Syndicate

Right from the start, you feel like a demigod, dispatching enemies with ease thanks to an overpowered arsenal and a whole bunch of 'breaching' powers that let you slow time, enhance damage and decrease ouchies from incoming bullets. [April 2012, p65]

No, it doesn't stay true to the franchise at all, yet Syndicate still manages to impress with both a well executed artistic vision and a thoughtfully implemented co-op mode that takes some fresh approaches.

Graphically the game is great, aside from the multiplayer, and the storyline is one of the most gripping and enthralling we've seen. If you were thinking of buying it for the single-player alone, you could easily give it a rent, but the multiplayer makes it worth the buy.

Syndicate is a really cool game that shines through its great co-op modes. The singleplayer is great, but the multiplayer is where its at. Beware for an action overdose.

Syndicate is a funny shooter and has several interesting visual aspects starting from the excellent graphics to the HUD. At the same time the game doesn't introduce anything to the usual gameplay of any other FPS and this could be a problem in terms of gameplay mechanics.

It could have been something really big, but the remake of the good old Syndicate from 1993 is just a solid FPS. The storytelling is not stunning, the missing freedom and some technical issues drag down the overall impression. It's a quite solid game, but nothing more.

Syndicate's guise is thoroughly unoriginal and yet irrefutably stylish. Its guns aren't distinctive but feel great with every pull of the trigger. Breaching is debatably necessary and still every time it's engaged. Cooperative plays feels more like beating the game than beating the intended challenge, which somehow makes for a better feeling of elation. In conforming to the first person standard, Syndicate has turned in a wave of contradictions that, almost in spite of itself, typically emerge on the right side of social order.

Syndicate is definitely one of the nicer surprises of 2012 so far. The graphics may not be on par with genre toppers like Battlefield 3, but the tactical gameplay and co-op options make for a very entertaining shooter.

Starbreeze managed to add another unique spin to the FPS genre that's worth checking out if you're not hung up on the property's legacy.

Syndicate is a good FPS. It had enormous potential but, in the end, the developers weren't able to make the most of it. A pity, it could have been truly an amazing shooter.

Maybe this is not the (new) Syndicate that older gamers were waiting for, but it's a very good and solid FPS experience... for single and multiplayer fans.

Syndicate really shines when you get together with a few people. The campaign really isn't bad at all – and I don't want to give the impression that it is – but having a ton of info thrown in your face doesn't necessarily mean you're fleshing out a story. And the pacing is off, too.

No classic, but it's still easily one of the year's stronger shooters so far. [Issue#216, p.74]

A solid shooter with relatively interesting unique features, Syndicate's co-op outshines the otherwise lackluster single-player campaign.

Syndicate's cooperative play is undeniably thrilling. Too bad the single-player campaign doesn't reach the same heights.