Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror

Written by Tom Clare in PS2 Game Reviews, Thursday 25 December, 2008

Released: 2007
Developer: Sony Bend
Publisher: Sony
Genre: Action/Adventure
Platform: PS2

Off the back of three progressively more excellent PSOne releases, Syphon Filter unexpectedly took nose-dive of epic proportions in 2002 with its disastrous PS2 debut, The Omega Strain. Few series have suffered such a sharp decline in fortunes from one instalment to the next, but the good news is, Dark Mirror reverses the trend in almost equally momentous proportions, proving every bit as great as The Omega Strain was disappointing, and ranks comfortably among the PS2's best action/adventures.

It has almost everything a Syphon Filter should have; lacking only of the iconic mission loading screens with the luminous, bio-green text, and the famed tracer that read 'head shot' whenever your crosshairs passed over the desired spot on a foe. Any concerns as to its origins as a PSP game are quickly dispelled thanks to the sumptuous, bolstered visuals and a newly adapted control system superbly suited to the DualShock2.

Dark Mirror wastes no time in setting right the wrongs of the last game, as rather than having to design and play as your own anonymous grunt, you once again get to play as 'Mr Syphon Filter' himself Gabe Logan for the majority of the game, with a couple of sections handing control to his long-term associate Lian Xing, which are similarly welcome. Dark Mirror is a typically Bond-esque spy thriller, though we see a notably darker side to Gabe as past comes back to haunt him.

Played as ever from a third-person perspective, SF: DM is a remarkably satisfying experience that rewards a range of playing styles and tactics. In many instances, sneaky tactics and stealth can help you take down guards silently, whilst your reward for not being seen is a markedly reduced enemy count. Equally, going in blasting can be just as good; a decent aim allows you to take down foes with head shots but there's also scenery to consider - shooting boilers and barrels can wipe out several enemies in one go, whilst Dark Mirror also sports one of the most effective cover systems yet devised, allowing you to aim from relative safety behind objects and then pick your moment to pop out.

Movement is now noticeably more solid than previously; the endearing wobble-run now evidently a thing of the past. The PS2's second analogue stick gives it a more natural method of control than the PSP version and, aside from Gabe's horizontal rotation proving a fraction slow initially, there can be few complaints manoeuvrability-wise.

The gadgets you are kitted out with are superb and put to good and frequent use throughout the course of the adventure. The pick of the bunch include thermal goggles that outline the heat signatures of enemies (and otherwise hot scenery) even when they are taking cover behind walls, and these are particularly helpful when said goons are obscured by mist or darkness. Better still are the invaluable EDSU goggles, which reveal all nearby points of interaction and therefore proves endlessly useful to the player, highlighting everything from hidden evidence files, safes, locks that can be shot out, small health packs that the untrained eye would otherwise miss and also trip wires connected to potentially lethal explosive charges.

There are a number of other inspired touches - one level early on sees you sneaking through a room with two guards attempting to fix a dodgy television; you can of course shoot them or go for a couple of silent kills, but that's no fun. Instead, you can fire an explosive dart at the TV and then click the remote, which conjures up a load of static. Puzzled, the guards will head over to the set and you can then detonate the dart from a safe distance, bagging too kills for the price of one. In true Syphon Filter spirit, it's very uncommon to find a scenario in the game where you feel limited to just a single course of action. One dilemma sees an ally being held at gun point inside a room, but you can't enter without being seen; instead, Gabe can use infrared goggles to see through a curtain drape and take down his unknowing foe. Elsewhere, there's just a hint of Die Hard as you have to save a couple from an elevator that's about to plummet, and it just wouldn't be Syphon Filter without you getting to fight a tank and, with those aforementioned EDSU goggles, sussing out its weak points is more manageable.

Every facet of the game feels right; like it should be there. The boss fights tend to favour shrewd player tactics over simply putting you up against a giant health bar; one boss for example can be dispatched with a simple headshot, whilst another wields a flamethrower and wears a protective suit, but can be dispatched similarly quickly by shooting the fuel tank on his back (reminiscent of a great battle in the PlayStation original, which Gabe later makes reference to). Enemy intelligence is just right; soldiers provide covering fire for each other as they attempt to surround you or move nearer to your covering position and occasionally lob a grenade in your direction if you're cornered or being too defensive.

There's an impressively vast assortment of weapons on offer, almost all of which prove useful in their own right at one point or another, whilst there's substantial replay value as all of the 20-odd story levels can be replayed with goals such as achieving a certain number of stealth, knife and dart-based kills, and surviving the mission without dying are some of the ways to attain new agency badges that reward you with new guns, greater health capacity and bonus levels. And the bonus levels are well worth playing - one excellent sniper-themed effort allows you to pick off long-term SF villain Mara Aramov, which is an undeniable treat for fans. Even the training mission's deliver replay value, as completing the courses quickly is another way of getting weapons.

It's by far the best looking PSP-to-PS2 port thus far as not only does it not look out of place on the format, the levels are solid, pretty and diverse in their settings (hotels, snowfields, towns), with fine draw-distances, very little fogging and good quality character animations - the only hint of the games handheld roots are that some of the levels are, by modern expectations, slightly brief. The FMV's aren't of the highest quality, but as Syphon Filter was for sometime infamous for its square-headed protagonists, fans will take Dark Mirror's sequences without much complaint.

Though the levels may be a touch short, but there are more than thirty in total and as you'll need to replay them a fair bit to unearth everything they have to offer, this ultimately proves a blessing in disguise. There's an extremely generous helping of bonus features to attain by finding evidence files dotted about the levels, which include the usual art galleries and concept work but also a nice selection of music from Dark Mirror and its predecessors in both standard and remixed form, which is well worth getting as the audio side is another series strength that has sustained, with suitably rip-roaring action themes seamlessly mixing it with the token tension-building thrums and solid voice-acting.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror is more or less everything a long-term fan of the series could have wanted. An action-packed story mode offers a sturdy challenge and is aided considerably by a smart range of incentives that encourage play beyond completion. The improved controls and finely judged abilities attributed to Gabe Logan are matched by some occasionally devious level-design and fine A.I., plus the feeling that there is a bit more to this agent than simple fire and forget gameplay. It's far better than any PSP hand-me-down has any right to be; an essential purchase.

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