Added to my journal.

Syndicate.

I replayed this game again, a game that didn't gain much popularity in the world of cute girls and huge sandboxes.
On the one hand, that's even good, fewer schoolkids will be around to fawn over it, but personally, I'd like to see a sequel, and for that to happen, the games need to bring in at least some profit for greedy EA.
I haven't played the Sega Syndicate games, or any others, I saw a trailer on TV once and realized I wanted to play it. I suggest you take a look too, it's well done.


The game is, in general, an ordinary shooter, you run around, shoot, use all sorts of cool things to kill even more enemies. Perhaps, even the mechanics here suffer a bit, shooting isn't as convenient as you'd like. It's a little unusual, but it doesn't matter. First, about how it works: pew-pew, rolls, spells, and so on.
There are about 10 guns, maybe more, and they are roughly divided into the following:
. Pistols - basic, there's another one. Ordinary pistols, just pass them by.
. Assault Rifles - three, I think. One is weaker, Chinese, the second is stronger, European, and the third is the most powerful, from the non-chipped guys. Perhaps the most used weapon in the game.
. Revolvers - two. One-shot kill to the head, but not for everyone. Weaker against lower-tier enemies, stronger against EuroCorp. A good weapon, but because you need to get used to the shooting in this game, it might not be too pleasant to shoot with them on your first playthrough.
. Shotgun - quite weak, effective (not) only at close range, at which it's easier to break an enemy's neck in melee.
. Laser - quite accurate, quite powerful, appears towards the end of the game.
. Gauss - instead of aiming, it locks onto the target and the bullets fly to it themselves. Amazing. Not the most useful weapon, although it's fun.
. Minigun - you get it three times, infinite ammo, you run and spray everyone with an endless stream of lead. Fun.
. Explosive things - grenades, EMP grenades, a rocket launcher, and a rocket launcher-shotgun with self-guided rounds(!). With the exception of grenades, you encounter them once each in the game, so you won't get to use them much.
. Flamethrower - you get it once, it burns everyone just like in Fallout, nice!

In addition to guns, the agent can run up to an enemy and, with a light movement of his hand, break his neck. Also, as you progress, three abilities become available, hacking the chip in the enemy's head:
. Suicide - the enemy picks up a grenade and blows himself up, taking his closest friends with him.
. Backfire - the chip in the enemy's weapon explodes (yes, there are chips everywhere and everything explodes), dealing damage, knocking him to the ground, and making him vulnerable.
. Persuade - forces the enemy to stand on your side, killing his own allies. And if there are no more former allies, the target will play Kurt Cobain.

During the game, you also have the opportunity to get various passive abilities, like... shooting more accurately, exploding heads more painfully, staying in DART mode longer. Useful, and they also add variety to the playthrough. DART overlay is a kind of slow-motion, shots are more accurate here, hacking is faster, and previously spotted enemies can be seen through walls.
Personally, I really like the fact that you have to use all these abilities throughout the game, nothing лишнее, no skill, no gun (except the shotgun, perhaps, haha), no upgrade. Everything is clear. Otherwise, you know, they sometimes add a hundred abilities - you end up using only one, gameplay.

The plot is so-so, not mind-blowing. You are an Agent, a super-upgraded soldier of a corporation. In the case of the main character, Miles Kilo, the corporation is EuroCorp. But our hero is not just any agent, he has a prototype of a very cool new DART 6 chip in his head, developed by the lovely Lily. So, the head of EuroCorp says, "well, guys, stop calibrating, testing, or whatever you're doing, let him go and kick our enemies' asses," and we're already flying to Aspari, hunting a smart Asian scientist.

But it's not the plot that makes this game. Not the plot and not the gameplay, what are you even talking about, have you been eating too much spice? Now I'll tell you what I like so much about it.
Excellent, captivating atmosphere. A world of the future, far ahead in technological development. Huge corporations that have taken control of people, doing whatever they want. A war of a completely different level, agents, hacking not just some abstract information banks, but the minds of people, dependent on chips that immerse them in a sweet, dreamy global network. The confrontation of syndicates, their individuality, methods of warfare, technologies used. Poor people from the lower zones, showing their teeth, deprived of the opportunity to join the happy owners of chips. Rebels from Towers Will Burn, hiding in swamps littered with EMP mines.
The game takes us through many interesting locations, briefly introducing us to some of the residents of this city, through data banks. Look, here's a scientist from Aspari, who оказался not in the right place at the right time, or a worker who was late for his morning train, hastily forgetting his documents in a bar, and there, in the lower zone, a homeless man named Jakey, nicknamed "Rat," who has had a few bottles of cheap beer, repeats the same words. Who paints black pictures on the walls, depicting Agents in a halo of weapons? What can you see with your special vision, looking at the EuroCorp propaganda posters? The network is ready to tell you about every item you encounter, placing neat icons with descriptions above them. The chip, whose beautiful female voice guides us forward, is also ready to share a wide variety of information.
Magic, a linear shooter turned out to be able to enchant me with its amazing, captivating world, which at first glance seems superficial and insignificant.
I've played this game many times with pleasure. I think I'll play it many more times.