RATED M MATIURE

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This review is kinda hard to write, since if you are a fan of the series, no one will talk you out of purchasing this one. However, I do agree with some of the other reviewers here that SF3 is much easier than the first two installments (and my rating is probably biased because I loved 1&2).

Why is it easier? Well, in the first 2 games of the series, you are often forced to use manual targeting and stealth to pick off enemies with head shots to avoid arousing suspicion. However, in Syphon Filter 3, you can pretty much run through many of the levels with guns blazing.

Unfortunately, this removes much of the strategy of the game, and forces many of the levels to become very similar. As a result, the whole "stealth spy/assasin" feel is lost. So while there are a few challenging boards and the missions are interesting, I think some of the earlier levels (ie, the one with Lian running around the city) are much tougher than the last board.

In short, if you have 1&2, go ahead and get this one. If not, get SF1 first...it features one of the most challenging levels of the entire series (Gabe in stealth mode walking through the exhibit hall).

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Like An Old FriendNov 08, 2001

When I first heard Syphon Filter 3 was going to be published for the PS1, I couldn't believe my luck-I haven't bought a PS2 yet, but will soon. Anyway, I bought the game yesterday and started playing it right away. (I thought is was supposed to be two discs but it is actually only one in a two-disc box.) Anyway, it seems as if Gabe and Lian-plus some other agents-are on trial recounting missions involving the Syphon Filter virus. You get to play out those missions. I played the first four or five levels so far.

The graphics are about what you expect from a Syphon Filter game-good for PS1, jungles, caves, buildings, etc. The gameplay is the same: run around, shoot people, pick up stuff, follow maps, choose weapons, complete objectives, and so on. This may not sound like such a stellar review so far, but after playing the first two games, I always felt like I wanted more. That's what this game gives you: Everything that made the first two great, but it is all-new.

In the first level you shoot out of a hotel window at people in a building across the street. You only get credit for certain people you hit-they're wearing uniforms-but everyone is shooting back at you. I for some reason found this first level to be quite difficult. I figured the first level is for training, but I actually died more than once. This is followed by the old trying-to-leave-the-building-peeking-around-corners-shooting-anyone-getting-in-the-way part which plays like several levels from the first two games.

The two-player death-match is back, like in #2, and added is a series of mini-games, kind of like the VR missions in MGS 1. You have a certain amount of time to complete a task, usually without being seen. The difference between these mini-games and MGS 1 is that all take place in one of several game environments. You can play as a number of characters-Jungle Gabe for instance; they even brought back the Bag Lady.

So if you want to experience the fun and challenge of the first two games and don't mind the limitations of the PS1, you'll love Syphon Filter 3. It feels like an old friend from the very beginning.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

Great 3rd InstallmentApr 28, 2002

Even though the PS2 has been out for quite some time now, the regular old PS release of Syphon Filter 3 is still great. For those of you familiar with SF1 and SF2, it's very similar. Thankfully, the controls are exactly the same, as are menu screens. As far as I recall, there is every weapon from SF2 in it, plus several more. The graphics are a bit better, but you can only take the PS so far. Musically this is great, and has some very interesting tracks. Multiplayer has been revised, and while it still lacks, it's not all that bad.

The difference with 3, is that there is alot less stealth involved. You won't see too many of those "have to taser everyone" you can more or less run around shooting. Sure, you will get killed very quickly, so if you can master the art of peaking around corners and getting head shots, this whole game should more or less be a breeze.

Story-wise, it's basically this: Gabe, Lian, the other guy (Lawrence perhaps?) are testifying in D.C. one at a time. So, you more or less get a level that's really a flashback, and while one person is tesifying, the other is overseas fighting to stop the spread of Syphon Filter. Those of you who remember losing a certain someone from SF2 should defintely play this.

A very well rounded game in all, a PS2 release is what it could really use.

6 of 7 found the following review helpful:

JUST ONE DISC!?Jun 08, 2003

I finally got my hands on Syphon Filter 3 and I was little surprised (and disappointed) to open up its multi-disc case just to find ONE disc. Huh? I searched the case thoroughly, rifled through the instruction book and weapons guide, but nope, no other disc could be found. That's kinda misleading, isn't it? Especially after the previous Syphon Filter had two discs. Silly me, I expected to find at least two discs inside SF3. But whatever. The game is still great-and quite lengthy in spite of its single-disc limitations. It took me four hours just to get through one level (The Aztec Ruins) and that wasn't even the most difficult mission. That honor belongs to Gabe Logan's Afghanistan Flashback, which had me stomping my feet and screaming obscenities. (When the words "mission completed" finally appeared on the screen, I jumped up and danced-Wahoo!)

SF3 also has a feature that I hope is included with all future installments in the series: The Mini-Games. These are wonderful little missions that you can have fun with when you don't have time to immerse yourself in the Syphon Filter story. Each mission is limited to ten minutes and your able to do a variety of things with a variety of characters, including five different Gabes, two different Lians and even that worrisome Jason Chance-in his full-body armor-is available if you can stomach him. But the designers should've put the mini-games on a different disc, though. That way both the mini-games and SF3 could've been expanded. Lord knows there's plenty of room for another disc inside this case!

You'll also notice that the cut-scenes are different in SF3. The animation is more defined and the characters' mouths actually move when they talk. I didn't like this at first. I wanted the scenes to be the same as they were in parts 1 and 2, and I still think it was a mistake "improving" them this way. It lacks consistency. (And now Gabe looks like Harry Hamlin!) But I'm used to it now and I have to admit that the characters are more life-like, and the women are more beautiful-I never realized what a babe Mara Aramov is!

There are a lot of flashbacks in SF3. Too many flashbacks, if you ask me. This is because Gabe, Lian and others have been called in to give closed-door testimony on Syphon Filter and on the shadowy Agency that help procure it. Now why, I ask you, do Gabe and Lian agree to this? They're outlaws, remember? All during SF2, Government agents were trying to kill them left and right and now, suddenly, the outlaws are putting on their Sunday-best to go testify in Washington, D.C.? It makes no sense. But there they are and here come the flashbacks. You'll go all the way back to 1987, when Gabe first met Lian in Afghanistan, and even further with Lawrence Mujari (the guy that owns the Whispering Woods Mortuary) when he tells how he first encountered a "mysterious illness" in 1984, while as a freedom-fighter in Africa. These flashbacks provide excellent gameplay, of course, in a variety of settings-deserts, jungles, snowy mountains-but they don't advance the Syphon Filter story very much. There's one looooong flashback that takes place in Montana and I can't figure out what it has to do with anything! But by the end of the game, all loose-ends are tied up in a very satisfying knot. All, except one. I won't give anything away, but the door is left wide open for the fourth Syphon Filter, due out in October 2003. Man, I hope it's as good as the originals. And if it is, I hope they make plenty more!

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