In four short days, the full version of Syndicate will launch, but in the meantime, EA has graced us with a playable version of the 4 person cooperative online mode which showcases some of the game's mechanics. There is only one playable stage available for exploration, but the demo does a good job of demonstrating the general control scheme and the overall feel of the available weapons.
From what I have gathered so far, the co-op mode features up to 4 players who are pitted against computer controlled opponents as they attempt to complete the stage specific objectives. As players move through the stage, points are awarded for kills, kill assists, team support actions (revives/reboots), and other skill based activities. Those points then show up in a running lobby leaderboard which tracks your stats in comparison with your allies as the mission progresses. Teamwork is encouraged, but not in the same way that you would find in competitive multiplayer matches in other FPS titles. Players are given the option to choose from a limited number of customizeable class loadouts before the map loads, but most players that I have come across abandon their preset classes some time after the beginning of the match.
There are several unlockable player abilities that allow for a degree of character customization, and will likely have more impact in the full version of the game, but a majority of the unlocks are unavailable for the demo. Weapons are customizeable to a degree but not to the extent that you would find in COD or in Battlefield. Weapon perks seem to focus more on proficiency than aesthetics in this regard.
Syndicate's default control scheme most closely resembles COD's current control setup with the exception that the shoulder buttons are mapped to your given character's equipped abilities. Other than that, console FPS veterans will likely feel right at home with this one. There is an option to adjust the sensitivity of the X axis and the Y axis independantly rather than one all encompassing sensitivity control, which makes sense. However, no matter how much I tweaked these settings, it seemed like there was a bit of input lag that I haven't experienced in most modern shooters. I found this to be an issue with both online and locally hosted one player matches, but I doubt it is indicative of how the final product will play out.
I also took issue with the overall menu navigation of the demo. The layout is somewhat cluttered for my taste, and I found some of the scroll over prompts to be misleading when cycling over certain menu options. Transitions from one menu to the next feel a little sluggish at times as well, but perhaps I just wasn't in a patient mood while playing the demo.
Overall, the demo feels slick, but somewhat lackluster if the one playable mission is indicative of how the rest of the finished co-op mode will run. I also found that most of my allies simply wanted to rush headfirst into most confrontations without exploring all of their tactical options first, and there doesn't really seem to be any noticeable penalty for doing so. Perhaps there will be a difficulty curve to some of the later missions, but I'm betting that the single player campaign is where most of the meat will be found in this title. That's not to say that co-op will have nothing to offer, but the demo doesn't really have me pumped to jump online on launch day.
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