I really enjoyed Syphon Filter back in the PSOne days so I didn’t hesitate to pick up the two PSP games when they arrived.

Having played Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror on PSP last year (didn’t review it as it was in the days before this blog: nutshell – great game 8/10) I was looking forward to getting stuck into Logan’s Shadow.

After playing the first level I was distracted by Football Manager, which was followed by Resistance: Retribution. On the plus side Retribution was made by the Syphon Filter guys so coming back to Logan’s Shadow was like coming home

Obviously with Shadow being released back in 2007 and Retribution coming earlier this year they had plenty of time to improve on things.

This was almost like taking a step back as the graphics and AI suffered, particularily the enemies who most of the time just stood in the open shooting, occasionally taking cover.

That’s not to say it totally hampered my enjoyment of the game, just that it was more noticeable having playing Retribution.

I still got a kick out of chucking the thermal goggles on, lining up a shot then poking my head round the corner and taking an enemy out

And Syphon Filter is all about the gadgets, whether it’s goggle based (thermal/night vision etc) or weapon based (silencers/tasers etc) you’ll find plenty of inventive ways to take your opponents down.

My favourite was the sniper rifle with custom dart bullets. You fire once to hit them with the dart, then press fire again to activate it. So you have poisonious gas, electric taser and explosive darts – all pretty sweet really.

Boss battles were a disappointment, a problem that lingers from the first PSP game (but I’m pleased to say was vastly improved in Resistance: Retribution). Far too easy with only two of the five having any enjoyment at all.

The storyline is the usual convaluted mix of terrorists and going rogue after being taken off duty by ‘the man.’ All good though and fits in nicely with the espionage theme.

Overall this was a nicely paced, enjoyable game and a worthy follow up to the initial PSP game. I would really like to see them continue with Syphon Filter, whether it’s on PSP or even PS3, and hopefully Gabe Logan will be back on our (small) screens soon.

Rating: 8/10

I had high expectations for Resistance: Retribution (RR) given that it was Bend Studio’s follow up title to Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow (SF:LS). Syphon Filter blew my socks off in showing me what a shooter could be like on the PSP. I thought even having the same game with a new skin would have been a great experience. What I got was a similar quality game, but targeting a different audience that is much more into action/run and gun than they are into stealth tactics.

I’m going to compare Syphon Filter against Resistance in the following areas:

1. Shooting Mechanic
2. Story Telling
3. Achievements
4. Presentation

1. Shooting Mechanics
At first I hated the auto-targeting system that RR had because they took away the most impressive element of SF:LS – the ability to target precisely. At first I mentally fought with this and hated it until I realized it services a different kind of gameplay. In SF:LS I would creep around and because the mixture of the control system, world design and animation design allowed it, I would target precisely where people would poke their heads out and BOOM, headshot. Using the PSP controls (challenging at best) and being able to support precise shooting was incredible.

Cover Sharp Shooting (SF:LS)
The key ingredients to this shooting experience are:

• Stealth approach to combat (they might not know you are there)
• You and your enemies spend majority of time in cover, timing when to shoot
• You aim from cover
• Head’s are always at fixed crouching or standing height
• Significant reward for a head shot, great animation feedback on it
• Any weapon can be fatal, focus is on player movement and aim

Hose them down (RR)
The body count in RR is probably 5 times higher per minute of play than Syphon Filter (if not more).

• Easy cover
• Auto aim
• Allow called shots for special enemies that need their heads removed
• Strategy based on weapon selection and fire mode selection

At the end of the day, I prefer to have my tactics be movement or aiming based so I much preferred SF:LS for these mechanics. However, knowing why the design was changed, it did match the play experience.

2. Story Telling
Both games use a mix of videos and in game cinemas to tell their stories. I’m using my memory to recall the amounts of the story but I think the mix was something like this for each game:

SF:LS Story breakdown
Story Telling 20%

• Pre-rendered cinemas 10% (explicit story telling, briefings)
• In game cinemas 10% (mission context)

Gameplay 80%

RR Story breakdown
Story Telling 40%

• Pre-rendered cinemas 10% (Introduction, per act cinemas)
• Concept Art naration cinemas 20% (Mostly maps and narrated story telling)
• In game cinemas 10% (in mission cinemas, small stories)

Gameplay 60%

I enjoyed both stories but I found RR had WAY to much attitude and forced naration through the story. They did a great job of telling the story and describing the motivation. The voice acting in the concept artwork told story was excellent as was the writing. I really didn’t like the main character until about the last quarter of the game. Logan’s shadow had more of a simple and cliche’d story, but the ensemble cast made me care more about the crew and let me focus more on the game itself.
3. Achievements
Both games have hidden documents and various achievments throughout the level. The key difference between the two games for me is that I have NO IDEA what the achievements in RR are whereas the achievements in SF:LS were very clear to me. To be fair I gave SF:LS more replays, but througout that play experience I was getting feedback on achievements. Replays were very clear and very fun to attempt. The focus was on using weapons and the environment properly and collecting hidden documents. The presentation in SF:LS increased the play experience. I didn’t find any game enhancing elements in RR.

4. Presentation
Both games really show off what the PSP can do. I think that RR probably takes the edge in technical difficulty and variety (mech levels) and also dealing with red/browns on PSP is very hard to make it look good with the low responce time on the LCD. SF:LS had more natural environments and more blues and whites. For my own taste LS:SF was again the better game.

Conclusion
Obviously I liked SF:LS much more, but both games are good. I find it fascinating that the same studio made a similar if not the same quality game but that choosing a more action based focus made the game less interesting to me. From what I can tell, this is an example of where choosing your audience really does dictate design changes. I hope that RR is more successful than SF:LS because I don’t think the previous games got the sales they deserved.

If you have read my post called Tomorrow… you will know I was supposed to have finished a PSP game and play the Resistance: Retribution demo. I was tired so I couldn’t be bothered to play a game but I did, however, play the Resistance: Retribution demo.

I have to say that I was very impressed. Control wise it is similar to the PSP Syphon Filters. The face buttons move your aim and the d pad lets you change guns, interact with the environment etc. It does come from the same people though. It plays similar to Syphon Filter but a lot faster. You can run about shooting at people but you can also take cover (It automatically lets you take cover when you stand still near an object) to avoid getting hit. The weapons are just the ones from the PS3 Resistance games so fans of the series will know which weapon is best for what etc. Overall I was really impressed. I might get it. It all depends on how much money I have at the time.

Rating: 9 Out of 10

Syphon Filter returns to PSP with Logan’s Shadow. This game has a decent campaign to play, great bonus content, and an excellent multiplayer value that brings Syphon Filter fanatics back to their roots. However, the plot isn’t as good as the last one and the bosses aren’t really that hard this time around. Overall, if you are a fan of the series, then you will probably play this game.

Pros:

+ Decent campaign is fun to play and replay

+ Great bonus content

+ Robust online play options return

+ Excellent production values

Cons:

- Plot wasn’t as good

- Bosses aren’t really hard

Extras:

# Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow Cheat Codes