"Simple, but addictive..."

Despite being so old, this has to be one of the best games of all time. Why, you ask? If any of the great games out now had to be made on the technology they had then, they would fail horribly. Syndicate is a storyline and gameplay masterpiece, not one of graphics or sound.

Sound 2/10
Boring and repetitive. The only sound there is is the music during the missions, which has (gasp) two variations; one ''normal mode'' and one ''danger mode''. These are quite useful, however, for knowing when there are enemy agents around. Well, at least they didn't make it taccy with unrealistic explosion sounds.

Graphics 8/10
However old this game is, the graphics are good enough for it. The death of the enemy agents, annoying policemen, poorly-equipped guards and unfortunate civilians are all quite realistic. Also, there are nice little touches like burning trees,post and phone boxes when you shoot them too much. Also the effect of the Gauss Gun, Time Bomb and flamer is amazing visually as well as by way of gameplay.

Storyline 8/10
Syndicate is a story of the late 21st century when companies gain more money than many countries, and so begin to take over the world using their ''CHIPs'', microchips implanted into people's brains to change the way they think and act. There aren't many games I know not based on films or books that have a storyline any better than that. However, the drawback is that the storyline doesn't develop as the game goes on.

Gameplay 10/10
Typical Bullfrog excellence. I would have given 11/10 if that option existed. There are two things I love most about the gameplay. The first is, it isn't only the mission which you play, you get to choose which mission, choose the taxes of your regions, choose what to research and how much money to put into it, which agents to use, how to equip them and how to modify them into bionic humans. Now that's gameplay! The other thing I like is the way that so many things that would have been just for show with some other games actually have a purpose in Syndicate. You can use public transport, ''persuade'' others, destroy transport (with enough firepower, you can take out a monorail!!), go under or over ground level, and alter your Agents' adrenaline, perception and intelligence levels... the list goes on.

Who cares if it's old?! This is a great game! Pity the sound lets it down...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/03, Updated 02/26/03