14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer and publisher Paradox Interactive has announced that it is working on a new title called Cartel, which will mix squad based action with real time mechanics.
Cartel takes place in a near future when a number of very big corporations have managed to become powerful enough to battle each other for world domination.
Players will have to manage the affairs of one of the corporations, handling research and diplomacy and also deploying assets in order to directly fight competitors.
It seems pretty clear that the inspiration for Cartel is the classic Syndicate video game that Bullfrog launched during the '90's.
Electronic Arts has announced that Swedish developer Starbreeze was remaking Syndicate as a first person shooter, with the release date set for sometime in 2012.
“We are now in a place where there are many classical PC games that now have people doing remakes and new takes on them. One of these is Syndicate, which is being developed at Starbreeze. It was the worst kept secret in the Swedish games industry! But now it’s out there, and we were very interested in the reaction to it.”
Cartel will include a number of mission types, from recon work to sabotage and assassination, during which the player will be able to directly control, in real time, a small number of agents and specialists.
Much of the success of any mission will depend on how the squad is equipped and trained and the player will be able to use the non action part of the Cartel to create the perfect conditions for his team to complete their assignment.
At the moment Cartel is in the early stages of development and it seems that it will be between 12 and 18 months before the developers at Paradox Interactive will be able to announce a launch date.