Syphon Filter
PlayStation
Nostalgia Factor:
Syphon Filter was insanely hyped when it came out back in 1999. I remember all the video game magazines going nuts over it and calling it the next Metal Gear Solid. I was a huge Metal Gear fan at the time, so I was very intrigued. I went out and rented this game the weekend it came out. My initial reaction was: WTF is this?
It was nothing like Metal Gear. The story was not very interesting, nor were the characters. It didn't look as good as Metal Gear. The controls weren't as polished. And the gameplay itself was nothing like Metal Gear. Metal Gear was a cinematic stealth game with action elements. If anything, Syphon Filter was more of a run and gun shooter with jank controls that took place from a behind-the-back, Tomb Raider-esque perspective.
I didn't make it very far the weekend I rented this game. I just didn't like it. I want to say I made it to the subway level where everything goes up in flames, and then I got stuck. I ended up bringing the game back to Blockbuster when my three days were up, extremely disappointed. I felt lied to by the video game magazines that had praised this game so highly.
Guess what my dumb ass did? I rented it a second time. All those game magazines couldn't be wrong, right? Clearly I was at fault, here, and I just didn't understand the game. Well, I had an even worse time with the game the second time around. Never ended up making it out of the subway area (again), which was like 1/10th of the way through the game.
After returning Syphon Filter to the video store for the second time, I swore off the game. I didn't know if it was good or bad, but it just wasn't for me. I wouldn't pick up Syphon Filter again until March of 2024, when I downloaded an emulated version off of the PlayStation Store. This was 25 years after the game first came out. Would my opinion of the game change? No. I got stuck again. I quickly became frustrated and moved onto other things.
Now, here we are in 2026. I'm trying to tie up some loose ends and finish a bunch of games that I once started and never came back to. I'm not sure if you noticed the trend in some my recent reviews:
Alien Syndrome
Ecco: Defender of the Future
The Legend of Dragoon
Far Cry 5
All games I started in the past, but could never complete. Let's add Syphon Filter to the list. Fourth time is a charm, right? Let's find out.
Story:
I think one of the reasons the game was such a big letdown for me was because of its storyline. It's just not interesting at all. It feels like a generic action movie, akin to something like Mission Impossible or Die Hard, but not nearly as interesting. Just look at the main character. He is so generic and bland. Even after beating the game, I still don't remember his name. Ethan? Imagine playing Metal Gear and not remembering at the end of the game that you played as Solid fucking Snake.
(I looked it up and his name is Gabriel Logan. Good to know.)
You are a member of the special forces, fighting a terror group that is attacking Washington, DC. They plant bombs in the subway and threaten everyone with chemical weapons. You run in there, guns ablazing, to take them out. The action spreads to different areas of DC, like Washington Park and The Freedom Memorial. After the threat is quelled, you take on a spy role and have to infiltrate a museum to... I don't know. The game and its storyline are a giant, poorly written mess.
Long story short: you are good. You are fighting the bad guys. You eventually go to their base and wipe them out.
I didn't like the storyline as a kid, and I didn't like it now. It really is a giant mess. It's confusing. There is no character development. The dialog sucks. There is no coherent storytelling whatsoever. It just moves you from one giant set piece to another. Absolutely nothing like Metal Gear Solid, which enraptured me with its deep story and its rich collection of eclectic characters. I hate to keep bringing up Metal Gear, but you have to understand what this game was being compared to when it first came out.
I still don't like the storyline, but I've come to peace with it. It is what it is. I kind of zoned out and stopped paying attention just a few missions into the game, because I knew it didn't really matter in the long run. If they couldn't put in the effort to give us a fun or interesting storyline, I wasn't going to put in the effort to care about the crap they put in front of us.
Gameplay:
All right, here comes the most important part of my review: the gameplay segment. I crapped all over the game's storyline, but all will be forgiven if the game is actually fun to play. So, is it fun to play? That's debatable.
I will say that I enjoyed it here in 2026 more than I did on any of my three previous attempts to play the game. There is a learning curve. Just moving your character takes some practice. I swear, this feels like the most bottom-heavy video game character I've ever controlled in a game before. It feels like he is being weighed down by his ass or something. It's hard to describe. It's like you're running forward and when you turn, only the top half of your character moves and points you where you want to go. And then it takes the rest of your body a second to catch up. Going around corners is weird, too. You go around them extremely wide. Your character's physics and momentum are just "off" in a way that is hard to describe. I read somewhere on Reddit that Gabriel has "child-bearing hips" and I can't help but chuckle at that description because it feels accurate. While we are talking about controls, climbing is probably the most jank thing in the game. It's incredibly awkward lining your character up. You have to be almost pixel perfect, and one misstep will send you falling to your death. Once you figure out how to handle the controls, switch weapons, aim for your opponents' heads, etc, things become easier.
After my first day playing this game, I had already made it farther than I did on all of my previous attempts combined. I think I made it to the museum. Approaching the game from a different angle definitely helped me. This isn't Metal Gear. It's Tomb Raider. Or at least Tomb Raider adjacent. It's definitely more combat focused than either title, especially at the beginning of the game.
Once you hit the museum, the stealth elements finally kick in. You have to sneak around and follow a character. If you are spotted, you instantly lose. You have to master the art of waiting for the perfect opportunity and then headshotting the guards with your silenced weapon.
The game shifts back and forth between stealth and action from this point forward. It's still more action based, I would say. As much as I wanted to like the game, I found that the controls and the unbalanced difficulty level kept me from truly being able to enjoy it. When the game is feeling fair, things click along pretty well. But the problem is that the game loves to throw unexpected surprises at you that can kill you before you barely even have a chance to react. And then back to the last checkpoint you go. Sometimes there are long gaps between checkpoints, meaning you must replay long segments of the game again. This may have been acceptable in 1999, but in the present day - no one has time for that shit. Luckily, the version of the game I played on the PS4 has save states and a rewind feature, which I abused the hell out of.
It gets really difficult around the time that enemies with flak jackets are introduced. You either have to unload an entire clip (or two) of ammo on the enemy to kill him, or you have to line up a precision headshot to take him down immediately. Obviously, the headshot is the more sensible option, especially if you are low on ammo. Plus, it takes the enemy down much quicker. When enemies lock onto you, they can drain your health FAST, like in one or two seconds. Imagine the frustration of going on a near-perfect run, only for some standard enemy to come around the corner and kill you in less than two seconds because you aren't quick enough to get a headshot off. Stuff like that happens in this game all the time, especially in the caves. Add in the fact that it is ridiculously dark and hard to see, and it all adds up to one frustrating experience.
And then there is the climbing. Again, this becomes a problem in the dark cave levels at the end of the game. There is almost no grace issued by the game when you fall. There's a part where you have to climb down a vertical tunnel next to a catwalk, and let me tell you it was extremely maddening to pull off - even with save states. Don't even get me started on the level where you have to escape from the flaming warehouse. There are a ton of areas where you'll be walking on a catwalk and it just falls out from underneath you with no warning whatsoever. Boom. Dead. Come on, game! And I almost forgot the part where you have to climb on a T-Rex in the museum while saving a man who is being held at gunpoint. One bad move and you die. One bad shot and he dies. Back to the checkpoint you go. Another supremely frustrating moment in the game.
Now that this is all out of my system, let's focus on the positive. Despite its flaws, this is an addicting game. Once I figured out the nuances of its control system, everything started to click into place for me. I wanted to keep playing and see where the game would take me next. I had no interest in the game's storyline. I was all about the fun locations and the different strategies required to advance. I truly enjoyed the stealth levels the most. Like the snowy base section, where you are trying to get into the bunker. There's something super cool about sneaking around in the dark during a gentle snowfall, picking off enemies one by one. At the same time, the levels where you'd go in guns blazing were fun, also. My main beef with the game is its difficulty and unfairness level towards the end of the game.
All in all, I'd rate my experience with the gameplay as slightly above average. I was never enamored with the game, but I never hated it either. It had its parts where it was addicting and fun, and it had its parts where I wanted to pull my hair out. By the time I made it to the end of the game, I was beyond ready to be done with it.
Graphics:
This game has that classic jagged-edge polygonal look to it associated with PlayStation games from the 90s. A lot of people don't like this look, and consider it one of the more ugly eras of gaming. But I love it.
I can look right at this game and criticize its blockiness, sloppy textures, and uninspired enemy design, but I can also appreciate its look at the same time. There's just something about this era of gaming I find undeniably charming.
Where this game shines is in its locations. As I mentioned before, there are several real life locations from Washington DC that appear in the game. My favorite is the Washington Park level. I posted a screenshot of it above. It may not look like much, but the whole level is so incredibly atmospheric. It's dark, misty, and rainy. You're walking around with these green-tinted night vision goggles on. It's quiet. The sound of rainfall draws you in. It's hard not to completely lose yourself in the game. Whatever the tone was that the makers of Syphon Filter were going for, I feel this level is the truest embodiment of that tone.
The other levels look good, too. I particularly enjoyed shooting bad guys among the exhibits in the museum. Getting into a gun fight right next to the big space ships, aquariums and dioramas of the museum is truly a special feeling. Especially when you look at the detail put into the environment.
Sound:
Hard to get too excited about the game's sound. I don't remember any of the music and the voice acting is terrible. I suppose I'll give credit where it is due - the game does minimalism well. I'll use the Washington Park level as an example yet again. Put some headphones on when you play this level. It's dark. It's quiet. All you hear is the pitter patter of the rain and the blowing of the wind. It really makes you feel on edge, like you are a part of the game's world.
Aside from that, I don't really have anything else to say. The game sounds fine. Nothing more, nothing less. Fine.
Overall:
I really wish I liked this game more than I ended up liking it. At least I was able to get more out of it than I ever did as a kid. But like I said, this game is a very mixed bag. When the gameplay is clicking, it is fun to play. I enjoyed seeing what new locations or fun missions I'd experience next. But so much of the game is bogged down by vague mission objectives and extreme difficulty spikes. Some of the crap they throw at you towards the end of the game is just downright unfair, and it nearly ruined the whole thing for me.
If I had to sum up the game in the simplest of terms, I would say it is "slightly above average." I didn't like the game well enough to give it a score in the B range. It isn't bad enough for a D. It just kind of hovers around the average or slightly above average range for me. I suppose I'll be generous with the game. I like its look. I had fun with it (most of the time). There's just something undeniably charming about the game that I can't deny. It didn't get critical acclaim and spawn a bunch of sequels for nothing. But at the same time, the game pissed me off and frustrated me like no other. And that is even with save states and a rewind feature. I can't fathom playing this game to completion back in 1999. I would have gone absolutely insane.
So I suppose a C+ is more than fair. In fact, Syphon Filter should take it and run before I change my mind.
THE GRADE:
C+
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