Gabe Logan and Syphon Filter are back and better than ever.
March 14 2006, is the day when Gabe Logan left a true mark in PSP history, as he was featured as the main role in Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, a game that revolutionized the PSP, and all of hand held gaming in general. And yet Gabe, and SCEA return to make an even better game, Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow. You once again return as a much older Gabe Logan, and immediately the action begins as he is sent in to investigate a stolen ship. The even bigger problem is all the corruption in the agency. To start you don't even know your leader well, and your best friend Lian Xing has been missing for what seems like forever. With all these problems going on it's hard to see how it could get any worse, but in the world of Syphon filter anything can happen. Gabe Logan is again sent to a wide variety of locations and will have to team up with a whole bunch of people, and with his slick array of weapons this one shouldn't be too difficult for our hero. The story is written by a famous author, which hasn't been done before in the Syphon Filter series, and it truly is the best job of writing.
To players of Dark Mirror and even more so Syphon Filter veterans, this game may seem quite the same from the beginning. And on the outside it really is. You basically sneak around shooting down your enemies, and it can be played as a very stealthily game, or you can go all out sacrificing your life for the craziness you crave. However, really to get the most out of the experience, the game should be set to hard mode, and even though there is target lock it shouldn't be used. Once you set these options the game is very tense and fun. You will become a master at hiding behind cover and shooting enemies from good points. But SCEA have thrown in some new game play elements that add a great amount of depth to an otherwise great game.
Those features include brand new water levels, a new blind fire idea, and some new ways to react to the environment. There is a blind fire feature which you probably won't use, because your shots rarely hit, and it is more like a waste of bullets. The water levels are featured in many parts of the game. The basic scheme is setting you up in a full 3D water area where you will be doing Gabe's normal deeds. A problems with the water levels are that you can't lean against cover, so it's could be hard to stay alive if people are shooting at you and you can defend yourself. But really the idea is great, and SCEA designed a new batch of weapons to used underwater, because Gabe's normal tools won't work that well. But aside from underwater weapons there are also plenty of other weapons that are being featured for the first time. That's right, now Logan is even more powerful, because he has things like grenade launchers and sticky mines at his disposal, plus all the weapons from Dark Mirror, including favorites like the Chinese Type 56, and the Sawed off Pistol. However, many of the news weapons are hard to find in single player, and are more useful in multi player, but they are still pretty sweet to use against people you don't even know.
Ever since Dark Mirror, Syphon Filter has had highly regarded multi player. In fact many people would argue that Syphon Filter has the best multi player on the PSP. And yes all the goodness has returned, but has dropped some of the old, in order to pick up a whole load of new. At times it did seem impossible to change Syphon Filter online play, but SCEA has done it. To start, the games now have more options. You can now choose what class of weapons everybody carries, so you can be sure that players are using snipers only, or that players are being truthful when they say they're going in empty handed. Also there are some minor customization options when it comes to the levels. In these all new levels, you can choose to have a clear day, a flood, or fog. There is almost no difference between clear day and fog, but flood changes the environment completely. Basically any lower parts of the level are flooded with water, which really puts the underwater idea to the test. An example is in the Canyon level (which is one of the many returning greats) where the whole level is flooded, up to the height of the bridge. It's quite fun, and you'll have to choose weapons mainly for underwater play. Aside from those changes to the levels, SCEA have also added new little object like exploding barrels, and turrets that open up the game play and make it more tense. They've also added a new XP system which makes it much easier to know how close you are to getting promoted to a new rank. But with these new ideas come some disappointing changes as well.
The worst change is that there are no longer badges awarded, making game play a lot more dull, since your work will provide nothing to show off. Probably even more disappointing then that is no unlockable weapons, so you rank up and earn nothing. This could just be helping noobs get into the game, instead of getting shot down right away, but for the real men its hard to have fun. Another idea for the noobs, is the criteria for a ranked game. You must have 4 players or more at all times, there must be an equal amount of players at all times, and the rules must fit ranked game criteria, for the scores to count. Sure it sounds like a good idea, and probably is, but if your are dominating the other team, and suddenly one of there players leaves, the game is no longer ranked. This comes as a huge disappointment, and costs you valuable hours of game play, unless you come in with an unaggressive mind and don't care about ranks, but most people will be frustrated with this new idea. However, with so much new stuff to offer it's hard to stay mad for very long, it's especially hard if you have beautiful graphics to look at.
Yes once again Gabe and his crew dish out some nice eye candy. Typically during the scenes before every part of the game, the graphics are outstanding looking near Ps3 quality. During the game the graphics are obviously not nearly as nice, but still some of the best, once again, on the PSP. On every person there is plenty of detail that went into the clothes. Gabe in particular has plenty of gadgets all over his jacket. There is also plenty of details in facial expressions and weapons. The amazing thing is the smoothness of the motions. They looking completely realistic, whether running, walking, shooting or simply ducking behind cover. Jumping doesn't look very real sometimes, because Gabe appears to be floating in the air a bit. But there are certainly a lot more goods to talk about. Gun fire looks really real, and explosions do well for themselves, releasing a large amount of fire and smoke, and making different sizes and shapes on the screen, in complete 3D. Yup, it's something to admire. The camera also gets the action from all the right angles, and is never at all frustrating. There are also a good amount of angles, giving it a bit of a cinematic feel. Another great thing is that the frame rate never gives up. The game is always running smoothly, and there are no pauses. Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow looks great, and sounds just as great.
With a crew, including the guy who did the 300 soundtrack, it's no wonder that Logan's Shadow has music that's just as great. Like Dark Mirror there is a sad tone to the music and it fits the game really well, and sometimes adds to the tension of the stealthy world. Aside from all this music, there are some great actors who contribute their brilliant voices to the game. Gabe has his deep, mean, rough voice that fits him well, and all the other characters also have well fitting voices. It could be thanks to the great dialog they got to read, but nevertheless, it's done well. Plus there are the great sound effects that add to the great game. Like Dark Mirror, however, the guns do sound slightly washed out, but nevertheless they are realistic. From the sound of a pistol to a grenade launcher, they really went all out to get the sound for this game, but something always goes wrong with the clarity.
Many would argue that Dark Mirror is the best game on the PSP, but it can't be because along came Logan's Shadow, and it's slightly better. Though the core of the old game is still alive in this one, it's really all the bonus little things they've added that pushed it even beyond that extra mile. While making the online play they made some sacrifices here and there, and hopefully the next game will have the best of both, because this online wasn't necessarily better. Although the single player sure was. The great addition of 3D underwater levels was added, and is very fun to play, but there is still plenty of opportunity for improvement. But the game looks great, sounds great, and has a great story, thanks to a famous writer. It earns a well deserved score of 9.6 out of 10.