”How many men did you kill to get here? All of them, they were just doin' their jobs, did they deserve to die?... I'm just doin' what I was trained to do!
—Jason Chance, Syphon Filter 2
Jason Chance was the hidden principle antagonist of Syphon Filter 2, in which he also played the role of final boss. He was a double agent who seemingly acted as a CBDC member but his true loyalty was to the Agency. He demonstrated top-notch attack and flanking maneuvers during the game.
Plot
Syphon Filter 2
"Hey! You want some of this?!"
"There's just one guard out there. Does that seem right to you?"
"Yeah, it seems right... for an ambush."
- Jason Chance and Gabriel Logan talking
Jason Chance was an Agency operative assigned to undercover missions as an Army Lieutenant in the Chemical and Biological Defense Command. He had a history with the military for being a West Point graduate and fighting in the Gulf War where he received the Bronze Star. Afterwards, the U.S. Army bestowed him the rank of second lieutenant and his presumable career with the Agency began alongside enlistment with the CBDC.[1]
The unit commanded by Chance was active against the terrorist forces of Black Baton, of whom Erich Rhoemer was in charge, and his biological attack on Washington, D.C. [2] Chance would later join Gabriel Logan and Lian Xing in Kazakhstan to secure crates of the Syphon Filter virus stockpiled by PharCom. The CBDC agents joined Logan on the flight to the United States, only to have the C-130 transport shot down in Colorado. Chance kept Agency commandos informed on Logan's progress to recover PharCom data discs, and maintained his cover.
When Logan arrived at the Agency's New York labs to trade data for Lian Xing's vaccine, director Lyle Stevens used Chance's association with Logan as a ploy in case Logan escaped custody. Chance dressed as a test subject and eliminated CBDC agent John Ramirez after Logan released him from a cell. He reported to Stevens and patrolled the rooftops surrounding the laboratories while wearing full-body ABS armor.
Chance encountered Logan along a parking garage roof attempting to escape by helicopter. He was able to shoot Teresa Lipan, but Logan shot Chance into the helicopter's rear rotary blades using a UAS-12 rapid fire shotgun and evaded the Agency.
Strategy
"Let's dance!"
- Jason Chance
When facing Chance on the parking lot, be sure to avoid his sight. He has incredible accuracy and is armed with the deadly UAS-12 semi-automatic shotgun, which can make quick work of the player (Note: It is NOT recommended to hide behind the cars in the parking lot for Chance can destroy them with his UAS-12). If the player wants to defeat Chance traditionally they should run to the helicopter located in the middle of the parking lot and retrieve the UAS-12 in the weapons crate inside - whenever the player shoots Chance with another weapon (excluding the M-79 and Shotgun) no damage will be inflicted and Chance won't be knocked back, instead Chance will stumble for a brief moment from the bullets. The standard Shotgun will knock him back but it does not have the sustained fire to push him any farther than he can run to recover, making it a good option for keeping him at bay until you can get the UAS-12.
The player should then try to lure Chance near the rear of the helicopter (Note: Be careful near the rear, for Gabe can himself be killed by the blades as well) to be able to shoot him into the rear rotary blades where they will slice through him, regardless of armour and kill him. Alternatively, if the player still has any remaining M-79 grenade launcher ammo with them they can use the M-79 to knock Chance into the rotary blades. Nonetheless, this is not recommended because:
- the M-79 has limited ammo depending on how the player used it in the previous mission(s) and a sluggish fire rate compared to the UAS-12
- the explosion's impact could kill the player
- the grenade can destroy the helicopter
Should the player run out of bullets they can retrieve another UAS-12 from the same weapon crate, likewise with Flak Jacket armour if the player loses any armour a weapon crate on the opposite site of the helicopter can be found.
Personality and characteristics
"When the transport plane arrived, I sent YOU up to secure it and Lian got captured. YOU turned her over to them."
"I told them where she was and secured the test subject for transport. Just doing my job Logan, that's all - MY JOB!"
- Gabe and Jason Chance discussing the latter's betrayal
Initially posing as a apparently kind-hearted character who served as Gabe's sole source of support following the loss of his arsenal in a rockslide Archer instigated, Chance was subsequently consistently portrayed as a cunning, though timid and cowardly, individual whose actions bordered on a textbook example of sociopathy. Not merely indifferent and aloof, he was prone to consummate deception and manipulation; his all-too-convincing act enabled him to slip under the radar of others' suspicions. Notably, he displayed characteristics of an emotional manipulator that lacked any conscience or human feeling. When the truth became clear to Gabe and he was cornered, he demonstrated the definitive sociopathic trait of employing mocking sarcasm to deflect responsibility from himself, claiming that he was 'just doing his job' even when it became obvious he had told the Agency where Lian was, and knew Gabe's location right from the start.
Even before his true endgames became clear to those around him, there were subtle hints indicative of Chance's deceptive nature, such as his informing of Agency commandos on Logan's progress to recover PharCom data discs, and maintaining his own cover. He expresses no regret over the scores of Agency mooks he kills in the Colorado missions (which ironically makes him a hypocrite since he tried to chastise Logan for the exact same thing at the end of the game) by referring to them as "expendable." When Logan tried to negotiate for Lian Xing's vaccine, Agency director Lyle Stevens exploited Chance's relationship with Logan, using it as a ploy in case Logan escaped custody. Chance disguised himself as a genuine test subject and eliminated CBDC agent John Ramirez after Logan released him from a cell. He later reported to Stevens and patrolled the rooftops surrounding the laboratories while wearing full-body ABS armour. Last but by no means least, during Gabe's and his final battle, Chance's taunts even hinted that "Ramirez thought that Logan had betrayed him."
Chance's 'co-operation' with Logan was in fact something the Agency had plotted right from the start. His deceptions ranged from pretending to be affected by "concussion grenades" (which was seemingly Morse code for Agency pilots) and working with Logan to kill his own Agency men to "actively being locked up with Gabe in case the drugs the Agency had to interrogate him didn't work". However, when the puzzle was eventually unraveled, he tried in vain to justify his actions. He was ultimately killed when Logan blasted him back into the helicopter's tail rotor, a decision that cost him his life.
Taunts during battle
- "You were the best, Logan, but you let that partner of yours get under your skin!"
- "Too bad about Teresa, looks like you did as good a job saving her as you did with Lian!"
- "Ha! Ramirez died thinking you were the one who betrayed him!"
- "Is that the best you can do, Gabe?!"
- "You can't hide in there all day. That get your attention?"
Appearances
Syphon Filter 2
- Colorado Mountains
- Colorado Interstate 70
- I-70 Mountain Bridge (mentioned)
- C-130 Wreck Site (mentioned)
- Moscow Club 32 (mentioned)
- Agency Bio-Lab
- Agency Bio-Lab Escape (mentioned)
- New York Slums (mentioned)
- New York Sewer (cutscene)
- Finale
Syphon Filter 3
- Paradise Ridge (mentioned)
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
- Mentioned in the USAS-12's description
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
- Matters' End (mentioned)
Trivia
- Chance is the third chronological boss character to have worn full body armor, with the first being Erich Rhoemer and the second, Anton Girdeux
- Chance is referenced in Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain USAS-12's weapon description.
- He's also mentioned in Syphon Filter 3 when Logan explained that Rhoemer used the same armor during their encounter and is one of the people that Logan killed, as well as in Dark Mirror when Singularity taunted Gabe during their final duel.
- Chance is one of three bosses to refer to Logan as his first name, in this case "Gabe." The other two are Anton Girdeaux and Mara Aramov.
- Because of the PlayStation's graphical limitations, Chance's body is shown intact despite being hit by tail rotor blades, which would actually mutilate him.
- Chance is also one of the few antagonists who were mentioned by Singularity in Dark Mirror.
- His revelation of working for the Agency is reflected in Dark Mirror, in which Kress pretends to act as a UN medical officer before murdering Janzen and the wounded soldier.
- The USAS-12 is required to defeat one of two bosses, the first being him, the other being Erich Rhoemer.
- His quote of just 'doing my job' is mirrored in Dr. Kaufmann of James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies.
- His line 'Let's dance!' is echoed by Jerry Lambert in Predator 2.
- He is the second antagonist who must be protected, despite later revealing the truth that he is an opposing character. This trait is shared with Jonathan Phagan and Mara Aramov.
- According to the game manual, he commanded the CBDC response to the Washington D.C. terrorist attack.
- He possesses top-notch attack and manuever skills.