Synetic GmbH

Synetic GmbH was a German video game company specialising in racing games. The company was founded in 1996 in Gütersloh by five former members of Ascaron. All five original members were still working for the company until the company was liquidated on 6 May 2014. Although the company with its team of eight employees was rather small and its games are virtually unknown outside of Germany, their titles are among the most popular racing games in Germany and are consistently among Germany's best-selling games.

This article is about the video game company. For the theater company, see Synetic Theater (Arlington, Virginia).

While originally only developing games for Windows PCs, Synetic's later releases (starting with 2003's Mercedes Benz World Racing) were also available for a selection of consoles.

On 31 March 2014, Synetic ceased the production of video games.[1]

Games
  • Have a N.I.C.E. day (1997), an arcade racer focusing on stunts such as long jumps and loopings, was Synetic's first release. The game was unusual for a racing game in that it offered only three basic car models that could be tuned and modified by the player to suit a wide variety of different driving styles. According to statements made by Synetic employees on their website's forum, the term "N.I.C.E.", which also appeared in Synetic's follow-up title, was initially an abbreviation for some concept in the game, but apparently none of the team members remembers what it stood for.[2]
  • N.I.C.E. 2 (1998), released as Breakneck on the international market, featured three distinct classes of cars (classics, contemporary high-performance cars and micro-size cars like the Fiat 500), along with some special classes like Formula One cars and karts. The game's complicated career mode which had to be played to unlock cars and tracks, as well as the shootout mode in which players could arm their cars with machine guns and rocket launchers, were met with rather mixed reactions by players. An add-on, N.I.C.E. 2 Tune-Up, attempts to address these problems by providing a simple, streamlined interface for selecting races and by removing the shootout mode. Due to Synetic's limited funding at the time the game was developed, and due to the fact that many car manufacturers refused to be associated with a shooting game, the cars in the game were not licensed by car manufacturers. Although instantly recognizable as their real-world counterparts, the 3D car models were changed slightly, and cars were given imaginary names.
  • Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing (2000) was Synetic's first licensed game, featuring Mercedes-Benz racing trucks that could be driven on a variety of real-world race tracks.
  • Mercedes-Benz World Racing, Using their contacts with Mercedes, Synetic was able to release this title in 2003. The game, roughly similar to Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, featured a broad selection of Mercedes cars ranging from classic Silberpfeil racing cars to contemporary high-performance cars. It was Synetic's first game that did away with fixed racing tracks, instead offering large, open environments with multiple streets that could be explored by the player. The game also offered several new racing modes, like cross-country checkpoint races.
  • World Racing 2 (Oct 2005) Released for PC and Xbox. Features a variety of licensed car models, ranging from classic sports cars to prototypes and SUVs. The game also features the open environments and broad selection of racing modes found in its predecessor. New features included a detailed damage model, traffic and the use of headlights and indicators. The player could customize vehicles by choosing various paintjobs, vinyls and rims.
  • Alarm for Cobra 11 - Nitro (Nov 2006) based on the German TV series of the same name. Features 27 missions and 3 sceneries (Autobahn, City, Countryside) and uses an enhanced version of the graphics engine used in the World Racing series.
  • Alarm for Cobra 11 - Crash Time (Nov 2007) Features up to 50 non-linear missions in different sceneries and uses an enhanced version of the same graphics engine used in the World Racing series.
  • Alarm for Cobra 11 - Burning Wheels (Dec 2008) aka Crash Time 2. Another title following the AFC11 line. The game uses an even more enhanced version of the World Racing graphics engine. Additional info and screenshots may be found on Synetic official site and forum.
  • Ferrari Virtual Race (Apr 2009) Developed by Synetic although according to contract Synetic title never appears in the game. The game is freeware and features 3 Ferraris on the Mugello race track. The game is based on the same enhanced World Racing engine.
  • Alarm for Cobra 11 - Highway Nights (Nov 2009) aka Crash Time III. This generation featured the ability to drive at night across both scenarios for the first and the only time in the series.
  • Alarm for Cobra 11 - The Syndicate (Dec 2010) aka Crash Time 4 - The Syndicate. The first AFC11 series game with multi-player mode where up to eight players can compete on-line. Synetic has recreated over 100 km of roads and highway sections from the Cologne metropolitan area. There is more than 40 different vehicles to choose from.[3] DTP Entertainment released the game for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
  • Alarm for Cobra 11 - Undercover (Oct 2012) aka Crash Time 5 - Undercover. Comes with more weapons and action-packed missions, but misses out on the free roam feature of other games from the series.

References
  1. In eigener Sache ... (in German). Synetic GmbH forums, accessed 20 October 2014 [page unavailable as of May 2015]. Archived from the original webpage; machine-translated version of archive, accessed May 2015.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2006-03-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Official news at Synetic site.
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