Syphon Filter didn't really age well. Yet, here I am pondering on its absolutely weird take on its combat system. Hit-scans? Projectiles? What the hell, is that, Syphon Filter tells its competitors.
It manages to accomplish a level of power-fantasy unique to its system, with you running into dozens of enemies while regularly maintaining a status bar.
Also has the O button for rolling. Yeah, that's it for that sentence.
It manages to accomplish a level of power-fantasy unique to its system, with you running into dozens of enemies while regularly maintaining a status bar.
Also has the O button for rolling. Yeah, that's it for that sentence.
I have a lot of memories of playing this game as a kid back in the day. Replaying it now I’m surprised 9 year old me had the patience! I don’t think I’d have bothered to finish this if the nostalgia didn’t keep me playing. MGS1 has aged gracefully in my opinion but this feels like a relic with frustrating controls and oftentimes obtuse mission objectives. I did enjoy my time playing through it though, especially with save states! I’m going to give the sequel a chance since I never played that properly when it released. It will have to be better than this for me to play through the rest of the series though.
Not sure if its me, but my first impressions of this game are rough. I did not play it until last year for the first time and its a little wooden for me to stick with. Maybe i'll give it another go later down the line.
Nice beginning of the franchise.
The subway fire level unironically scared the pants off of 8 year old me. I kept watching my brother play though.
A quick play through of one of my most beloved PlayStation experiences.
It’s full of jank and bullshit, but the rewind feature on PS5 makes it far more fun. Eternally GOATed.
It’s full of jank and bullshit, but the rewind feature on PS5 makes it far more fun. Eternally GOATed.
I would play a horde mode game that was only the train level of this game with a taser for infinity
Milleti kızartan bir ip atan kalemimi unutmam. Karşı binadaki sniperları vurmaya çalıştığınız bölüm. :(
I must say that i played this using the ps plus classic emulator, and honestly I think it enhanced the experience, cause of the rewind feature (without it, the game could be easily classified as frustating, and my rating would be lower).
Besides the strange control scheme and some unintuitive game design ( I Highly advice using a guide if you get stuck), which are due to it being more than 20 years old, This game has a lot to show: a Museum, a catacomb, a castle, a russian missile base, and a lot of interactivity with the enviroment, like shooting chandeliers, test tubes, locked gates and so on. It's more action oriented than metal gear, but there are some obligatory stealth sequences too. It's realy fun overrall and realy surprised me
Besides the strange control scheme and some unintuitive game design ( I Highly advice using a guide if you get stuck), which are due to it being more than 20 years old, This game has a lot to show: a Museum, a catacomb, a castle, a russian missile base, and a lot of interactivity with the enviroment, like shooting chandeliers, test tubes, locked gates and so on. It's more action oriented than metal gear, but there are some obligatory stealth sequences too. It's realy fun overrall and realy surprised me
Taze everyone to flames.
I used to remember this game fondly until I went back and played it again recently. Definitely has not aged the best. Like many games of this era its sometimes hard to figure out where to go next and progress the story. The main character is this Gay Blowgin fellow. If you're nostalgic about this game I'd urge you to not replay it and just hold on to the rose-tinted memory of it in your mind.
atrocious gamedesign
Definitely an interesting game, but some of the gameplay has not aged as well as it could've. The taser is still honestly the only weapon you'll ever need, but the movement still feels a bit floaty with the weird tank controls.
A wild experience, I fondly remember the city level.
Classic spy third person shooter. If you like Goldeneye 007, or something like Hitman, but in retro, this is a perfect game to try.
Controls and gameplay are just a bit dated, so not a perfect score.
Controls and gameplay are just a bit dated, so not a perfect score.
People that say MGS controls have aged badly should play this to have any kind of perspective.
A game that I'm sure was incredible in 1999, but is really aged in every way today, from controls to the gameplay itself.
It's alright. They kept trying to make it good.
This is Syphon Filter. A game where you play as Superman 64 Clark Kent lookalike Gabe Logan in a stealth suit, in a mission to stop terrorist warlord Eric Rhoemer and eliminate all traces of a new, Nazi wet dream chemical weapon: Syphon Filter, a virus that can target and wipe out any specific genetic group at choice.
I don't really have much to say about this game that some other reviews haven't said already. I don't consider the gameplay to have aged that badly as everyone says. On the contrary, the strafing, dodging and leaning from walls coupled with the "danger meter" where enemy bullets can only hit you if you stay as an easy target in the open for too long, all make me think they knew there would be some inherent clunkiness to the combat in a game like this on the PS1 with hitscan bullet physics and digital controls (the game does have dualshock support but it's very unreliable, you might as well aim with the dpad), so these were some pretty functional workarounds they came up with. Being able to run and roll past enemies who miss all their shots for a few seconds also gives it another pinch of 'playable 90's action spy flick'. It honestly makes me wonder how a modern TPS with a similar mechanic would play like or experiment with it.
Moreover, i think the real flaws in the game are found in the missions themselves. As other reviews have mentioned, yes, the first level gives a good, yet very misleading first impression with it's massive size, with most of the other levels in the game being linear and more of what you'd expect from your other PS1 TPS. Although Washington Park being basically a MGS stage and Pharcom Warehouses with the infighting enemies and underground tunnels came close to replicating that. The Stronghold levels in the Cathedral were also neat, along with the plot twist that follows.
Many of the latter levels, though, just feel like the game repeating itself. "Rhoemer's Base" is basically the park level except with planting explosives instead of defusing them, and with stealth where if you get caught too early you might as well restart as enemies will spawn infinitely once that happens, The Stronghold Catacombs level is just a worse version of the Expo Center level with a mix of trailing and stealth, now followed by an escort mission, which makes me think this game was probably patient zero for all those escort levels in 6th gen games.
And Mission 19 might just be the worst mission in the whole game as it's just an endurance test with no real checkpoints through a long, pitch-black tunnel so dark that even your flashlight is useless so your best way to see what's ahead is to use the Viral Scanner you got from Pharcom Warehouses every few steps, and you have to inch your way through and slowly pick out enemies with Nightvision Sniper Rifle headshots, or else you'll be quickly killed or lose a lot of health because there's barely any cover until your reach the end of the stage. Oh, and there's also a few blind pitfalls just for funsies.
The game also ends on a very anticlimactic note. Basically, a missile carrying the Syphon Filter virus is complete and about to launch, you climb some ledges leading to a computer by the missile that conveniently contains the self-destruction codes you were looking for all along, Markinson pops out of nowhere and goes "everything according to Keikaku" and affirms that he was indeed working for Rhoemer, who then appears and shoots him before he can reveal his intentions for the Syphon Filter virus, whatever they were. Then there's a really hype timed sequence where you race through the facility to reach the mainframe and detonate the Syphon Filter missile, and then it's followed by the really anticlimactic Rhoemer bossfight. I thought you'd have to do something smart like shooting at his grenade launcher or hide behind pillars for him to blow them up and make the base collapse on top of him... but nah, just throw a gas grenade at him and he's out.
All in all, i would say the game has decent mechanics and a very great presentation but the more i kept playing it after the 14th mission or so the more i wanted to get over with it. It does make me want to give it's sequels a try though, and see how the story and gameplay build up from here. I can definitely see why this was successful enough to save the studio after the disaster that was Bubsy 3d.
I don't really have much to say about this game that some other reviews haven't said already. I don't consider the gameplay to have aged that badly as everyone says. On the contrary, the strafing, dodging and leaning from walls coupled with the "danger meter" where enemy bullets can only hit you if you stay as an easy target in the open for too long, all make me think they knew there would be some inherent clunkiness to the combat in a game like this on the PS1 with hitscan bullet physics and digital controls (the game does have dualshock support but it's very unreliable, you might as well aim with the dpad), so these were some pretty functional workarounds they came up with. Being able to run and roll past enemies who miss all their shots for a few seconds also gives it another pinch of 'playable 90's action spy flick'. It honestly makes me wonder how a modern TPS with a similar mechanic would play like or experiment with it.
Moreover, i think the real flaws in the game are found in the missions themselves. As other reviews have mentioned, yes, the first level gives a good, yet very misleading first impression with it's massive size, with most of the other levels in the game being linear and more of what you'd expect from your other PS1 TPS. Although Washington Park being basically a MGS stage and Pharcom Warehouses with the infighting enemies and underground tunnels came close to replicating that. The Stronghold levels in the Cathedral were also neat, along with the plot twist that follows.
Many of the latter levels, though, just feel like the game repeating itself. "Rhoemer's Base" is basically the park level except with planting explosives instead of defusing them, and with stealth where if you get caught too early you might as well restart as enemies will spawn infinitely once that happens, The Stronghold Catacombs level is just a worse version of the Expo Center level with a mix of trailing and stealth, now followed by an escort mission, which makes me think this game was probably patient zero for all those escort levels in 6th gen games.
And Mission 19 might just be the worst mission in the whole game as it's just an endurance test with no real checkpoints through a long, pitch-black tunnel so dark that even your flashlight is useless so your best way to see what's ahead is to use the Viral Scanner you got from Pharcom Warehouses every few steps, and you have to inch your way through and slowly pick out enemies with Nightvision Sniper Rifle headshots, or else you'll be quickly killed or lose a lot of health because there's barely any cover until your reach the end of the stage. Oh, and there's also a few blind pitfalls just for funsies.
The game also ends on a very anticlimactic note. Basically, a missile carrying the Syphon Filter virus is complete and about to launch, you climb some ledges leading to a computer by the missile that conveniently contains the self-destruction codes you were looking for all along, Markinson pops out of nowhere and goes "everything according to Keikaku" and affirms that he was indeed working for Rhoemer, who then appears and shoots him before he can reveal his intentions for the Syphon Filter virus, whatever they were. Then there's a really hype timed sequence where you race through the facility to reach the mainframe and detonate the Syphon Filter missile, and then it's followed by the really anticlimactic Rhoemer bossfight. I thought you'd have to do something smart like shooting at his grenade launcher or hide behind pillars for him to blow them up and make the base collapse on top of him... but nah, just throw a gas grenade at him and he's out.
All in all, i would say the game has decent mechanics and a very great presentation but the more i kept playing it after the 14th mission or so the more i wanted to get over with it. It does make me want to give it's sequels a try though, and see how the story and gameplay build up from here. I can definitely see why this was successful enough to save the studio after the disaster that was Bubsy 3d.
Don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser don't-mention-the-taser but seriously though the taser was so rad right
Ironically this is the only Syphon Filter game from the original Playstation that I've never finished.
Still holds up today, loved a quick playthrough and platinum trophy
PlayStation Classic Console
It’s still a good time honestly, definitely needs more appreciation. Definitely something I want to see come back because there was something special about starting that first level and getting sucked into it.
Syphon Filter foi um marco no PS1 com seus gráficos 3D e ação de tiro constante, um dos jogos "sérios" que a Sony se gabava de ter no console.
Entretanto, seu gameplay simplório nunca me conquistou pra ir até o fim.
Entretanto, seu gameplay simplório nunca me conquistou pra ir até o fim.
Lembro de ficar anos preso em uma parte desse jogo, e em um dia qualquer sem pretensão nenhuma consegui passar sem querer.
i think the dated controls and spammy hordes of enemies kind of got in the way of me fully enjoying this but it was a good time overall. felt like a playable Mission: Impossible movie at points and the stealth sections were a lot of fun. would love a remake of it one of these days because the setpieces have a lot of potential for translation to a more modern action-stealth format.
Despite the now outdated controls and aiming that make it more difficult than it needs to be and the hammy voice acting, it was fun to revisit one of the first shooters I ever played as a kid. Music is still great, too!
I always disliked this game when I was younger. But it's an odd bit of PS history now, and on PS5, so I figured why not -- I'll beat the fucker.
Man, it's tough. Thank goodness for the rewind feature on the PS5 emulator. It's also aged much worse than MGS and just about every other sacred cow on PS1.
With that said, I enjoyed what it tried to do. Which is while I'll be suffering through the sequel shortly.
Man, it's tough. Thank goodness for the rewind feature on the PS5 emulator. It's also aged much worse than MGS and just about every other sacred cow on PS1.
With that said, I enjoyed what it tried to do. Which is while I'll be suffering through the sequel shortly.
TPS excelente pro PS1, mas que envelheceu como leite e com uma escolhas duvidosas de gameplay que geram um frustração absurda se você não jogar com save state.
07/10.
07/10.