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Syndicate assembles four-player co-op trailer
The latest Syndicate trailer suggests your team will sport enough extraneous buckles on their clothes for a fluid Final Fantasy crossover. %Gallery-138068%
Syndicate broadcasts 10 minutes of gameplay
Syndicate is looking pretty hot so far, but you don't need to take our word for it. Here's 10 minutes of gameplay featuring corporate espionage. Actually, is it still "espionage" when one kills everyone in sight?
Syndicate trailer recalls the past
Syndicate's latest trailer does a little peep show of the past, which may be painful for some with fond memories of the original. But, with how the new game is shaping up, we look toward the future.
Syndicate trailer shows off Starbreeze's vision
Starbreeze's slick, deadly and dour vision of the future is compiled with panache in this first trailer for Syndicate, the FPS reboot of Bullfrog's classic tactical game of the same name. Backed by a Syndicate remix from electro house producer Skrillex (download it here), the visuals cut between flashy combat, aerial takedowns and remote brain-hacking. The trailer concludes with a tease for "The Executive Package" pre-order bonus, likely another one of EA's "limited edition" bundles tied to first-run copies of the game. It's out on February 21, 2012 (or: 0221 2012). %Gallery-135195%
EA indicates Syndicate's release date: Feb. 21, 2012
EA has announced an early 2012 release date for Syndicate, an action-oriented reboot of Bullfrog's sci-fi classic. It's set to arrive on February 21 in North America, and February 24 in Europe. Barring any delays, that makes for two Q1 shooters that have divorced themselves from tactical, isometric origins. Developed by Chronicles of Riddick studio Starbreeze, the new Syndicate thrusts you into the year 2069 as a "prototype agent" for Eurocom, a large corporation with a nice armory. Starbreeze also says it will include a separate, four-player co-op mode. Can four organized individuals be classified as a syndicate?%Gallery-133251%
Syndicate reboot (finally) confirmed by EA and Starbreeze, coming 'early 2012' to 360, PS3, and PC [Update: New images!]
EA and Starbreeze Studios' remake of PC gaming classic Syndicate has been one of the industry's worst-kept secrets. First unveiled as "Project Redlime," copyright filings fingered the actual product over a year ago. And this morning, after leaking details of the game on its own Origin service over the weekend, EA and Starbreeze are finally ready to "reveal" Syndicate to the world. "We are excited to finally reveal what we've been working on the past couple years," Starbreeze CEO Mikael Nermark told a press release. "It's been a great experience working with EA, and an amazing opportunity for us to use our expertise in the first person shooter and action genres to bring back, and reignite, the signature action/espionage gameplay of Syndicate." In Syndicate, you play "Miles Kilo, Eurocorp's latest prototype agent," tasked with navigating a "Machiavellian world run without government oversight with many syndicates vying for total dominance of their local market place," set in the year 2069. Helping you navigate that complex web of intrigue: GUNS! "Our goal with Syndicate is to provide a challenging action shooter for today's gamers as well as fans of the original," says EA Partners' Jeff Gamon. But if you're worried you won't have enough guns, Syndicate offers "a separate and deep 4-player co-op mode featuring missions from the original cult classic." And while it may have taken EA and Starbreeze some time to officially announce the project, it isn't wasting time in getting it into our hands; Syndicate is expected to be released in "early 2012" for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. %Gallery-133251%
Rumor: Syndicate script slips out
Siliconera has published alleged "chunks" of a script for Starbreeze's long-rumored Syndicate game. If authentic, the excerpts would join some trademarks in a modest pile of evidence pointing to a reboot of EA's dormant cyberpunk series, created by the now defunct Bullfrog Productions in the early 90s. The narrative and dialog excerpts share some commonalities with the old Syndicate games' bleak, corporate cyborg–regulated world -- namely, the suggestion of brain-implanted "chips" -- but don't otherwise let on to any gameplay elements. In June 2009, Sean Cooper, who designed the original, isometric tactical shooter, commented on EA's failed attempts to revive the franchise. "Every time I've seen a prototype of a new Syndicate it's just been misguided," he told IncGamers. Cooper did not appear to have any knowledge of Starbreeze's possible recreation, which is rumored to have been in development since August 2007. "The essence of the game was killing people -- and that was it," Cooper said of Bullfrog's 1993 classic. "Big guns, strong dudes; Terminators essentially. If I have to kill everyone, I will. That to me was the essence of the gameplay." [Screenshot source: MobyGames (with script overlay)]
Starbreeze says EA's 'Project RedLime' is 'biggest project' it's ever worked on
Though we don't know exactly what "Project RedLime" is (signs point to a long-rumored Syndicate remake) we do know that it's "the biggest project the studio has ever worked on." Of course, that studio is Sweden's Starbreeze and that quote is from its new CEO, Mikael Nermark. In order to get a sense of how large that scale is, you'd need to compare it to the studio's other games, including the surprisingly good movie tie-in Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, its remake Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and the now-being-sequeled comic book adaptation The Darkness. Not included in this list: The studio's other EA project, a canceled Jason Bourne game. You may have spotted a trend in Starbreeze's curriculum vitae: an abundance of licensed games. No bother, says Nermark. "Whatever the project is, if it's an original IP or license, the most important thing is that you believe in the game and have fun developing it," he told CVG. In related news, Starbreeze believes in Project RedLime and is having fun developing it.
'Bourne Ascendancy' was canceled Starbreeze game, corroborates ex-dev
According to one-time Starbreeze Studios game director Mikael Lindgren, a Jason Bourne game was indeed the studio's reported cancellation a year ago. Posting on his freelance game designer company site, Zoetropa, Lindgren lists "The Bourne Ascendancy (Cancelled)" on his resume, referring to himself as Starbreeze game director for the apparent EA-published project. (On his LinkedIn page, Lindgren dates his most recent stint at Starbreeze from August 2009 through April 2010 -- right about when Starbreeze confirmed the unnamed game cancellation.) Lindgren's claim of The Bourne Ascendancy cancellation is further evidence that Starbreeze's surviving EA collaboration -- codenamed "Project RedLime" -- is the rumored Syndicate reboot. A series of trademarks and a US Copyright Office document previously linked the two companies to a possible Syndicate game. Last month, Starbreeze licensed Unreal Engine 3 for long-term use, presumably replacing its heralded proprietary game engine -- which powered its Chronicles of Riddick series and The Darkness -- for current and future projects. Lindgren's resume also reveals a canned Avalanche Studios' game under the working title "Arcadia" that was to be published by THQ. He credits himself as a senior designer for the game and notes his Avalanche tenure as November 2007 – March 2008 on LinkedIn. It's likely that Arcadia was one of two reported publishing contracts lost by Avalanche that led to the studio's significant downsizing in late 2008. [Pictured: Partial screencap of Mikael Lindgren's "Resume" page on Zoetropa.com]
Starbreeze licenses Unreal Engine 3 for future projects
Starbreeze, developer of The Darkness and Chronicles of Riddick, has announced a "multi-year, studio-wide license agreement" to develop projects using Unreal Engine 3. CEO Johan Kristiansson has stated that the engine is "the solution that best fits [Starbreeze's] needs." Presumably, UE3 will be the engine behind Project RedLime, Starbreeze's rumored Syndicate revival for EA. The news should come as something of a surprise to industry watchers, as the company previously made a name for itself using its own proprietary Starbreeze engine. The engine was used to power both The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness. Riddick in particular is generally regarded as one of the most graphically impressive titles on the original Xbox.
OFLC rates 'Project Red' for EA [update]
Australia's OFLC has rated "Project Red" for EA, classifying it with an MA 15+ label. If the classification is related to "Project RedLime," it would likely be the rating for the alleged Syndicate game in production by Starbreeze Studios and EA. Of course, without the direct RedLime connection, this could be a rating for ... well, anything. Also, if you find it strange (like we do) that the OFLC is rating games by using code names, this is just the most recent example. Last year, The Beatles: Rock Band was titled Rock Band Project 9. EA has apparently figured out how to get its paperwork into the OFLC without accidentally revealing a forthcoming game announcement. Update: AustralianGamer got hold of the documents. It's Bulletstorm. %Gallery-92124%
Starbreeze and EA partnership revealed by Syndicate copyright docs
Given the years of back and forth we've seen over the possibility of an updated Syndicate for current-gen consoles, we're looking at the handful of recently discovered copyright documents -- that seemingly reveal a collaboration between Starbreeze Studios and EA -- with a fair amount of skepticism. Internet supersleuth Supererogatory spotted the three filings on the US Copyright Office website (confirmed by Joystiq this morning, though not linkable), each for the title "Syndicate" and one of which is co-filed by EA and Starbreeze. Back in 2008, the two companies officially announced that they were working together on revisiting one of EA's "most acclaimed classic franchises," dubbing the collaboration "Project RedLime" (and leaving us to speculate on what that classic franchise might be). We've reached out to both EA and Starbreeze for comment on the filings and will let you know if we hear anything back. (What next, an XCom revival? Oh.)
