I guess the standard answer is because games cost more to make now so publishers are less willing to risk that money on doing something adventurous. IMO this is

I guess the standard answer is because games cost more to make now so publishers are less willing to risk that money on doing something adventurous. IMO this is incredibly shortsighted but I suppose I'm not quite their target market any more. Totally sympathise about Syndicate Wars too. One thing I don't miss is that most games now seem to have a better balance of difficulty - I found that one amazingly frustrating and never finished the last few missions without cheating either. Oddly, that's one game I'd love to see a modern version of (not interested in that upcoming FPS which looks to be in name only) - IMO Syndicate Wars was hugely limited by the technology of the time.