Greenlight Spotlight: Black Annex

In 1993, Peter Molyneux’s Bullfrog Productions unleashed Syndicate, an isometric, hyper-violent proto-RTS set in a dystopian future controlled by globe-spanning corporations to whom the idea of “competition” meant everything from industrial espionage to all-out warfare. It was fantastic stuff and today remains a nostalgic favorite among gamers of a certain age, and that subset of gamers in particular would be well advised to take a look at Black Annex, an upcoming action-strategy game in which they’ll get elbow-deep in the dirty business of business.

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In 1993, Peter Molyneux’s Bullfrog Productions unleashed Syndicate, an isometric, hyper-violent proto-RTS set in a dystopian future controlled by globe-spanning corporations to whom the idea of “competition” meant everything from industrial espionage to all-out warfare. It was fantastic stuff and today remains a nostalgic favorite among gamers of a certain age, and that subset of gamers in particular would be well advised to take a look at Black Annex, an upcoming action-strategy game in which they’ll get elbow-deep in the dirty business of business.

In Black Annex, players must customize and outfit a team of agents and then send them out into the world of big business, where they’ll steal things, blow other things up, kidnap people or just kill them outright depending on the dictates of the mission and the choices of the player. You can bolster your ranks by “recruiting” agents from other companies – that is, kidnapping them and forcing them to work for you – and the end of each mission leads to a special debriefing which will award bonuses based on accomplishing special mission objectives.

 

But running a big corporation isn’t all fun and guns. Everything costs money, and players must ensure they have sufficient resources to cover the more mundane aspects of the biz, like transportation costs and overhead, and of course it won’t be cheap if a mission goes wrong and your agents are wiped out. The good news is that you can approach your missions just about any way you want, from smooth stealth to guns-blazing slaughter, or even use technical skills to turn your enemy’s defenses against them.

The recently-released trailer doesn’t say much about how it’s actually played but it does have a powerful Syndicate vibe, especially around the 1:00 mark when the bullets start flying. That’s great new for Syndicate fans, and if Black Annex really does manage to compare to that old time classic, it’ll be great news for everyone else too. Black Annex is currently slated to come out late this year, but you can vote for it right now on Steam Greenlight:

Click here to vote yes for Black Annex on Steam Greenlight

Greenlight Spotlight is a featured series on Gamezebo that profiles Steam Greenlight candidates that deserve your vote. We’re doing this in the hopes of calling attention to interesting projects that would benefit from distribution on Steam, so please, if a game looks like something you’d want to play, don’t hesitate to lend it your support!

Long-time PC gamer and shorter-time freelance writer, with work at Gamezebo, The Escapist, PC Gamer, Joystiq and parts unknown. Owner of many cats, drinker of fine beers, eater of too much. A steadfast javelin in a flaccid world.