Unlike the original series of games, Syndicate is a first-person shooter set in 2069. Players assume control of Miles Kilo, an augmented agent working for EuroCorp in a corrupted, deceitful world in which corporations compete with each other for power. Players can run, jump, slide, hide behind covers, and carry two weapons and grenades to defeat enemies and bosses, who each have unique abilities. The game features 19 weapons, ranging from assault rifles, rocket launchers and machine pistols, to futuristic weapons such as laser rifles, Gauss Guns with bullets that can track enemies automatically, and Riotlance Dark Shooters that can paralyze enemies for a short time. Weapons can be customized and upgraded with 87 attachments and 25 upgrade options. These upgrades may alter the nature of these weapons, transforming standard ammunition to cover-penetrating ammunition. The game also features an "execution" mechanic, allowing players to perform melee takedowns.
Miles has a "DART-6" chip that grants him hacking and "breaching" abilities. Some enemies also have this type of chip, and Miles can interact with them. With the chips, objects, collectibles and enemies are automatically tagged and highlighted via augmented reality of the heads-up display. Players can use the "breaching" abilities to hack into enemies' minds and control their actions. They have access to three options; "Backfire" that causes enemies' weapons to malfunction and backfire, stunning them; "Suicide" that causes enemies to kill themselves; and "Persuade" that leads enemies to defect to the player's side before committing suicide. The game also allows players to locate enemies behind cover with the use of "Dart Overlay" and slow down time temporarily, which increases the damages dealt by players and their health regeneration rate. Abilities and skills implanted in the chip can be enhanced by collecting and extracting the chips of fallen enemies. The upgrades can boost players' damages and increases their recovery speed. Players are tasked with using the breaching abilities to interact with objects, solve environmental puzzles, strip the special armor of enemies and disarm explosives. The breaching mechanic has a time limit and must be recharged before another activation.
The game does not have a competitive multiplayer mode, but it has a cooperative multiplayer mode that pits four players together to complete a nine-mission campaign based on the campaign of the original Syndicate games. Players face enemies that become increasingly difficult to deal with as the game progresses. They can choose from four character classes: Medic, Spec Ops, Assault and Generic, each with different abilities. The breaching mechanic is also present in the mode for defensive and offensive purposes. For instance, they can hack into a turret to disable its armor or heal team-mates using this mechanic. Players receive points as they progress through the game's levels; these points can be used to research new weapons.
Synopsis
Setting
In 2017, the mega-corporation EuroCorp is created by a merger between the world's largest corporations. In 2025, EuroCorp releases the DART chip, a neural implant that allows users to access the dataverse, making most electronic devices obsolete. As a result of the DART chip, the world is no longer ruled by national governments but by mega-corporations known as "Syndicates". However, only half of the world's population embrace the chip; the "unchipped" are abandoned and denied the benefits afforded by their chipped counterparts. Corporate espionage and corporate warfare for dominance between syndicates becomes the norm, resulting in the creation of "agents"—bio-engineered enforcers augmented by a militarized version of the chip who protect the interests of their corporate masters.
Plot
In 2069, Agent Miles Kilo, EuroCorp's latest agent, is equipped with the new prototype DART 6 chip created by Eurocorp scientist Lily Drawl (voiced by Rosario Dawson). After a successful test run of the chip's abilities, EuroCorp CEO Jack Denham (voiced by Brian Cox) assigns him to kill Lily's counterpart, Chang, at the rival syndicate Aspari. Accompanied by his mentor Agent Jules Merit (voiced by Michael Wincott), Kilo attacks the Los Angeles branch of Aspari and corners Chang, who shoots himself. Kilo retrieves Chang's chip and learns from an encrypted conversation that Lily has been sharing information about the DART 6 chip with him.
Although shocked by Lily's betrayal, Denham decides to have Kilo and Merit keep Lily under surveillance because she is too valuable to eliminate. As they observe her in her apartment, Lily has an argument with a person named Kris before she is suddenly kidnapped by the syndicate Cayman-Global. Kilo fights off the Cayman-Global forces and follows Lily's abductors to their floating base in the Atlantic Ocean. Kilo kills a major Cayman-Global agent and rescues Lily, and they learn the syndicate is preparing a war against EuroCorp.
In New York, Kilo and Lily land in the Downzone where the unchipped, lower-class population lives. After they split up and head towards EuroCorp HQ, Kilo is betrayed by Lily and is sent into a trap with EMP mines, injuring him and disabling his chips. After his chips regain function, Kilo is given orders to either capture or kill Lily. After fighting off subverters, Kilo learns their leader Kris—Lily's ex-boyfriend and colleague—is responsible for instigating a war between the syndicates. Kris reveals he started the war so he could hack into the dataverse and kill the syndicates and their chipped populations as punishment for abandoning the unchipped. Lily, who wants to find a peaceful solution and make the syndicates care about the unchipped, opposes the idea. Kilo fights Kris, who attempts to suicide bomb him but kills himself instead. Kilo apprehends Lily; he can either kill her or release her. Lily is captured and a barely-alive Kilo is retrieved.
