- PlayStation.
- Video Game.
- Action / Adventure.
- first person.
- shooter.
Product description
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.com
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The measure of a good game, like a good movie or book, is the
emotional and, sometimes, physical response it elicits. Syphon
Filter will literally make your pulse race. As counterterrorist
special agent Gabe Logan, you must eliminate an evil terrorist
determined to unleash a deadly virus in our nation's capital.
Syphon Filter features the smoothest, slickest motion capture of
any PlayStation game. Gabe seems to come alive as he seamlessly
connects acrobatics such as running, crouching, rolling, and
hanging from pipes. As in a good action film, there's an
impressive arsenal of firepower that ranges from stealthy
night-vision sniper s to high-impact, short-range s.
But this game's landmark contribution is its targeting control,
which enables Gabe to lock and hold on to a target while freely
moving in any direction, eliminating the hassle of adjusting the
viewpoint to face his enemies. There are plenty of surprises, but
all the goals are evident, and your partner, Lian Xing, keeps
things rolling along with radio messages of changing mission
objectives. Everything in this game plays smoothly: the story
line fits, the action moves at a steady clip, it just works.
--Jeff Young
Pros:
* Fluid, stylish animation
* Useful weaponry and contextual puzzles
* Excellent level design
Cons:* Occasional slowdown when many enemies are onscreen at the
same time
* No 2-player mode
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From the Manufacturer
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Washington D.C. is threatened by the deployment of a biological
weapon capable of killing millions. Your orders are to end the
terrorist standoff through the only means available -- direct
assault tactics. The action ensues with heated non-stop fun fire
international intrigue and a devastating conspiracy.
Review
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While there's something to be said for pure originality in game
design, games are, more often than not, a collection of proven
ideas from previous titles put together and given a new face.
With one part GoldenEye, one part Metal Gear Solid, and a dash of
Tomb Raider contained in its gameplay, Syphon Filter just about
perfects this concept.
You are cast in the role of Gabe Logan, a field agent for the
mysterious Washington DC-based "Agency." Someone is releasing a
deadly virus that is wiping out villages all over the Third
World, and it's your mission to find out who is behind it, and,
of course, stop them. The plot is interwoven with plenty of
intrigue and unanswered questions but never gets bogged down,
using gameplay instead of lengthy cinemas to tell much of the
story. The game does use FMV in between missions, but it's
usually brief. The between-mission video is rendered in a
nice-looking style that is reminiscent of the square-jawed
Adventures of Batman and Robin cartoon.
The game takes place from a Tomb Raider-style behind-the-back
perspective, making excellent use of character transparency when
you get close to a wall. L1 activates a first-person targeting
mode, allowing you to easily (well, if you've got a steady hand,
anyway) cap bad guys in the head. This mode also lets you duck
and lean, allowing you to hide behind corners, lean out, take a
, and get out of before any of the ed men can draw
a bead on you. When you are spotted, a small danger meter
appears. The higher the meter goes, the closer the enemy is to
being ed in on you. A target meter works similarly when you
use the autotargeting. If the target meter is full, you're
guaranteed to hit with your . An empty meter means that you
don't even have a clear line of to your target. Other moves
include a directional roll, which is great for getting out of the
way of enemy fire. There's no jumping in the game, which at first
seems a bit strange, as does the rest of the control, but it all
quickly comes into focus. One thing that could have been improved
is the analog control. While the game controls pretty well with
the D-pad, the only thing the analog is good for is lining up
head s in first-person mode. With better analog support, the
game could have had a walk mode. As it is, Gabe runs around at
full speed all the time, unless you hold X to execute the
crouched walk. This leads to some hectic situations where you
need to position yourself in a precise spot but can't because
Gabe is running around all silly-like. Thankfully, this rarely
happens, and once you've spent some time with the control, it
won't be a very big issue.
The mission design is so varied that you never get tired of it.
Some objectives are very straightforward "kill the guy at the end
of the level" kind of things, while others require you to find
and tag bombs and then guard the bomb squad personnel that shows
up to defuse the bomb. Another great mission requires you to tail
someone through a museum. The path he travels is guarded, and
being spotted ends the mission, so you must let him get out of
range before taking the guards out with your silenced pistol. You
must also take care to always shoot for the head, as body s
will allow the guards to alert other guards. Head s, as you
might guess, never get old. The game's got a variety of weapons
to use. You'll start with a silenced 9mm pistol and eventually
find grenade launchers, machine pistols, and a variety of s.
One of the s has the ability to shred flak jackets, making
it invaluable to those of you that can't make a head under
pressure. Of course, ammo is limited, especially for such a
useful weapon. If you're completely careless with your ammo, you
may find yourself stuck with the taser. While it's not a very
useful weapon, the taser has an extremely cool effect. Zap a guy
with it and the camera will switch to a position behind your
victim. Keep pounding the fire button and he'll eventually just
catch on fire. Very nice.
The game has reasonably good AI. Some guys will run and hide as
soon as they spot you. If you duck for cover, some of the enemies
might lob grenades your way. The main problem is that most of the
enemies in the game are really bad s. You could run circles
around two or three guys, shooting at them nonstop, and you'd
kill them all before they even hit you once. Thankfully, the
guards are better s in the later levels. Also, the
later-level enemies are all wearing flak jackets, forcing you to
go for the head or pump their chests full of 20 or so s
instead. --Jeff Gerstmann
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