Genre: Simulation
Developer: Bullfrog Productions
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Syndicate's origins are with Amiga OS and DOS, and the game featured some colorful, albeit primitive VGA-style graphics. The 3DO port features re-worked visuals, which are more detailed, but still make use of the same art style and camera perspective (3/4 overhead) as the original versions. Unfortunately, the 3DO is only somewhat capable enough to handle the presentation with decent framerates, and slowdown frequently interferes with gameplay. The game is also a little on the drab side-- there is an awful lot of brown and grey.

Syndicate's music selection is befitting of a dark, cyber-punk setting; slow, plodding, and foreboding in parts, but fast and intense in others, the soundtrack does a reasonable job of playing to the action and keeping you on the edge of your seat. Sound effects are clear and while they don't stand out as being exemplory, none of them are out of place or poorly done.

Syndicate gives you control of "agents", or futuristic cyber humanoids, which you use to play through a series of real-time tactical missions that involve espionage, assasinations, and mass slaughter. Aside from equipping your agents with a variety of weapons and navigating them through awesome, sandbox city environments, you can dynamically alter the levels of drugs in their systems that modify the agents' aiming ability, speed, and awareness. Novel and well executed, the gameplay is only marred by the 3DO's lack of a mouse and the consequent unintuitive controller button scheme.

Between the constant framerate problems, the lousy control scheme, and the plethora of bugs, I can't fully recommend the 3DO version of this game. This is a shame, because if you will yourself on and play through these problems, you realize that Syndicate is an awesome display of game design prowess, and its addictive qualities really begin to shine through. I have never played any other versions of this game, but I suspect the original DOS version might be a "best of both worlds" scenario-- the awesome gameplay but with no drawbacks. Alas, if all you've got is a 3DO and a little patience, this port might still provide some fun.