And this is why it's relatively unlikely to find worthy successors: Making the whole be as good as the sum of its parts is hard enough. Getting to be as good as Pirates, or the best Cinemaware games, where the whole was significantly better than all of the games in isolation, is aiming foolishly high. Which is why, say, the xcom remakes are such a wonder, because they manage to both change the original two minigames underneath, improving them substantially, all while still being balanced.
It never quite recaptured the charm of the original, but that might just be because I’m older.
two point museum is 33% off and hospital is 75% off right now.
It's very much a similar game.
For those who are asking: this successor is Satellite Reign:
Imagine a modern Syndicate remake... it would "have to" be MMO, it would "have to" have character development, as in the stats would go up. It would "have to" be "rogue-like" (ie procedural level generation, no story.)
It's a non-starter. No studio would accept the idea of the game as it is, since the graphics required to be "modern" would need an amount of work that wouldn't mix with the length of the gameplay of the original.
Satellite Reign is what crap it comes to otherwise. Even though it was kickstarted, the "studio vision" ensured it was stillborn.
And whilst there are many games in the fighting genre, there's never been any other game like OMF.
One of the best parts of the game: Your scowling coach berating you for getting the robot too smashed up and then having to pay for the repairs.
And DeBisco did a psytrance mix of the Power Plant theme, which is also epic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7C-f2FpNy0
Or if you have a real C64 with a CRT that would be best, but than with some kind of mass storage attached (anything that is faster than a 1541 since the game is so big it has to load before every fight or other activity).
The game can be pretty immersive and playing it through is a multiple hour endeavour.
If in a ship to ship fight, you gotta raise sails first (by moving the joystick up).
Edit: Vice is an emulator packaged in Debian Contrib, but you need the C64 ROM file (easy to find online).
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Sid_Meiers_Pirates_1987
https://archive.org/details/PiratesMacintosh
There are probably others, but Archive.org is misbehaving at the moment.
tbh if you want to scratch the pirate-y itch, Assassin's Creed Black Flag is excellent, if just for the sea shanties.
Which has itself just had a remake released for it I see! I don't keep up with games these days.
Pirates! was a gift from my wife years ago, and I kind disappeared for a couple of weeks. The dancing was tedious though :-)
EDIT: did a quick search. I played Pirates on the C64 and never heard of the rather recent "Gold" edition for PC. I know where I'm going to spend the next weekend! Thanks for bringing it to my attention <3
The gold edition doesn't have the eras selection and the treasure fleet doesn't exist the same way. Sailing is easier but I became promoted quickly with all countries and could never attack a town. Promotions are easier. Not a edition.
So if anyone knows a better title - I'd likely give it a try!
Concerning Lemmings: Gemini listed the following games that are at least similar in spirit:
- Humanity (2023)
- Zombie Night Terror (2016)
- Spirits (2011)
- Craftlings (2026)
Creepers https://www.myabandonware.com/game/creepers-1kj
Had the same feel from what I remember playing it as a kid. Did the link so it wasn't the wrong one from the screenshots.
It has been years since I went though my totes of PC games, so I was glad I had the right name.
https://this.os.isfine.org/#syndicate-plus
With some improvements and, uhm, modernizations https://www.linkedin.com/posts/georgzoeller_i-ported-syndica...?
Rat Trap/Krusty's Fun House (available on Amiga just like Lemmings)
Chuchu rockets
This is really getting into the weeds, but there is also the Japanese game Bazaru De Gozaru for the PC Engine CD (TurboGrafx 16 CD)
Unfortunately I think the modern gaming public would be allergic to isometric third person, especially as soon as they encounter visibility issues.
Satellite Reign has been released as a full game, playable from start to finish and it's really excellent (no idea tbh why the Steam reviews are stuck at 'Mixed', kids these days smh...). It takes a bit to get into the 'flow' and discover all the little gameplay details but once you "got it" it's a lot of fun. I usually do a playthrough at least once a year.
Also re Pirates: one of my favourite 'strategy' games on the Amiga. The 2004 remake in 3D is fun but the graphics really haven't aged well and the art style wasn't all that great to start with.
I'd really like to see a modern 2D Pirates remake with a bit more historical details and fewer gimmicks (e.g. no sword fights and QTE dancing please).
I'd still rate the game a 7/10 because it's so absurdly fun if you can get passed all of this, but it's easy to see how it probably never reached even a fraction of its potential market.
I was a kickstarter supporter, having played syndicate in childhood, but remember bouncing about 1-2hrs in, mostly because it felt bland, but would love to hear if the world and action becomes more involved :).
And within a mission you always need to maintain 'tactical awareness', always have an escape route in mind, scout ahead for guard routes and schedules, hack doors and cameras, select the best approach to tackle a specific type of guard or robot. And then of course no mission goes as planned, your team gets pinned down and you need to fight your way out or find a place to hide until the alarm level cools down.
Also depending on the approach you choose for a specific mission you may need to change your team's equipment and cyberware before entering the mission area, or maybe you decide that it's better to first raid the military barracks of the district, hoping to get some new weapon and cyberware blueprints. Or you spend some downtime looking for scientists to hijack (which increase research rate for blueprints), or look for new random people in the streets with better attributes for cloning. Or running low on money maybe it's better to first rob the district bank. Each new district is harder than the last, and during the entire game you're essentially preparing for the final confrontation with the main baddy.
For a relatively small indie game there's a lot of 'gameplay density', I can understand though that the game may feel repetivite, but especially starting to tackle a new district may quickly feel like routine, but that initial routine only exists as preparation for the two or three main mission areas in the district, and those are the 'meat' of the game.
Very much Syndicate vibes