Syphon Filter

Syphon Filter is a response to 1998's monumentally successful Metal Gear Solid. The original Metal Gear Solid was, and still is, highly regarded for its perfect mix between story and stealth-espionage action. Syphon Filter attempted to grasp that same feel, and it doesn't even try to hide it. There is a fight very similar to the Hind battle, not to mention that the main protagonist, Gabe Logan, somewhat resembles Solid Snake himself. Add that with an abundance of cinematics and horribly aged animations, and you've got the appearance of a direct Metal Gear Solid clone. Is that all what Syphon Filter is? Absolutely not. It's entertaining on its own merit on different terms, but that doesn't automatically clear it of its aged level design and occasional frustrating moments.

In Syphon Filter, you take on the role of Gabe Logan, a special operations field agent, investigating a series of biological outbreaks triggered by international terrorist Erich Rhoemer with his partner Lian. When fellow agent Ellis loses contact during a mission in Costa Rica the top-secret Agency dispatches Gabe and Lian to find him. Yet they discover Ellis is dead, and Rhoemer's suspected drug operation is a cover for the viral operation. Another outbreak in Nepal leads to more questions when an infected person who should have died did not. While portions of Syphon Filter are indeed front-loaded with these story portions, the story isn't as focused or fleshed out as its competitor. That's not to say the story is bad, just merely competent and nothing more. Every plot twist and revelation you'll more than likely guess ahead of time, but it's a fun ride. It very much reminded me of those Pierce Brosnan James Bond films.

Action is the area of expertise Syphon Filter excels in. While the game is built up to be a stealth hybrid, again similar to Metal Gear Solid, make no mistake about it - this is a third-person shooter. Shooting is performed with the square button (as we may have all forgotten, the standard back then), while R1 is used to lock-on. Initially, movement may seem intuitive, as using the d-pad to move with early 3D game design isn't ideal. This is adhered to with the R2 and L2 buttons; allowing more freedom of side-to-side movement, with the only cost being a rather entertaining animation. The core gameplay is very entertaining, however, at about the halfway point, frustration begins to kick in. The lock-on system becomes practically useless, as nearly every enemy has a flak jacket, requiring you to master the art of the headshot, unless you want to dig deep into your ammunition amounts. Managing the first-person PS1 reticle is difficult enough, but lining up your shots in the heat of the moment only to be a pixel off, then to die from said situation is absolutely frustrating. Many of these instances suffer as much as they do from simple "old game" design attributes. For instance, the worst mission in the game pits you against several agents in a pitch-black cave. This particular mission was incredibly annoying, as not only could you instantly be shot by any guy around that corner you, but you could just as easily die from a ledge you didn't know was there. In a modern engine, these issues simply wouldn't occur. While much this may come off as mostly negative, I enjoyed nearly every other mission available, particularly in the opening half.

Technically, Syphon Filter obviously hasn't aged well; how many games from this era have? No memorable music tracks are featured. Graphics are muddy, too dark, and extremely dated. On the surface, the voice acting is above average for the generation, but there was always one thing I couldn't get past: the speed. It seems it would be perfectly competent if they just didn't say everything so damn fast.

Time has seemed to have forgotten all about Syphon Filter, for reasons I am truly unable to see. While some aspects of this review may have me across as leaning more negative than positive, I absolutely enjoyed my time with Syphon Filter. The entire game has certainly held up better than a majority of the titles from the PS1 and N64 era, but we have yet to see a title released in the series for nearly a decade. Sure, the model third-person shooter has hanged dramatically, but a brand new entry would be welcomed. I know that I for one will be on the lookout for its sequels at my local establishments.