"Play as the Bad guy!"

Syndicate: When I first played this game, I was too young to understand what the title meant. But I instantly fell in love with the persuadetron, and before I ever played Doom, this game taught me to love the shotgun.

Story:
It is the future. Corporations have grown so large that they have displaced countries as the primary source of geopolitical power. You play as a representative of your own company, who is out to take over as much of the world's business as you can. You do this by 'persuading' the populations (more like brainwashing!) of each city to back up your syndicate. But you will be opposed by ruthless agents from other syndicates at every turn whom you must kill or force to join you.

Graphics:
At this point, the visuals are fairly simplistic. Still, this game has such a fully realized aesthetic that it's still fun to look at. The future has a very sterile, industrial look, with muted colors and straight lines everywhere. The character models in the menus of the game have an awesome cybernetic green outline that still looks very futuristic, in a retro sort of way. The in-game character models are highly simplistic, but more than get the job done.

Sound:
Ok, I can't really remember the sound on the computer version, other than the sound effects from the weapons. The sound effects were good, but I think it probably means something that I can't remember the music despite the fact that I wasted dozens of hours of my life on this game.

Gameplay:
I used to say I could never get tired of playing syndicate! That was before I lost my copy of the game years ago, and haven't been able to find a copy that works on my PC since!

Basically, each level takes place in a different city. Each level requires you to "persuade" a certain percentage of the populous to back your syndicate. Most levels have a secondary objective (e.g. sneak into a building and steal the plans for a product which are being heavily guarded). To do this, you will need to sneak past guards, find keys, etc. But you will be opposed by enemy agents, who even travel in groups like your own.

You control your main agent cyborg guy, and have a party of up to three other computer-controlled agents assist you. As you walk about the cities, your persuadatron will convince citizens to join you, and they will hilariously follow you around the level, until you have armies of civilians following you!

When you have enough civilians, you can even persuade enemy agents to join you. This is the easiest way to get new agents to replace your agents who get killed. You will also want to spend a lot of time in the cities to get new weapons from fallen enemy agents who you do not persuade. It is hard to explain why this people and weapon collecting is so compelling, but it is.

Conclusion:
I know I will get a chance to play the original game again one day. Until then, I will always be grateful for having played this great game with an original plot, attitude, and style!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/01/06