Syphon Filter for Playstation Review

The Story

You play special agent Gabe Logan who has just learned a comrade has died in a Central American jungle. A laboratory has been burned down, destroying evidence of a new biological weapon someone was creating. Gabe and his partner Lian Xing discover a number of horrible victims splayed on the landscape of a Nepal village. The two events are linked and the Agency (not affiliated with any United States intelligence, but resembles the CIA) finds out that terrorist Erich Rhoemer and skilled assassins plan to release the deadly Syphon Filter virus on the U.S. So Gabe is sent in to take care of the terrorists and save the U.S. from the doom. Wow, sounds like a good time.

The Gameplay

Each level has a number of missions (1 to 5) that you have to complete. Within those missions you have some parameters that you have to follow, like "don’t kill any civilians" or "make sure to save all the hostages". Once you receive your mission, you’re on our way to killing terrorists with a healthy amount of weaponry ranging from pistols to assault rifles to basic stealth attacks. From time to time, you can contact Lian Xing who provides enemy movement and updates to the missions. Sometimes you get mission objectives added while in the middle of another mission. I guess that’s just the way to keep things moving.

The Control

Syphon Filter has some of the best controls ever. Gabe runs more realistically than I’ve ever seen in a game, including some games of today. Shifting from a straight run to a strafe is seamless and firing and running/walking just is amazing. If you want to be cool you can walk and fire, showing those terrorists that you’re not to be messed with. Turning 180 degrees is an issue, as it’s slow, but that’s a minor problem compared to the swiftness of all the other movements.

The Graphics

Whenever you’re talking about graphics from past games from past systems, you have to do so within the elements of that time. Syphon Filter had decent graphics, even compared to the games of that year and even better graphics than some of the N64 games. There was some blockiness to the game and the characters were poorly constructed, but overall, the cut-scenes were phenomenal and the landscapes were done well. Really, you’d have to see for yourself and if you do, remember to compare it with games of that day.

Thompson’s Two Cents

I remember first playing Syphon Filter all the way through in 10 hours straight. I realize now that 10 hours for a game of this type is pretty good. There’s a lot of stealth involved, but there’s also all-out attacking you can do. It’s a well-balanced game with an engaging storyline. You can find this game at Toys-R-Us for under $10 and if you enjoy this game you can pick up the 3 sequels. Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain is available for the PS2.

And happy terrorist hunting.