Syndicate - PC

The first-person shooter (FPS) Syndicate from developer Starbreeze Studios builds on the heritage of the Real-Time Strategy game of the same name that was produced by Peter Molyneux's Bullfrog studio in 1993.

It is a dark and political video game aimed squarely at the hardcore shooter fan who knows and enjoys learning weapons and special, augmented powers in order to take out massive end of level bosses.

Starbreeze has also been responsible for such action FPSes as The Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness. So the expertise is in place for a shooter that is set in a not-too-distant future (the year 2069 in fact) in which three massive corporations battle for technological and political control of the planet Earth and its inhabitants. One of these corporations is EuroCorp. The others are called Cayman Global, and Aspari.

In single-player mode, the gamer takes up the role of Miles Kilo, Eurocorp’s latest prototype agent. He has been fitted out with experimental tech including the new DART 6 bio-chip. This enables the character to jack-in to the global online matrix of commerce and intrigue. It also enables him (and the player) to exercise a variety of brutal and effective controls over his opponents. For example, Kilo can persuade opposition agents to commit suicide or to follow his every order until their own death ensues.

The single-player mode is complemented by a four-player co-op mode that can be played on and offline and does not require publisher Electronic Arts Season Pass to get involved with.