Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain – PS2 – Preview 3

The enemies come in waves,
up the street, from the rooftops or swarming out of corridors. They all seem
intent on filling you as full of holes as they possibly can.

 

Some you can shoot back,
others you have to avoid killing. After all, the mission parameters emphatically
state that you cannot kill non-hostiles. Hmm, they are shooting at you – that
seems pretty hostile. Oh well, take out the stun baton and immobilize them, then
move on.

 

Sony’s Syphon Filter: The
Omega Strain is slated for release in May for the PlayStation2. Sony invited a
group of journalists to the Bend, Oregon, studio developing the game for an
up-close look at the title. That meant hands-on, and that meant stepping into
the shoes of a new agent working for the venerable Gabe Logan and trying to
uncover the forces behind the mutant virus threatening the world.

 

The Omega Strain treads new
ground for this series, which debuted in 1999. It is the fourth in the series,
but the first on the PS2 console system. And not only is the game huge, but it
features cooperative play that mirrors the single-person game. You can play the
majority of missions as either a single player or as part of team (up for four
players) through a peer-to-peer connection. There are missions that are
exclusively for teams, and bonus missions as well.

 

You begin the game by
creating an agent. Gabe Logan has risen to the rank of head of the agency, and
new agents can progress up the chain of command by successfully completing the
missions, not only in terms of achieving the various objectives, but also within
the time frame allowed for the missions. If you are good enough, you might even
rise up to head the agency.

 

Character creation is a
minor example of the depth and versatility of this title. There are 80 different
faces and 144 different shirts available. And that is just the beginning of the
customization. It seems reasonable to state that no two players will look
exactly alike in this game.

 

The intro mission takes
place in
Carthage,
Michigan.
The objectives are seemingly simple: collect water and tissue samples, have them
analyzed and don’t kill certain people who may be shooting at you.

 

The game does require that
you work through puzzle elements, pick up weapons and ammo as you go, use
buildings and other environment fixtures to shield yourself, and find and
utilize the various vest strewn about the level. Some of the enemies will try to
outgun you, some will be content with just detonating packs of C4 in your
general vicinity, to turn you into a variation of the human torch.
 

The game is paced by a solid
audio track (featuring the music of Mark Snow – the composer of the X-Files
theme as well as a composer for many other television shows and motion
pictures), along with radio chatter, explosions and a lot of gun fire.

 

Graphically the game suffers
just a bit from the camera controls – or lack of them. The camera is fixed
behind your avatar, which works when heading toward NPCs, but definitely does
not when NPCs pop out from behind you, or you are retreating to find a
defensible position. This may force players to rely on the radar, but the free
camera control has been ingrained in the genre and is not easy to relinquish.
However, the environments are sterling and the player models and animation are
very well done, even at this stage in the development.

 

Other control elements are
somewhat intuitive and players should find the learning curve of this game, even
if picking it up for the first time, relatively short.

 

The core of the game’s
action will revolve around the AI of the NPCs. This is an area that it is
obvious has received a lot of attention. Whether it is moving back or trying to
avail themselves of cover, the NPCs play somewhat smart. The advantage still
lies with the player-controlled avatar, simply because for every move that the
NPC makes, there are ways to counter it.  But Omega Strain has introduced an AI
for NPCs that is close to mirroring what players are capable of doing, and this
will lend itself to challenging missions and replayability. While the missions
themselves will not change, the way the NPCs react certainly will.

 

When completed, Omega Strain
will feature 17 missions, all in a sequential timeline. You will not be able to
advance to the next mission without completing the previous one. The
environments are big and it is easy to miss elements as you move through. While
not all environmental elements are interactive, you should be able to ascertain
that you are on the right track when you are able to blow out that wind, which
leads to descending stairs.

 

Syphon Filter: The Omega
Strain is the last in the current thread of the game. The conclusion of this
game will reveal all that players wanted to know about the forces behind the
release of the virus. That, in and of itself, is certain to draw in fans of the
franchise, but this is a game that will appeal to a wide range of shooter fans,
and fans of great action games. The multiplayer aspect of this title will be
worth the price of admission.

 

Mark this one down on your
lists of titles to play – it is certain to be a winner.