the internet basically.

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    • Capt. Eduardo del Mango says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:56

      Not that I’m going to write the game off by any stretch, but that all-caps spiel does sound like the biggest load of trotted-out generic sci-fi bullshit I’ve heard in a while.

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    • LionsPhil says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:59

      How dare people form early opinions based upon marketing matter released to make them form early opinions.

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    • Solskin says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:35

      Right, well, I don’t think I contested his right to have an opinion.

      More that his opinion was based on a whole lot of nothing.

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    • FunkyBadger3 says:
      09/28/2011 at 23:18

      Sounds like a design born out of a market tendencies

      And how is this a bad idea?

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  9. Bull0 says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:20

    “Wired dataverse”. “Wired”. Futuristic. I know I do all my cybermancy on a wired connection.

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    • Felixader says:
      09/28/2011 at 19:25

      Even if you have W-lan and everything up to the Wazoo, at SOME point electronic stuff is going trough cables.

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  10. El_MUERkO says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:20

    I liked the idea from the Syndicate Wars intro that what the plebs saw was a dude with a torch :D

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  11. MonkeyMonster says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:22

    I’m going to call him Milo…

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  12. Binary77 says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:22

    “THEY CAN BREACH ANYTHING IN THE WIRED DATAVERSE INCLUDING THEIR ENEMIES”

    Why would the enemies be wired? Are you meant be assassinating household electrical appliances?

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    • jellydonut says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:26

      it’s called being very artsy about referring to the persuadertron.

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    • Graves says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:29

      If I don’t get the opportunity to breach a toaster, I will be disappointed.

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    • Lars Westergren says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:39

      >Are you meant be assassinating household electrical appliances?

      You should have a chat with the toaster of doom in Fallout:NV Old World Blues. He loves assassinating household electrical appliances.

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  13. Hentzau says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:22

    I can’t wait to breach my enemies.

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  14. carn1x says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:23

    When I first heard this was going to be another generic FPS cash-in of an existing property I was somewhat disappointed.

    But now I see I get to play a early-30′s short-dark-haired white male with stubble I’m all of a sudden intrigued.

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    • mejoff says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:06

      Yeah, ol’ MILES KILO really does set the game apart from the herd…

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    • arccos says:
      09/28/2011 at 18:02

      This is so, so strange. Dawn of War 2 proves there is a pretty sizable market for small-action RTS/RTTs, and they buy the license to one of the earliest real-time tacticals to turn it into a straight-up shooter.

      Have they ever been asked about DoW 2 in any interviews? I heard the market-speech about RTTs being unmarketable, but I haven’t seen anyone actually call them on it.

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    • TillEulenspiegel says:
      09/28/2011 at 19:25

      Well, the decision makers at that level don’t do interviews. EA wanted an FPS. Their money, their decision.

      Oh, and consoles. DoW2 is PC-only, unsurprisingly.

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  15. HeavyStorm says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:25

    Fuck off is what I say.

    Bring us Paradox Syndicate instead.

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  16. rustybroomhandle says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:26

    How about Kelvin Hectopascal as the villain?

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  17. MuscleHorse says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:27

    Fuck. This. Shit.

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  18. GallonOfAlan says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:28

    I would have hoped that at the future time in question here, everything would be on WiFi.

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  19. Tyrmot says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:29

    Miles is latin for ‘soldier’ so presumably this is what they were aiming for? Not sure about the ‘kilo’ part though… Maybe ‘soldier-1000′?

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    • Jake says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:03

      Kilo sounds like Kill-Oh, so maybe they were going for miles of kills, oh.

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    • vecordae says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:05

      “Kilo” doesn’t even mean anything in Latin. It’s derived from the Greek word “Khiloi” or something of that nature. Maybe he’s Hawaiian? Maybe they wanted something that had that “Keanu Reeves” sort of vibe to it?

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  20. Jimbo says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:31

    So we should expect a long wait then? Ah ha ha. Ha. Huhhhhhh.

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  21. sneetch says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:32

    Unusually direct and blunt alt-text there btw.

    Edit: slightly less so now. :)

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    • LionsPhil says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:50

      Rats. What was it?

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    • Koozer says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:36

      What could be a more direct descriptor than the alt-text?

      There you go.

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    • sneetch says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:45

      I’m sure I can’t simply repeat it but on a completely unrelated issue: I’m doing a crossword and could do with some help for the last one, 4 down, five letters, P-something-N-I-S, the clue is “male reproductive organ, briefly used as alt-text for image on RPS”.

      Cough.

      Cough.

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    • skurmedel says:
      09/28/2011 at 20:13

      Hmm. Penguinis?

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  22. Lars Westergren says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:32

    Miles Kilo’s superior officer Cutter Slade vanished in a secret mission in 2007.

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    • Llewyn says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:41

      Quick, call the marketing department! There’s an IP we haven’t violated yet!

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    • abigbat says:
      09/28/2011 at 15:51

      an HD version of Outcast which actually works could be pretty neat actually…

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    • Llewyn says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:16

      Of course it could. And an Outcast corridor shooter could be truly depressing, for me at least. While I desperately wanted to love Syndicate & Syndicate Wars (and for that matter UFO & XCOM) I just could never get into them, but I have far more emotional attachment to Outcast.

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    • abigbat says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:18

      fair point! I was thinking a straight remake in the vein of Ico/Shadow and Halo rather than a mad spin off like this seems to be. Sadly I don’t think the IP is well known enough to float.

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    • Muzman says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:04

      To keep the universe in balance they have to make the Outcast remake some sort of tactical turn based platformer somehow.

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    • abigbat says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:32

      a reskinned MissionForce: CyberStorm?

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  23. Joseph says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:32

    miles kilo? YES. SOLD.

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  24. Wulf says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:33

    What?

    I don’t want to be named Miles Kilo.

    (Okay, I am reaching for a pun, there.)

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  25. Vexing Vision says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:33

    So when is Cartel coming out?

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  26. Sabre_Justice says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:34

    The description there sounds like it belongs on the back of a NES game cart.

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  27. Pijama says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:36

    Miles Kilo.

    Miles Kilo.

    M-I-L-E-S K-I-L-O.

    Holy Buddha on a pogo stick, this type of stuff is too hilariously bad to be true.

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  28. neolith says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:38

    Why is there Stargate shit in the background of that image?

    … and bonus points to all of you who are making fun of the stupid name – you guys made my day! :)

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  29. Unaco says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:39

    I really wish RPS had gone for the ‘Polite Notice’ Alec used on a BF3 article a (last week or a few weeks ago) as a standard disclaimer in all their comments sections… or something derived from it.

    I’ll just say I hope this game will be good, and I think it could be good. Yes, I’d like to see a modern version of Syndicate, with the same game type as the original… which we might get from Paradox. But I’m also quite interested in seeing what they make of this… and hope that it’s a good game and successful.

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  30. thegooseking says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:49

    This is not my Syndicate name.

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  31. cluddles says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:53

    “That’s your name. You are him.”

    This part made me think of the Mary Whitehouse Experience. Awesomeness all round.

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  32. Khemm says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:56

    The Fallout 3 crowd will love this.
    Most gamers are so dumb and close minded these days, not an FPS/TPS = waah outdated waah unplayable waah stuck in the past waah.
    It’s not the developers’ fault, they’re just making games so they can sell. And if your audience consists mainly of morons, make your games moron-friendly. Sound business decision. :/

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    • thegooseking says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:01

      “I don’t get it, therefore it’s dumbed down.”

      That’s you that is.

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    • Khemm says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:25

      Go back to your xbox.

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    • Sirbolt says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:26

      To be fair there isn’t that much to get here is there?

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    • thegooseking says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:41

      Go back to your xbox.

      I think you’d like Xbox Live. Then you could chat with other 14 year olds who are convinced everyone else is stupid.

      Meanwhile, we grown ups would rather have an actual discussion about the legitimacy of a thing on its own merits, rather than thoughtlessly copypasting the same knee-jerk boil-in-the-bag cynicism every time something like this is mentioned.

      I mean, if you really want to talk about people being dumb and closed-minded.

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    • Khemm says:
      09/28/2011 at 18:26

      I get it. You’re an average 14 year old chatting with your xbox live buddies how AWESUM that FPS called Fallout 3 is. OK.

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    • roxahris says:
      09/29/2011 at 11:01

      Don’t you mean New Vegas? Fallout 3 came out in 2008, so I doubt they’d still be talking about it now.

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  33. Daiv says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:57

    Delayed until 2014. You heard it here first.

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  34. Flint says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:57

    Mr Kilo reminds me of a rough-and-gruff all-grown-up version of Alex Denton.

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  35. strange_headache says:
    09/28/2011 at 15:57

    Wired Dataverse? In the future there are no w-lan hotspots!

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  36. sinister agent says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:05

    ” I may be a mindless cybernetic puppet, incapable of feeling and controlled entirely by my corporate overlord, but this is personal.”

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    • BobsLawnService says:
      09/29/2011 at 04:23

      I just want to say that I’m glad someone else saw this. They really aren’t putting much thought into this, are they?

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    • DeathByIrony says:
      09/29/2011 at 15:17

      Wouldn’t saying “This just got impersonal” be MORE threatening? Both imply you intend to murder them. The only difference is one of them indicates your feelings have been hurt.

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  37. Cross says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:06

    When i saw this enemy design
    http://web-vassets.ea.com/Assets/Richmedia/Image/Billboard/SS6_972.jpg?cb=1316746336

    I was just thinking somebody at Starbreeze had been having a look too many at Bioware’s Cerberus Sketches.

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  38. Git says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:07

    In other news, classic 90′s FPS Blake Stone is to be remade as a contemporary RTS game.

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  39. PatrickSwayze says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:10

    I didn’t ask for this.

    But I have faith in the studio, the writer and I also am very happy at the amount of hard sf and cyber punk that’s rearing it’s head in gaming again.

    It’s like the 90′s again.

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  40. coldvvvave says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:11

    Is it me or did Paradox just decided to make some easy money on a grumpy WEDON’TWANTFPS community? They don’t even need to try, anti-fanbois are pretty much as blind as fanbois and pouring resources into good graphics is a blasphemy, anyway, so 2d sprites and pc speaker. Nice marketing, Fred.

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    • Nameless1 says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:26

      It’s just you being stupid – ignorant.
      Not all Paradox games have HOI graphics.

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    • coldvvvave says:
      09/28/2011 at 17:45

      You completely missed the point( about anti-fanbois and their blind hatred towards new Syndicate game and even more blind love for Cartel that wasn’t even revealed yet) and attacked me instead. Nice job.

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    • Eightball says:
      09/28/2011 at 18:23

      What’s wrong with providing games people want to play?

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    • Sirbolt says:
      09/28/2011 at 18:24

      How is their hatred blind though? I kinda feel it is quite justified, seeing as this looks really bad and all. One mag had a “Inception meets Call of Duty” blurb even. Not really promising. Oh, and what does this have to do with graphics? It seems most are angry because it is an FPS, not because it has modern graphics.

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    • Unaco says:
      09/29/2011 at 03:12

      “What’s wrong with providing games people want to play?”.

      Nothing. This could apply equally to both this, and the Paradox ‘Cartel’ game.

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  41. ninjapirate says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:16

    It’s named Syndicate, but it won’t end up being Syndicate. I’d like to call it paradox, but then it would be named Cartel and end up being Syndicate.

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  42. Laurentius says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:42

    This game screams “console gaming” beastly, i feel it won’t be any good.

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    • Felixader says:
      09/28/2011 at 16:55

      Yeah, go on. Keep on doing it.
      Keep blaming everything crap that happenes to PC Gaming blaming on consoles.
      If you repeat it often enough you may even believe it yourself.

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    • Navagon says:
      09/28/2011 at 20:25

      The original Syndicate was released on 11 platforms. DOS was just one of them.

      The problem isn’t the fact that it’s being released on other systems. The problem is the laser-like focus on what is deemed to represent the most optimal sales-milking point. If games with regenerating health and cover sell better than those without then it must be because they have regenerating health and cover, right? If a game that holds your hand and even tells you what god damn buttons to press when you’re several hours into the fucking game sells well then clearly that’s what every game needs.

      Whether or not Syndicate will have these things has yet to be seen. But it seems very likely, as it’s following the same template of such overwhelming success stores as Homefront. It’s market analysed bollocks. Perhaps not the worst example of such things, but for me it’s the most personal.

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  43. SAM-site says:
    09/28/2011 at 16:52

    IN THE FUTURE THE SHIFT KEY IS BROKEN.

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  44. diebroken says:
    09/28/2011 at 17:01

    “Take on the role of Miles Kilo, Eurocorp’s latest prototype agent, and embark on a brutal action adventure of corruption and revenge.”

    Hmm, I can see it now: You, Miles Kilo, were promised “X” by wilfully becoming an agent (this wilful act is what gives you an edge over other enhanced agents). Later on though you found out you’ve been lied to (implanted memories/dreams), and it’s really all been about “Y” from the beginning. Your life has been ruined, you have nothing ‘real’ to live for, so you decide to change the world into “Z” by exacting revenge on your former employers…

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  45. Tei says:
    09/28/2011 at 17:03

    Miles Teg is a great name.

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  46. povu says:
    09/28/2011 at 17:08

    Become Miles Kilo, and immerse yourself in Syndicate!

    Hmm no, that doesn’t sound very cool.

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  47. vecordae says:
    09/28/2011 at 17:12

    Ugh. It might as well read: “You play super-secret cyber agent Sanjay Gutierrez Takashiro O’Malley Von Herschel Hectare and, in the wired future, you can hax all of TEH GIBSON, even the bits inside of your enemies.” I’m not saying the game will be terrible, but the marketing for it is something I haven’t been able to really take seriously so far.

    Also: Miles Kilo is an anagram for “So I kill me”. Obviously this game promotes suicide.

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    • Mollusc Infestation says:
      09/28/2011 at 21:58

      It’s also an anagram of “I lose milk”. Just thought i would mention that.

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  48. Lobosolitario says:
    09/28/2011 at 18:04

    Disposable assets don’t get names.

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  49. qwiggalo says:
    09/28/2011 at 21:45

    WHY IS EVERYTHING IN CAPS?

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  50. FunkyBadger3 says:
    09/28/2011 at 23:19

    Someone call ITV, I think Anonymous have escalated.

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  51. mpk says:
    09/28/2011 at 23:54

    They had me at the name. Not only am I going to buy this game from every available vendor so that I can pre-purchase all the available DLC (which I will never then be able to reconcile into a single copy until the inevitable Game of The Year edition 12 weeks later*) but I will also pirate it so that I can feel cool about avoiding the need to use a wraparound digital store app that might steal as much as 50K of memory from my megalosaurus PC rig.

    Also, I’ll change the name in the fucking character creation screen.

    *Game of the year? Which year? And who chose it? You lying marketing fuck, kill yourself. Do as Goatboy tells you.

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  52. Bfox says:
    09/29/2011 at 05:21

    Anyone else see that thing in the background?

    Is that the machine that turns people into agents?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QxYku4VVZk&feature=player_detailpage#t=61s

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  53. DeathByIrony says:
    09/29/2011 at 14:54

    In the grim dark future, there is only greed.
    Greed, and not very tasteful names.

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