SYPHON FILTER:
LOGAN’S SHADOW
The SS Mt. St.
Helens is burning and the man in the black stealth suit doesn’t care about
anything except for completing the mission at hand. The remains of the terrorist
cell that captured the ship is frightened of this man but orders are orders so
they shoot back at him, hoping that somehow their bullets will put an end to
this one-man siege. He is Gabe Logan and this is Syphon Filter: Logan’s
Shadow for the PSP.
“Honestly, George, why do all our family
vacations end up like this?”
If Dark
Mirror was the portable gaming prelude to a sonata, Logan’s Shadow is
already shaping up to be the complete symphony – the main attraction complete
with intrigue, intense drama and a lot of action. Acting as a follow-up of the
series’ first (and downright flawless) Sony PSP opus, Logan’s Shadow
finds shadowy spy operative Gabe Logan back into field after a Washington desk
jockey named Cordell tells him that the SS Mt. St. Helens has been hijacked by a
terrorist group based in Somalia and spearheaded by one of Logan’s nemesis Bitar. The demo we played set up the events that would lead to some
interesting twists in the Syphon Filter series including where and what
is series’ regular, Lian Xing.
In the preview
demo, Logan manages to infiltrate the hijacked ship with the aid of helicopter
pilot Alma Haddad. One again, we jump right into the action and Gabe is once
again outfitted with a number of stealthy gadgets like his UVA goggles, K-Bar
knife and an assortment of neat weaponry. Thankfully, we once again can learn
how to use the gadgets, weapons and even Logan’s moves through a training mode
that plays like a level in the game. Like Dark Mirror, the analog stick
controls Logan’s movement while the face buttons control direction. In other
words, nothing has changed control-wise. If it isn’t broke why fix it, right?
What has changed
is the depth of the gameplay and the manner in which Logan changes in the game.
I won’t spoil the various surprises scattered throughout the story but the
demo’s tone changes in the first episode as tragedy occurs during the first
mission. These events change Logan and push him to act more violently. In
Logan’s Shadow, Gabe Logan is pissed off and the results aren’t pretty for
the bad guys. Case in point, at one point in the mission, Logan can sneak up to
an enemy standing in front of a stove and shove his face in the open flame. It’s
not pretty but it goes to show gamers that when it comes to being a lethal
force, Gabe Logan can show Splinter Cell’s Sam Fisher a thing or two.
Welcome to the NRA’s version of hide
and seek.
The preview
showcased a few of the new tricks Logan springs on his enemies aboard the ship.
He can still flatten up against a wall or any other hard surface but now Logan
can fire from behind cover without exposing himself. This isn’t a new concept
but for a third-person shooter where you’ll go up against a number of armed
terrorist, it works nicely. Secondly, Logan can sneak up behind an enemy, grab
him and use him as a human shield. Again, not a new concept but it’s extremely
helpful in a situation where you’re outnumbered.
Finally, the
preview build showed off a water level where Logan jumps ship after the SS Mt.
St. Helens goes down and he must swim to a nearby terrorist tug boat. Logan just
doesn’t float there but he can dive in (keeping in mind that he has to worry
about oxygen) and climb aboard enemy ships. It’s a nice touch that shows us that
there are tons of surprises in store for us in Logan’s Shadow.
Graphically
speaking, the game looks just as good as Dark Mirror and it’s impressive to see
some beautiful water effects on the PSP widescreen. The voice acting,
thankfully, is top notch thanks to returning voice actors and great dialogue.
It’s the score and sound effects that really steals the show this time around
with a gorgeous soundtrack (the menu screen theme music is a definite highlight)
and detailed sound effects.
Bad Movie Idea #20: The Little
Mermaid II starring Jet Li.
Unfortunately,
we were not able to test the online multiplayer mode at the time of the review – another aspect of the game
that will resemble the addictive joy that was the online multiplayer game mode
in Dark Mirror. If it’s anything like the last game, we’re in for another
multiplayer treat that will have fans playing the game long after they finish
the single-player mode.
Yes, the days of
September will be a good one once Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow ships and
if the preview build is any indication of how the game will turn out, we can
expect this one to be one of the best additions to the series plus a real Must
Have title for the PSP.