I bought it on Xbox 360 marketplace forever ago, and at some point, it disappeared from my games list and local drive. When I tried to re-download it, it no longer showed up in my purchases. This was a few years ago and before Xbox Live shut down for the 360, and all my other digital purchases were available, just not Syndicate.
Fast forward to now, and I can’t find the game available anywhere (Gog and Steam at least).
I remember it having an all-star cast (Brian Cox and Rosario Dawson, specifically) and some really cool game mechanics and story.
Did that game just get memory-holed? Wikipedia says it was banned in Australia, but that doesn’t apply to me.
Edit: There are used copies I can buy on eBay for the 360 (mine somehow still works) but I was looking to buy a PC version for longevity/future proofing since I like to revisit old games every so often and my 360 is already on borrowed time.
Rather than answer your question, I’m going to tell a story that’s almost relevant (as is tradition on the internet).
The Syndicate series of games started in 1993. They were squad-based, isometric, real-time strategy games. And then EA released this game in 2012 and called it “Syndicate” since they owned the rights to that franchise. But this new game was a FPS and had nothing to do with anyone previously associated with the series.
The lead developer of the Syndicate series was so annoyed by this game that he ran a kickstarter to make his own spiritual successor to Syndicate (since he didn’t own the rights). That game is called Satellite Reign and it’s fantastic.
Again, this has almost nothing to do with the game you’re looking for. I just always like it when someone continues their work out of sheer spite.
Thanks for the link new friend. I remember enjoying the crap out of the old game I’ll have to give this one a shot.
Man, I loved the original game. Bought the Boxed Version (well, there was no download option then, but there was the “high seas” option).
Wasn’t it one of Peter Molyneux’ games?
What kind of PC would I have had in 1993…
What kind of PC would I have had in 1993…
Idk, some grey Compaq thing with a 386 and a turbo button?
I had an Atari Falcon030, so I think my own Syndicate memories are from a friends’s Mac.
Now this is ironic.
Reading post: “Hey, I have that game! Wouldn’t it be funny if I took a picture of it and wrote something like ‘oh, it’s over here’.”
goes to xbox stash
“Hmm, that’s weird, it’s gone.”
It was pretty fun. Plot was kind of convoluted. Think I only played it all the way through once but it had a good feel, the upgrades were neat, and it looked great. I probably bought it used and there was a scratch that caused a glitch at one of the boss fights which deterred me from finishing it for a long time but at some point I finished it.
I have that game.
I was looking to buy a PC version for longevity/future proofing
For the record, physical PC titles are probably the worst way to preserve old games. Unless you’re ok with having to rely on a crack. Modern Windows and drivers often break support for old titles. Also there were a lot of games that relied on a key auth server that is no longer running.
Here’s a video from a couple of years ago on the subject.
Ironically, buying a physical console and copy of the game is the most dependable way of preserving old game libraries. Why do you say your 360 is on borrowed time? It should hold up fine.
This is changing, to some extent, with Linux and WINE. Several old games that refuse to run in Windows 11 work just fine on my Deck.
I guess it was delisted.
If you’re able to find an unused Steam key somewhere it’d work, but honestly, at this point piracy is more than justified.
You can easily find it on torrents and no one will be able to steal it from you the second time.
PC version is incredibly hard to get working on modern computers, fwiw. SecuROM servers are all closed down; I’ve got the SKIDROW patches but have never managed to get them to start up. Emulating the 360 or PS3 might be easier…?
Some 360 games run on current hardware if you bought the disc based Series X. Looks like Syndicate is one of them.
https://delistedgames.com/syndicate-2012/
“The cause for the initial delisting is uncertain but could be related to licensed content or Electronic Arts’ desire to sell the game directly. The game remained available exclusively on EA’s Origin service until some time between Late May and Early August of 2021. Electronic Arts then announced in March of 2023 that the game’s remaining online features would be retired on June 15th, 2023.”
Another reason Physical >>> Digital.
$17 and change on Amazon.
I just have a Linux-based “DIY Steam Machine” so it’d have to be able to run under Proton. I may just buy a physical disc on eBay for ~$22 and hope my 360 doesn’t crap out on me lol. It’s the later “slim” model with an upgraded hard drive, so as long as I can install it and it reads the disc enough to start the game, I should be okay.
Xenia is starting to get good. Might be worth looking into.
If you’re open to piracy, it looks like Dodi has a repack of Syndicate (2012) up. That’s very good news if you’re on Linux; in my experience Fitgirl installers almost never work, but Dodi’s have never failed me.
Load up your launcher of choice (Lutris, Heroic, and Faugus are the three I’m familiar with), run the installer through that, and you should be set.
Does Dodi have the reputation of Fitgirl? I’m very cautious about pirated games.
I don’t think anyone has the reputation of Fitgirl, but other than her, Dodi is definitely the most reliable name I know of. He also recently said he’s gonna do a soft retirement and not release as much stuff in the future, so, idk, doesn’t seem like the behavior of someone who might be building a botnet lol
Or you could pick up a cheap used Xbox One or Xbox One X. Anything with a physical drive.
For the DIY Steam Machine, yeah, what others are saying, disc image + emulation.
Do you remember if there was any licensed music in it? Sometimes rights to that stuff expiring causes things to get pulled.
Honestly I have no idea. I don’t think so? I vaguely recall the music at all, but I wanna say it was a kind-of techno background music which all sounds pretty generic to me (not my preferred genre).
Edit: According to TV Tropes, it does have music by Skrillex so maybe (renewing?) the music licensing wasn’t worth it considering its low sales.
Pretty sure Skrillex wrote an entire soundtrack entirely for the game
Its PS3 rom shows up on CoolROM, could anyone try it on an emulator or a modded console? I currently do not have access to either
Edit: PC version shows up on MyAbandonware, also could give that one a try.
Why modded console? It’ll work just the same. I have a modded PS3 and I like to play around with RPCS3. What are you hoping to achieve?
There’s always some imperfections in emulation, and you can offload storage space for the game to a modded ps3.
How can it just disappear from your list when it’s a game you bought?
I’d understand why it would not be available to buy anymore, but taking it away from you is crazy.
That’s why I’m always buying GOG when available (or physical on consoles even if it’s doesn’t mean anything anymore).
I dunno, but it did.
My original hard drive died and when I got a replacement, I just went to my purchase history and re-downloaded it. When I wanted to play it a few years ago and noticed it wasn’t on my Xbox anymore, I went back to re-download it and it wasn’t anywhere to be found in my history.
Probably something buried in the XB:Live ToS that says they can do whatever they want.
It’s crazy if they just made it disappear without giving you any notification.
It’d be like a burglary where they put everything back in place so that you don’t notice anything.
I hope it’ll never happen to the games I have only available on Steam.
Disappointing sales iirc, complete change in gameplay from the original syndicate, and not much replayability. Plus, some of the mechanics are maybe a bit spicy for modern sensibilities.
I think using the Syndicate name was something of a poison pill for the game. People who liked the original Syndicate and Syndicate Wars would be turned off by it being essentially completely unrelated; people who didn’t care about the original probably wouldn’t care about it using the same name. That, and at the time there was a glut of FPSes being released.
Plus, some of the mechanics are maybe a bit spicy for modern sensibilities.
Not that you’re wrong (Wikipedia alludes to the same thing) but the only spicy mechanic I can recall is hacking an enemy’s brain chip to make them temporarily fight on your side and commit suicide after it wears off. That’s literally the exact same thing as “Possession” in Bioshock: Infinite that came out a year later.
And it caused a shitfit in 2012, before people started freaking out about depiction of suicide to the extent they do now.
Cyberpunk 2077 has a pretty straightforward suicide hack though. People don’t truly care if the game is good.
I remember it had a 4 player co-op demo that was a lot of fun. Never bought it though :\
I bought a physical copy for PC, and now it’s tied to my EA account so I can play it without the disc. So maybe if you find a copy on eBay?
I found Xbox 360 copies on ebay but no PC ones. They’re not expensive so maybe I’ll just do that and then try to get an Xbox 360 emulator working on my (Linux) gaming system. My 360 works but is def on borrowed time.
You should just create a disk iso and run it through a 360 emulator.
No one bought it
I guess they ditched the persuadeatron from the original. The best weapon.
