Syndicate Creator Sceptical About Sequel

26 Jun 2009 at 11:54:30 by Andy Alderson

The man behind the iconic Bullfrog title, Syndicate, is sceptical about EA’s plans to revive the franchise.

Speaking exclusively to IncGamers about the game, Sean Cooper expressed doubt that another Syndicate sequel will appear.

"They've been saying that for the last fifteen years," says the man credited with designing the 1993 classic.

"Looking at EA's track record of announcing titles, saying they're going to revive it ... they don't tend to do it, because I don't think they really understand what the original game was."

Earlier this year, rumours began circulating that EA was planning a Syndicate revival and in April it was reportedly confirmed that Swedish developer Starbreeze (Riddick, The Darkness) has been working on the game, codenamed Project Redlime, since August 2007.

However, Cooper fears the game will not capture the spirit of the original.

"Every time I've seen a prototype of a new Syndicate it's just been misguided,” he said.

“They've tried to be too quirky. They've tried to do things that aren't what the essence of the game was."

During his time at EA, Cooper claims he saw a few demo builds of a new Syndicate title and was unimpressed.

"One of [the prototypes] ... it was something about using different senses. Something was leaving a scent and the agents were following it. I remember seeing them demo it in a conference room and thinking 'what are they trying to achieve? what are they doing?'"

"The essence of the game was killing people - and that was it,” he added.

“Big guns. Strong dudes. Terminators essentially. If I have to kill everyone, I will. That to me was the essence of the gameplay."

Read more from Cooper in our Syndicate retrospective this weekend.

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