Developer Diary: Executive Producer Jeff Gamon

The desire to create a game worthy of the Syndicate name has never gone away within EA; there has always been a core group, many of whom were part of EA UK or Bullfrog in the 90's, who have remained passionate about finding a way to get the project green lit. That isn't to say that passion is all you need to get a project off the ground; earlier attempts to recreate Syndicate for the audiences and platforms of the time fell through because of changing markets and the priorities of an organization like EA. I do not claim that those projects should have continued either, Syndicate is a much loved and valued brand and so, 'getting it right' was the overriding imperative.  

 

Through EA Partners, the division of EA that works with many of the best independent studios in the business, new opportunities presented themselves and in Starbreeze Studios we found the perfect partner for the Syndicate project. 

 

The Starbreeze pedigree is well known; The Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness are both landmark, high quality titles in their own right but importantly,  both taking an existing IP and creating a great video game out of the spirit and values of those IP's, instead of simply building an interactive version, like so many others have. Starbreeze also specialize in dark, Machiavellian worlds, great storytelling and incredibly sinister characters, which is perfect for Syndicate!

 

So, where to begin? It's been four years and so needless to say, we did not end up where we originally thought we would. Like any development, many of the early promising ideas and goals evolved into different but more worthy beasts. Evolution is a brutal process and many, many promising and heartfelt directions have had to be abandoned in order to find the right road. But two tenants have always been sacrosanct and are derived directly from the original Syndicate; 1) It's a brutal world where Business is War and 2) I want to be that Agent with the Minigun, Laser rifle, Gauss gun, Flamethrower (you choose according to your preference).

The new Syndicate puts you in the boots of Agent Miles Kilo, the very latest in the line of Eurocorp's enforcers and at the front line of the war for market dominance in North America.

 

By now I don't need to say that the new Syndicate is not an RTS or even an RPG – and why should it be. The original nailed that genre and remains a classic of its time and an inspiration for many contemporary game designers and directors.

 

Working with Starbreeze, our goal was never to reproduce the original Syndicate but to create an experience for today’s gamers on today’s principle gaming platforms; a game that recreates the essence of the original Syndicate without simply rebuilding it. Where we started was simply to ask ourselves, 'If we were take the elements that made the original a classic; The world, agents, weaponry, brutality, chips and corporate warring and we were to imagined them in gaming today, what kind of game would we make?'  

 

What Starbreeze have created is a great first person shooter experience with entirely new 'breaching' mechanics that complement the rhythm of the moment to moment shooter gameplay perfectly. Their AI ups the ante to give even the most seasoned gamer a worthy challenge and each of the weapons – be they familiar ballistic or 'near future' - delivers on power and payback.  Pure perspective aside though, the spirit of the original game remains as subtly evoked in the world, narrative and missions of the single player campaign while being quite literally re-imagined in the missions and progression of the 4 player online coop mode.

 

Now would be the time to get into more detail but I will leave that for future diary entries from the Syndicate Art and Design leads, the real experts on the subject. Over the coming weeks expect to hear more on thinking behind the project and more specifics about its features. Thank you for listening.