Wait, are the eyes playing tricks? Can it be? A new release for the PlayStation 2 console???
Well, yes and no – technically it is a new release, but the title has been out for a while. Syphon Filter – Logan’s Shadow released for the PlayStation Portable in 2007 and was widely acclaimed for bringing the adventures of Gabe Logan to the handheld in a stellar fashion. So here we are, three years on, and Logan’s Shadow is getting another look, this time, though on the PS2.
Yep, that’s right, the 2007 game has undergone a graphics revamp and has just been released on the PS2.
The game has the same storyline, the same characters and the same overall elements. It is a single-player experience that starts off with a helicopter landing on a besieged U.S. naval ammunition ship. It is that element that sets in motion a twisting and turning plot that weaves the elements indicative of the lone-wolf-on-a-mission games together nicely.
Gabe Logan, super agent, is faced with the prospect that his long-time partner, Lian Xing, may be a double agent. There is an extremist terrorist group involved and the locations range from the Indian Ocean to the Middle East. Cutscenes bridge the story elements together and players are thrown into the fray to work through environments and kill the bad guys. All pretty standard stuff, really.
There are, of course, several ways to play the game, beginning with the tutorial (normal and hard difficulty settings are available) and progressing to the story mode (replete with cut scenes) and into the Mission Mode that divides the story into six episodes for more bite-sized chunks. Don’t expect to find much that is new here; the game follows the formulaic genre modes rather well, with snapping to cover, blind fire and missions that will have players shooting a machine gun from the aforementioned helicopter, going underwater and grappling with enemies.
The game is also nicely configured for the Sony PlayStation controller (this game was played on both a PS2 and PS3 and ran fine on both systems with different gamepads). The controls are very intuitive and players should not find much of a learning curve with this title.
The graphical upgrades do justice to the title, and is supported by audio that is solid from top to bottom.
Logan’s Shadow is not new or innovative. For those that missed out on a fantastic PSP experience, and who are still clinging to their PS2 consoles, this is a second opportunity to snag a well-delivered action game. Of course, it is also nice to see the good, old PS2 get a little good-game love as well.
