It’s no secret that the Syndicate FPS re-boot was met with an icy reception.

I certainly laid the boot in when I first heard of it – a little unfairly I might add.

In an interview with EDGE,  Starbreeze’s CEO, Mikael Nermark, said while proud of what they achieved knew it was doomed from the start.

“We knew from the get-go that there was going to be a small but very vocal [group] of gamers and journalists that was going to hate us whatever route we took.

“If we didn’t do an exact copy of the game, they’d hate us. If we did do an exact copy, they’d say we didn’t innovate. They were never ours to win; it was a lost battle from the get-go.

“But I’m proud of what the team did and what we made, and I’m especially proud of the co-op; I think that really shows what we wanted to do with the game, and Starbreeze’s DNA.”

Watch Dogs – With just a 10 minute gameplay video at this years E3 to go on it’s already a closer representation of the original Syndicate than EA/Starbreeze’s actual re-boot earlier this year

Regardless of my original raving I still chose to give the game a fair crack of the whip, and as far as FPS games go it’s not that bad, in fact there’s some pretty solid gameplay in there once you get your head around the fact you’re not actually playing a Syndicate game per se. However, I don’t agree it was a lost cause from the get go, it just comes with the territory of working for a large publisher like EA who want things done “their way or not at all”

As an example of what might have been achieved with a little more patience and forethought you need look no further than Ubisoft’s forthcoming Watch Dogs.