Syndicate Co-op Hands-On: Amazing Graphics, Unlockables & Teamwork

Syndicate has a tough job trying to convince gamers of its merits. The FPS genre remains one of the most popular, making it harder than ever for others to stand out from the oversaturated market. 

So even with Syndicate’s historical prestige, it’s eye-catching visuals and the backing of a developer that knows what it is doing with a first-person shooter, why is it that so few can muster enthusiasm for what could be one of the best shooters this year?

We recently had hands-on with some of Syndicate’s co-op levels, and here’s what we learnt:

Syndicate’s Graphics And Art Style Is Excellent

The stark colours filling each of the screenshots don’t properly highlight how gorgeous Syndicate is in motion. Resembling Mirror’s Edge in many ways, the bright colours and smooth surfaces portray a utopian future – in contrast to the greedy corporate undertones that run through Syndicate.

But more than just the art style, it’s how everything working together to craft a visual treat. Such as the way the HUD judders when running, the fluid animation as you leap over walls or the fantastic cyberpunk effect when switching to DART view and spotting enemies through walls.

The settings for co-op missions are worldwide, and vary in styles.

Weapon Controls And Movement Are Weighty

The first thing to notice as the demo began was just how heavy it feels to control. There’s a real heft to flinging rifles around and, while SMGs are understandably a little quicker, there’s a lot to enjoy in its gunplay.

It’s probably best likened to Killzone, making each rifle feel like the huge lumps of metal that they are and – as a by-product of this – a joy to play.

This is particularly refreshing when compared to the likes of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with weapons that are unrealistically fast to use.

Syndicate Is Hard

Starbreeze has already mentioned how hard Syndicate is, and in an effort to encourage teamwork the same is true of the co-op missions.

That’s not to say Syndicate requires Gears Of War amounts of bullets to take an enemy down, more that – if you don’t stick together and help each other – your team will quickly get wiped out by flanking opponents and their powerful weapons.

It’s refreshing to have an FPS provide a challenge, and if it really does encourage co-operative play then it’s definitely something to commend.

It's built on Unreal, but you wouldn't know it to look at it.

Syndicate Focuses On Teamwork

Breaching your friend might sound like a drunken accident you’ll never want to talk about, but with Syndicate it’s a little less sordid. In fact, it’s a necessity – enabling you to heal allies and ‘reboot’ fallen comrades.

To heal or reboot an ally all you need to do is hold the left bumper. At first it’s a little strange regularly holding down the left bumper while shooting, but it soon becomes natural, while stronger teams will look for opportunities where an injured ally, however minimal their damage, can be healed.

It’s a well-designed mechanic, too, requiring either line-of-sight or being in range of the squad-mate to begin the healing or rebooting where – providing the button is held – you can then move to a safer position for yourself. It’s risk/reward, and tempting enough to try it.

But What Happens In Syndicate’s Co-op Missions?

Of the three co-op missions we had access to, each was led by specific objectives. The ultimate goal for each mission was to collect an enemy agent commander’s high value chip, each of the missions followed a series of sections where the enemy must be defeated before progressing.

It gives an immediate challenge to overcome – and as already mentioned, it’s pretty tough – but there are doubts about whether Syndicate’s co-op will sustain itself on this alone.

As enjoyable as the combat is, if every co-op stage is little more than a series of arenas culminating in similar, harder enemies to defeat, then even that could begin to grate a little.

Equipping different weapons and Apps will help your team survive.

Syndicate’s Syndicates

In Syndicate's co-op you can create your own corporation, invite your friends and compete online against other syndicates.

It’s little more than a leaderboard system, but by building your own syndicate and rising through the ranks, your team can come out on top as the best team around.

Unfortunately this might not actually amount to much more than personal bragging rights, but it’s a fairly interesting idea that could really highlight the theme underpinning Syndicate’s constant power struggles.

There's no multiplayer or PvP here either, which certainly seems like a missed opportunity on Starbreeze's side. The themes of the game seem well suited to such a system, and it's a shame it doesn't.

Syndicate’s XP, Unlockables, Blueprints And Apps

There’s a whole host of customisation options available in Syndicate’s co-op missions. Rather than the single-player’s focus on your Syndicate vying for control, co-op is about building up your own unstoppable Agent.

Earn experience through each mission and you’ll be able to unlock new elements for your character. At the most basic these are new attributes: such as increased health or faster breaching. 

Then there are Blueprints and Apps. The former are specific weapons that can be unlocked – then used – in any of the missions. Apps, however, are activated abilities that can be equipped and levelled up. Only two are available at any one time but all are useful and help tailor a class to your style.