Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror

"There's a new best PSP game in town."

The Syphon Filter series is an odd one. The original Syphon Filter was so good that it received multiple "Game of the Year" awards. Syphon Filter 2 was considered an okay game, although it certainly didn't live up to its precursor. Syphon Filter 3 was simply mediocre, and many consider the fourth entry, Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, to be truly awful. So, for many in the gaming population, the announcement of a new Syphon Filter for PSP didn't exactly spark much of a reaction. However, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror has beaten the odds and sealed its place as one of the best handheld games of the year, and certainly the best the PSP has offered so far.

Features
Dark Mirror doesn't appear to be a strong, lengthy game at first. On paper, there are only a few modes: Training, Story Mode, Mission Mode, and ad-hoc and infrastructure Multiplayer. They last longer than you might think, though. Also, SF:DM has around 40(!) weapons.

Controls
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror has surprisingly good controls. The default has you moving and strafing with the PSP's analog nub and aiming with the face buttons, although that can be changed. You can lock-on with some weapons, although after a while, you will discover that lock-on is less effective than free aiming, anyway. The controls, while not being godly, are certainly great, and do not detract from the gameplay at all.

Also, you won't be having any problems with camera ang+les. Being a third-person game, whenever there's something between the camera and Gabe, it simply moves a little and Gabe goes transparent. Trust me, it works. I actually had to search really, really hard to find spots where the camera would become funky, and they were all so far out there that you'll probably never see what I mean.

Weapons
Ah, yes, the heart of every shooter: the weapons. Like I just mentioned, Syphon Filter has over 40 weapons. There's something for everyone here: carbines, handguns, sniper rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, you name it. All the famous guns are here: AK-47, Dragunov SVD, M16A2, FAMAS, Mark 23 SD, Desert Eagle... the list goes on. Also included are fictional Syphon Filter weapons.

One cool part of Syphon Filter is the fictional sniper that you'll start with for every mission: the MB-150. This thing fires not only standard sniper bullets, but special darts as well. These darts have abilities, such as shocking a victim, creating an explosion, or releasing poisonous gas. They provide different angles on the same mission, and allow you to mix things up a little. Also, you can use a knife for instant stealth kills. Of course, it wouldn't be Syphon Filter without the infamous Taser. This puppy can quite literally shock someone until they burst into flame. Fun.

While enough work in unlocking will provide you with stupidly powerful weapons at your disposal, for the most part, no weapon is all that broken. You can only carry 4 weapons plus one grenade type at once. Each weapon takes a particular slot (handguns go in the handguns slot, large weapons go in the large weapons slot, etc.) so you won't be able to go El Cheapo style and carry two shotguns, a sniper, and an AK-47.

Story Mode
I guess we'll just jump right into the meat of the game here. Dark Mirror's story first places you at an oil refinery in the cold of Alaska. The refinery has been commandeered by terrorists, and yet... something doesn't seem right to you, Gabe Logan. Well, without spoiling anything, there is a bit more than meets the eye, and you will traverse the Earth to get to the bottom of things. The presentation here is impressive - there is full voice acting for everything, be it in-game or in a cutscene. Speaking of which, the cutscenes are jaw-dropping - there is one at the beginning of each new location, and they all look fantastic. The cinematic effects, such as camera angles, are all awesome here. The voice acting is pretty good. On the topic of presentation, there are times where the dialogue gets really, really corny, and you can't help but cringe (the problem here is the lines - the voice actors are all pretty good). However, the plot is still good, and has its share of twists and turns. Also, the game has a good amount of humour - you will find yourself genuinely laughing at some point.

Story mode has 23 missions spread across six locations. The objectives aren't always "go kill everybody" - sometimes, you'll have to reach and disarm a bomb within a time limit, and other times, you'll have to defend another character while they complete an objective. There is also the occasional boss battle. The locations are very diverse, and you won't ever really get bored of a setting. Oh, and there are three difficulty levels - easy, normal, and hard.

One con here is that single-player probably isn't difficult enough. After one playthrough, the average player will probably have no problem clearing the entire story mode, even on hard difficulty.

Mission Mode
Mission Mode is the second mode that you'll spend some significant time in. This one allows you to go back and replay missions that you've cleared in Story Mode. This may seem boring, but trust me, you'll want to. Most missions provide multiple ways to reach the same goal, so replaying old missions differently is a blast. Also, there is a fair amount of stuff to unlock here, but I'll get to that later.

Mission Mode's fun comes in the variety that it allows. At the start of every mission in this mode, you get to pick your loadout, so if you want to try to clear a level using only your combat knife and a pistol, you can do that. You can also pick between normal and hard difficulty.

Rank system
Each mission contains a certain criteria of special objectives that you can clear to go toward advancement in various ranks. These criteria include environmental kills, clearing mission without dying once, knife kills, etc. After you've gotten enough, say, knife kills, you will rank up and unlock something for use in Mission Mode, such as a new weapon or increased health, or even a bonus mission. Fully completing each extra objective is not only rewarding but also adds to the longevity of the game.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer is probably the lowest point in all of Dark Mirror. While there is both ad-hoc and infrastructure gameplay, the system is quite flawed. First of all, there is a rank system, separate from but similar to single player's rank system. After getting something like a certain amount of headshots, a player will be able to have access to better weapons at respawn. This means that new players have everything stacked against them. Also, many higher-rank players enjoy making sure that the high-ranks are on one team and the low-ranks are on another, making things even less enjoyable for the newbies. Another popular strategy by higher ranks is to place tripmines in spawn rooms, so one literally has no choice but to be killed. That's not all, though.

Another big bad no-good dirty rotten occurrence within online multiplayer is that the server sometimes decides to wipe all of your stats, so after having worked so hard against such horrible odds, your good weapons are lost, and you have to start all over. However, this doesn't happen to everyone, so the multiplayer kingpins get to rule over you again.

The sad part is that multiplayer is pretty fun apart from these issues, and would be just incredible if the flaws weren't there. Seriously, this part of the game is already good, but could be so much better: the levels, while being only 5 in number, are all pretty fun. There aren't that many crappy/stupid/etc. people in the community, and cheaters and disconnectors are pretty uncommon. Overall, multiplayer is good, but sometimes frustrating, due to the unforgiving rank system.

Enemies/AI
There are no problems with something like hit detection. In fact, an enemy's reaction can change depending on where they are shot. For instance, shooting an enemy in the leg will force them to limp around, making them a much easier target.

The AI is pretty good. They will do things like cover teammates when a teammate rushes you, and answer calls for help. Also, I've noticed that they don't follow set paths every mission: each time you play can be different due to the variance in AI behavior. I personally love this. Oh, and they will play differently depending on what weapons you have: if you have a sniper, they will rush you, but if you have a shotgun, they will keep their distance. You can use this to your advantage, and sort of control where they go. This adds almost a strategic element into the game. Finally, if you can do intimidating things to an enemy, such as shotgun them to the face or blow up a barrel next to them, other enemies will react (by saying something like "HOLY ****") and become less aggressive.

Length
Syphon Filter's story mode probably will take around 12 hours on the first run through the game. However, there are 5 bonus missions, and plenty to do in the 23+5 missions in Mission Mode. Like I mentioned before, the ranks system will add a lot to the length: you'll find yourself replaying a mission multiple times to find that last environmental kill. Also, each level has three pieces of "hidden evidence". These, while not only providing small additions to the story, will unlock stuff like music and concept art when you've collected all the hidden evidence in an episode. Hidden evidence isn't just placed out in the open, and you'll find yourself looking quite hard for some pieces. Seriously, the steps needed to reach some of it are quite complex, but you feel like a genius when you've found them... at least I do.
Of course, once you've unlocked everything in single player (which will easily take 20 hours, probably 30), there's always online multiplayer, which lots of people play. Yes, Dark Mirror's length isn't much of a problem.

Graphics
To quote Satoru Iwata, "You will say 'wow'." The graphics are simply jaw-dropping. Character models are very detailed, and environments are colorful and artistic. You won't be seeing too many jaggies here. There are also cool effects, such as weather and reflections. Also, the polish is incredible. The little things, like seeing Gabe's breath in the Alaska levels, just prove that Sony Bend didn't want to skimp out on anything in this department. The framerate is smooth, and only drops noticeably during large sets of explosions. Overall, the graphics are certainly among the best on the PSP, and possibly the best.

Audio
The game features an entirely original score. Each piece of music usually has a remix or two of it to keep things fresh. One cool thing about the music is its interaction with the gameplay. For example, after you blow your cover and, say, make a large explosion, the music will change to reflect that. However, while you are still maintaining stealth and the enemies don't know that you're right behind them, the music will set a sort of quiet but exciting mood. It really is incredible.

Audio effects are great. Like I said earlier, voice-acting is spot-on. Enemies will speak, too, to call for cover when they rush you or call for help when you rush them. All sounds are good, from weapons to explosions.

Portability
First of all, battery life is about average for a PSP game: probably 5.5 to 6 hours. The disc is accessed a lot, and if it weren't for that, then that figure would be a lot higher. Load times are also average, with (I'm just guessing here) about 30 seconds to start up the game and 5-10 to load a level. One thing I really like is that you read a sort of briefing for the mission while the game loads, so you at least have something to do, and you don't notice the load times as much. I think this is excellent. The only shortcoming is the lack of any true, 5 minute pick-up-and-play mode - the shortest missions can last up to 20 minutes each, easily.

Summary
+Good controls
+Excellent camera angles
+Large variety of weapons, and a whole lot of really fun ones
+Presentation is great
+Good plotline
+Lots of variety in story mode, in both locations and objectives
-Not difficult enough
+Mission mode is awesome and adds a lot of length
-Multiplayer has a fair amount of flaws
+Multiplayer is still fun
+AI is great
+Game could last 30+ hours
+Graphics are incredible
+Audio is awesome
+The game matches the portable system pretty well
+Overall, game is incredibly polished in many respects

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror certainly is a return to form for the series. It presents what I consider to be the best game on the PSP, with its quality controls, awesome graphics and audio, excellent polish, and impressive length.

Rent or buy? Considering how much there is to do, and how much fun there is to be had with some of the unlockables, I'd say buy, especially if you have access to online multiplayer.

The burning question: Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror vs. SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo
In terms of story, Dark Mirror's is not only longer per playthrough, but has more stuff to do, more variety, and is more fun overall. Dark Mirror's controls are better, its weapons are more plentiful and more fun, and the graphics simply take SOCOM's to school. SOCOM: FTB does provide slightly better multiplayer, though. However, the choice is easy overall: Syphon Filter beats the pants off of SOCOM.

FINAL SCORE: 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/06