Be honest, you've always wanted to be James Bond.
Who wouldn't? Fast cars, hot women and a license to kill, all in the course of helping to save the world.
N64 owners actually got to step into 007's shoes in last year's smash hit Goldeneye, but so far, Konami's excellent Metal Gear Solid is about as close as PlayStation gamers have gotten to the suave Brit action. Now, 989 Studios brings us Syphon Filter, where you become a covert operative with permission to use lethal force to save the world. No speeding cars or sultry women, but I guess two out of four isn't bad.
Working for the unimaginatively named "Agency," you are Gabe Logan, an intelligent (two degrees from MIT!) and highly-trained agent whose mission is to stop Eric Rhoemer and his band of terrorists. If Rhoemer isn't taken out, viral bombs planted in Washington, D.C. will release the funny-sounding but deadly Syphon Filter virus-and then the U.S. will be in a heap of trouble.
Gabe has a lot in common with Metal Gear's protagonist, Solid Snake. He has a bunch of nifty moves, including rolling, crouching and peeking around corners. He also has a radar to spot pesky enemy guards before they find him, a handy communication device to ask for help from the Agency and a limited capacity to take damage before dying.
Unlike Snake, who started his quest with nothing but a pack of cigarettes, Gabe starts out with a 9mm pistol, sniper rifle and tazer and eventually has access to an arsenal of weapons that would make John Rambo green with envy. Good thing, too, because he needs them.
The best course of action in most stages of Metal Gear was to find the path of least resistance. That's not the case in Syphon Filter, which emphasizes blowing people away instead of skulking about in the shadows. You still can't just stroll ol' Gabe out in the middle of open terrain with guns blazing and expect him to live, but you should expect a lot of firefights.
With enemies who often appear almost out of nowhere and frequently too late for your radar to help, you'll soon fall in love with the target-locking feature. There's also a manual targeting mode for perfecting the head shot-a nasty but essential technique for killing the armored foes in later missions. A few times you'll even be able to use your infrared sniper rifle, letting the bad guy's body heat point them out for the kill.
A few other useful tips: Fire is bad. Don't play with it. And if you run out of ammo, don't panic. Gabe's tazer has the ability to light his enemies up. Literally.
Syphon Filter doesn't quite match up to Metal Gear in terms of overall atmosphere-doesn't quite make you feel inserted into the middle of a movie-but chances are you won't have time to notice that once the lead starts flying and the action comes fast and furious. At the very least, Syphon Filter is an entertaining and challenging way to let you temporarily live out your secret agent fantasy.
Now all you need is one of those cool British accents....
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