| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
The ESRB Says
Violence: GamerDad went from battle to battle to really intense battle. Drug Reference:Eliminating drug facilities is an important part of the game. Mild Blood:Just minor blood spray when dispatching enemies. Suggestive Themes:Subtle hints at romance between the main characters. Language:The standard shooter fare - plenty of 'hell' and 'damn' and occasionally worse. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror was the first truly great shooter for the PSP. As has become the trend for PSP hits, the game has now been ported to the PSP with solid results. The game has been 'toned down' from M-rated to T-rated but retains all of the critical elements the made the gameplay so much fun, but the loss of multiplayer hurts more. Still it is a solid and enjoyable shooter that will provide PS2 shooter fans with plenty of fun action. The single player game is a story driven experience complete with fully fleshed out characters and cutscenes. The graphical experience throughout the game is truly stellar there is nothing that feels scaled down' in this game. Everything from the characters to weapons to environments are so detailed and varied that I found myself stopping to look around the environments after more than one firefight. More important than the graphics are the story and gameplay, and both are solid. You care about the characters and are interested in seeing the story unfold and come to its' conclusion. The relationships and dialogue are believable and well done, and the action integrates very well with the story. The game leans heavily on a couple of first person shooter clichés babysitting' and timed' missions in particular are overdone but within the context of the story it is hard to argue against their inclusion. There are no gratuitous missions like the many obligatory stealth mission' included in many shooters three to five years ago. The weapons, gadgets and gameplay mechanisms like crouching and buckling against walls all work well and the controls are all laid out in a way to make these actions efficient. The only problematic control is operating the sniper scope while moving in crouched stance and trying to aim at the same time. Given how well the multiplayer for the PSP version of Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror was received, it is sad to see that it has been completely removed and replaced with a challenge system that allows you to replay missions differently to get different badges. However, given the depth of the original game's multiplayer, it is little comfort to fans of online shooters and feels like a lost opportunity. While it doesn't highlight the features of the system like the original Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror did for the PSP, with this PS2 port Sony has produced an intense and thrilling experience that is toned down but full of heart-pounding action. The combination of an excellent story, good controls and replayable challenges in a package that looks excellent and plays great makes this game an unqualified winner for the PS2 platform.  
The original Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror featured violence, content and intensity clearly intended for adults. For the PS2 port Sony has removed a great deal of th is content in order to make it appropriate for a T-rated audience. You are on a mission against forces bent on destruction and world domination, and are met with opposition at every turn - you are fighting for survival and respond with violence in a modern setting but essentially similar to that of sci-fi and historical war shooters. Enemies show little blood when hit, and the language and other content have also been scaled back to be in line with other typical shooters appropriate for teens.
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
