If the game is pulled out from too many places for inspiration, it can become a bit confusing and disconnected mess. However, you can hit the winning formula by skillfully picking only the coolest elements from your peers and throwing your own unique visual style at the top. That’s exactly the game Shadow Syndicate It seems there is. For the first time fully revealed, it is an action game with flavors of La Noire, Hitman, GTA and Max Payne and can’t wait to play.
Before you see the debut trailer that dropped today, the first thing to do about Shadow Syndicate is its art style. It depicts a cast of human-animal hybrid characters in the Bojack Horseman style from the 1930s Brooklyn and the gritty, dark comic book aesthetic. It is set 10 years ago on the East Coast rather than the West, but there is also a clear Lanoir vibe here. The old wagon, refined retro outfits and interiors, and the fact that you played as Sam Marlowe, a retired soldier, made you a private detective. The action game is about to reach the bottom of “a citywide plot that includes secret societies, occult forces and creeping darkness that threatens to consume it all.”
A humanoid husky, Marlowe must gather evidence, make connections, and of course explore cities that slam the bad guys. You can go for a loud, potential approach, but you can also blow up revolvers and tommy guns, or use supernatural abilities thanks to sacrifice rings, but here again there is a big focus on stealth. You can perform a silent takedown and sneak up and slide into enemy hideouts undetected.
If you go to weapons for free, you can tap the maximum pain-style bullet time to slow down your actions. And yes, you can fly around at the same time like an action movie star. Beautiful staff.
As you can imagine, solving crimes and turning goons into Swiss cheese is a tough job. Dog detectives must relax from time to time. So, in the spirit of Grand Theft Auto, there are also some downtime mini-games to join as well. You can grab a Scotch with some NPCs, get a big win with blackjack, or become a pro with darts, and keep occupying you when you’re not about to crack your case.
Shadow Syndicate currently has a wide range of 2026 release windows. However, if you like what’s already shown, you can add it to your Steam wish list here. It certainly goes straight to mine.
While you wait for it to arrive, check out the best stealth and best crime games you can play right now.
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