Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror – PS2
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror for PSP delivered the series franchise from relative obscurity since its original Playstation debut. Offering a respectable single player campaign and some excellent multiplayer features Dark Mirror was dubbed one of the best PSP titles for 2006. Dark Mirror for PS2 effectively mirrors the single player options from the PSP release but fails to replicate the same success. This can largely be put down to the omission of perhaps its strongest element of the PSP release, the multiplayer angle.
The plot for Dark Mirror runs like your a-typical Hollywood action flick. A bunch of evil-doers decide they want to twist the world to their wicked designs and there is only one man who can stop them. You play Gabe Logan, a no-nonsense, gun-toting, nut-busting badass, your chief objective; to save the world of course. It is literally that simple (and shallow might I add).
Gameplay follows conventional first person shooter etiquette, without bringing any originality to the genre. You mow down bad guys with the usual mix of pistols, machine guns, explosives and snipers, and make use of 007-style gadgetry to navigate obstacles. Various vehicles are also made available to use at certain points in the campaign. The AI is a step backwards for anyone who has played recent shooters such as Gears of War and Halo 3; enemies prefer to stand out in the open and shoot at you rather than use cover. As a result combat is rarely challenging and only gets difficult later on in the game because enemies can absorb far more punishment.
Visually Dark Mirror steps up to the plate. The impressive graphics from the PSP version are translated well onto the PS2 regardless of PSP low resolution. Sound is not quite so successful, the music is dull and voice acting is decidedly average despite some clever one-liners like “Your skull is so dense, nothing can escape, not even intelligence!” All in all Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror will keep you mildly entertained for about ten hours but it will definitely not be a memorable ten hours.
