Subscribe
About

Playing the spy game

It`s time to enter the world of espionage through Sony`s Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, which focuses on the seek-and-destroy aspect, rather than stealth, like most other espionage offerings.
By G"otz Bauer
Johannesburg, 27 Aug 2004

You start by designing your character. Unfortunately, the options available for optimising the appearance of the character are bland and do not vary in detail. Your dressing options outnumber facial and bodily features by a wide margin.

Once you have designed the agent, you are able to outfit him with the weapons you think he will most likely use on his next mission.

The controls take a lot of getting used to, but once you do get the hang of them, the game play runs smoothly. I found the control format quite well placed and easy to use.

The player will have a lot of freedom during the missions, as he/she will be able to crouch, jump and climb around a lot of the obstacles.

I did not enjoy the game`s bad guys, because once you have cleared a room, you do not expect 10 more guys to pop out of nowhere.

The only good thing about this is you get to take their ammunition once they are all finally dead. The overall artificial intelligence is not bad, and once you start firing at targets, the rest of the enemies will know where you are.

<B>Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain</B>

[SidebarPicture]Platform: Sony PlayStation 2
Type: Action adventure
Developer: SCEA
Publisher: SCEE
Number of players: One or four (Networking)
Retail price: R479

Supplied by: Ster-Kinekor
(011) 445 7940

The graphics are standard and are not overwhelmingly impressive. The buildings are clean-cut rectangular with hints of detail. The enemies all look the same and there is not too much other rubble lying around.

The save points in this game are non-existent and you have to continuously play and finish a level if you want to progress.

Overall, this game is worth its weight in gold and you should find that it fulfils the need to be an infiltrating, kill-all-and-ask-questions-later type of secret agent.

Share