The original Syphon Filter for the PlayStation made quite a splash with its blend of third-person stealth and shooting action. Unfortunately, subsequent games in the series failed to live up to the promise of the original game, with the most recent version on the PlayStation 2 being especially disappointing. That's why it came as a pleasant surprise that the newest version of the game, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror for the PSP, turned out as well as it did.
In Dark Mirror, you'll reprise the role of superspy Gabe Logan as you investigate the mysterious attacks on chemical plants by a terrorist organisation. The story isn't all that great, but the way in which the game presents it is simply amazing for the PSP.
Throughout the game's seven-mission campaign, there's a near-constant stream of speech as Gabe coordinates his operations with his partner, Lian Xing, and handler, Teresa, back at the base. There are also a tonne of in-engine cutscenes, complete with lip-synched characters, which help move the plot along and point you toward your next objective. The writing in Dark Mirror does get hackneyed at times, but it's in a cheesy, Arnold Schwarzenegger-movie way that's liable to amuse you rather than irritate you--"I'll see you in hell, Gabe!" "Not if I see you first!" No matter how you feel about the story, you can't help but feel impressed with the way it's presented in the game--the production values in Dark Mirror are greater than that of most PS2 or Xbox action games. In other words, this is the kind of thorough treatment you'd expect from something like Grand Theft Auto.
Dark Mirror allows you to be as stealthy or aggressive as you like.
Dark Mirror isn't all about the movie-like presentation, though. As a superspy, Gabe's got quite a variety of moves, weapons, and gadgets at his disposal, and you'll use all of his tricks as you make your way through the game's campaign. Since the game combines stealth and action, you've got a useful radar display that you can use to help you get the jump on enemies. There's also an array of different vision modes, including low-light night vision, thermal imaging for finding bad guys, and another special, "EDSU" mode that you can use to help you find switches and other interactive objects in the environment. It's also great for showing you dangers, such as laser trip mines.
The sneaking and shooting is enhanced by Gabe's ability to stick his back up against the wall and peek discreetly around corners and over low walls. From here, Syphon Filter takes a page from such games as kill.switch by giving you the ability to aim around the corner while under cover and immediately pop out to shoot. Aiming is done with the four face buttons, while moving is done with the analog stick.
While the moving and aiming scheme sounds pretty standard, the control is not as awkward in Syphon Filter as it is in most other shooter games on the PSP. The controls aren't perfect, though, as you'll still feel flustered at times when the aggressive artificial intelligence charges you and you flail about trying to attack them at point-blank range. There are also times when we struggled to get Gabe to stick to a wall. But this is still easily the best control scheme for a shooter we've ever experienced on the PSP, besting even SOCOM in that aspect.
Dark Mirror's campaign only lasts about seven or eight hours, but the action is both dense and intense, and the game is paced extremely well with the help of a lot of checkpoints, quick loading times after deaths, and a friendly amount of health packs and body armour pickups. You'll travel to locales ranging from the frozen base in Alaska to the jungles of South America, as well as various strongholds scattered throughout Europe. Most of the missions have you sneaking and shooting your way through the bases, but the type of action you'll see is satisfyingly varied
Dark Mirror looks amazing on the PSP.
The balance between sneaking and shooting is good and, for the most part, entirely up to you. If you're inclined to sneaking, you'll have ample opportunity to creep around, get behind unsuspecting enemies, and then snap their necks, pistol whip them, or put a silenced round into their skulls. The game rewards you for going stealth by reducing the number of enemies you face and sometimes even giving you alternate paths through the level that are easier, if you are especially sneaky and pick up key codes. However, if you prefer to just go guns blazing the whole time, you can do that too.
Your performance in the single-player game, including your play style and the hidden pickups you find, helps unlock additional weapons and abilities for multiplayer action, such as new shotguns, extra health, larger ammo reservoirs, and even the ability to dual wield.
Syphon Filter's multiplayer modes allow up to eight players over adhoc or online through infrastructure mode. The features available online include leaderboards, buddy lists, a server browser, and the ability to create clans or "cells" as they're called in the game. It's also interesting that the game includes support for voice chat for those who have a PSP headset/mic unit.
We already mentioned how good the game looks from a presentation standpoint, but Syphon Filter is easily as impressive to look at in-game as it is during the cutscenes. Environments and levels show a lot of detail, as do the character models, which bristle with pouches and other accoutrements on the uniforms. Gabe's guns are always visible on his person, and you'll see him unsling and resling guns from his back as you swap weapons. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Dark Mirror looks better than some similar games on the PS2.
With everything Dark Mirror has to offer, including its great controls, varied campaign, and high-calibre presentation, Syphon Filter is easy to recommend to anyone who likes action games. The stealth in the game isn't as hardcore as something like Thief or Metal Gear Solid, but it's also not forced on you either, so fans of both sneaking and shooting can play Dark Mirror however they wish. Our biggest complaints are with the relatively brief campaign and some hiccups in the sound design, but with the available eight-player online multiplayer modes, we can't complain much about the value. Dark Mirror is easily one of the most surprisingly great games we've played in a while, if not an outright early contender for PSP Game of the Year.