Synetic

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Synetic GmbH is a German video game company specialising in racing games. The company was founded in 1996 in Gütersloh by 5 former members of Ascaron. All 5 original members are still working for the company. Although the company with its team of 8 employees is 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.

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.

[edit] 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.
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 recongnizable 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.
Using their contacts with Mercedes, Synetic was able to release Mercedes-Benz World Racing in 2003. The game, roughly similar to Electronic Arts's 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 chekpoint races.
Synetic's latest release, World Racing 2, was released in 2005. It 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.