When the first Syphon Filter was released back in 1999, quite a few gamers were surprised at the overall quality of the game, especially given that its developer (Eidetic) had started out by making the infamous Bubsy 3D a few years earlier. The game’s mission-oriented structure and combination of action and exploration was an interesting counterpoint to Konami’s stealthier, more cinematic Metal Gear Solid; there were enough fresh elements here to make the game a bit more challenging in spots. Two sequels were turned out, and despite decent plots, more action and even some two-player modes, both sold less than the first game. Sony gave Gabe Logan a rest for a few years and after some well-deserved R & R, he’s back…but not exactly in action. The first PS2 entry in the series, Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain gives players the chance to be new operatives under the service of Gabe Logan, now head of The Agency. It’s a bold move for the series (think Metal Gear Solid, but with Snake moved to being a talking Codec head rather than a playable character), and the inclusion of online play makes for some incredibly fun moments. However, a number of oddball design decisions by Sony’s Bend studio make the game somewhat more trouble to get into than it should be and keep it from being one of those games that you feel the need to drop everything to rush out and buy right away. It’s definitely good, but it really could have been a bit better.

Things start out peachy with a solid character creation setup, and continue onward with some great cut-scenes and mission goals that’ll keep you coming back again and again. The game has an online and offline mode featuring 17 missions that follow the same plot, and your guy or gal will gain access to a rather impressive arsenal of weapons, awards, and upgrades as the game progresses. While the single-player game is well done for the most part, there are a number of objectives that can only be accomplished by two or more players. In some stages you’ll need a second guy to boost you up to a higher spot or turn a valve while you dash for an item. Some of these objectives feel like they could have been done better as a single-player game, but TOS is programmed to make certain tasks nearly impossible for one to complete by throwing waves of randomly re-spawning enemies at you. I’m not sure if this was done to simulate bots in an online game or just a way to artificially increase the difficulty, or both. But it’s annoying at best, and leaves too many stages with no real strategy in dealing with the enemy nor the satisfying feeling one gets from clearing out an area after some tough work. It’s just too weird to see the streets littered with ammo packs after you dispatch 10 enemies and have more show up as soon as you run forward a few feet. The best thing I can say about this is that if you need ammo or target practice, The Omega Strain will generally pump out baddies from all directions at a steady pace.

Speaking of a steady pace, missions here are pretty hectic affairs that require some amount of patience to complete successfully. You’re dropped at an insert point and you get fed mission updates on the fly as you’re running around completing tasks (or trying to complete tasks). While there are a number of missions where some minor stealth comes into play, for the most part, you’re running like you’re in a Quake deathmatch, and dying just as much. There’s no balance to some missions at all, nor any real penalty for dying in the game. You’ll get sent back to a re-spawn point, often with enemies taking potshots at you almost as soon as you appear onscreen. Oddly, it’s entirely possible to finish a mission yet have a number of incomplete objectives either because you missed an item, ran out of time, or weren’t playing online. As to the online mode, TOS fares much better as you can pre-plan what everyone on your team will be doing and just where he or she’ll be going before you tackle those virtual terrorists. As long as each member does his or her part as best they can, you’ll be reaping the benefits. Terrorists and other armed angry folks out to kill you aside, this definitely isn’t the well-oiled machine that SOCOM II is, nor is it as tactically precise as Rainbow Six 3. It’s sort of a hybrid of those two with a dash of Counter-Strike thrown in, but the mélange of influences takes too much away from the otherwise great plot.

 I was hoping that TOS would take on a more straightforward control scheme, but the developers sort of stuck with tradition. The controls will take a bit of getting used to if you’re new to the series, and if you have the old games lying around, you’ll want to polish up your skills a bit. This is partly because not only is every button on the PS2 pad used, the game sticks with the same animation and control layouts from previous Syphon Filter games, layouts that were quirky at best. While it’s great that you can run in one direction and fire in another and roll to avoid fire, the animation is a bit over exaggerated with characters leaning into moves like Method actors working overtime. Targeting is also occasionally weird- the game has a target lock and manual aiming, but they’re best used together in some of the trickier missions. Overall, the game’s difficulty balance mostly depends on how well you adjust to the control scheme and deal with the overabundance of enemies it throws at you. 17 missions may not seem like a lot of gameplay, but trust me folks, some of these stages demand replaying. Not only can you work on your timing and strategies for the multiplayer game (you can find all the “Team member required” spots in single-player, and come back to them online), you’ll also earn more and better weapons as you better your stage times.

As far as the visuals, they have to be taken as a whole package, because if you start to pick each area apart or compare TOS to other titles, you’ll find more that works against the game than for it. You’ve got some massive levels, nice lighting effects, and a couple of really cool sets like the Carthage and Yemen stages. Some of the texture work and modeling are a bit bland, but given that you’re generally running around trying not to get killed, you may not notice too much. It really seems like the developer was trying for a look that’s an update to the older games’ style and not a super-detailed Splinter Cell-esque world. If you can deal with that (graphics whores go stand on the other corner, please), then you’ll enjoy the game a lot more. One thing that’s irksome is the game is pretty low resolution and there’s not much in the way of “creative” lighting in some spots, which makes getting through unlit areas a real challenge. The sounds and music are interesting in that the overall voice acting and sound FX work are excellent, but the score is sort of generic and forgettable. Then again, a real-life op wouldn’t have quality music blasting in their ears as they were trying to plant C4 in a furnace or save a CHA officer from a pair of terrorists in a theater.

There are a few big issues here, like the lack of HDD support, the mapping system not being very useful in areas with more than two or three levels, some online bugs (why do some enemies wait until you shoot to fire back?), and coming within a centimeter of fire often makes your character go up in flames like they’ve got pockets full of leaky lighter fluid cans. There’s also no way to pause the action in the game online. Yes, I know that’s part of what makes online gaming so “special”, but if you need to take a bathroom break in the middle of a tough map you’d better have an empty bottle nearby or move your TV and PS2 within range of the toilet. Probably the biggest issue here is that while the game has some excellent story materials to be found (once you start reading those Zeus Files, you’ll be hooked on locating all of them), the fact that you’ll die perhaps a dozen times in a level and not really lose anything other than time takes some of the urgency away from it. At first I was frustrated with some stages in the game, but after a few hours of rinse and repeat gameplay, I got into the whole process of run, shoot, roll, die, re-spawn. I’d have liked to have more of an emotional attachment to the game and the characters, but it never really came during the time I spent with TOS. Maybe the next game should dump the online aspect or focus on creating two separate experiences for those who want some more meat in their stew.

 Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain is a weird one to call. It’s a good game, but a taxing game experience. Overall, the game left me feeling like it was worked on for so long and overly tweaked for online play, with not too much attention paid to the single-player campaign. Gabe Logan gets relegated to a desk job (there is a single mission where he’s playable) and ends up being missed somewhat. The game also tries too hard to be like the older games in its mannerisms, but that was a bit of a mistake as well. Had Sony gone and tried to do something completely new and exciting with TOS rather than just put a PS2 spit shine on the franchise, they might have had a major hit on their hands. As it is, it’s definitely a rental first, and if you like what you play, whip out the wallet and pay full price. You’ll also want to get a few friends to go along online, as the game excels there over its more demanding single-player campaign. JS