List of Syphon Filter references to other media sources

This page contains a list of references to various media sources in Syphon Filter.

Owing to the nature of this page, it is currently under construction and may not necessarily be complete.

Games

Metal Gear Solid

• The Syphon Filter virus is rather similar to FOXDIE. Both are bio-weapons that can be engineered to specifically target certain demographics while leaving others unharmed.
• The 'Base Tower' mission where Gabe must fight off a gunship in a snowy environment is akin to the Sniper Wolf battle, which takes place in an identical area. Lian would eventually chase Gregorav in a similar cold environment and the player would be in such a surrounding in Mazyr, Belarus: Belaya Vezha. Logan would later find himself in snow again in the Red Section assault on KemSynth and when escaping from Gebel Tyorma.
• There are certain stealth segments in each Syphon Filter game (except Dark Mirror and Logan's Shadow, both of which allow the player to choose whether or not stealth is used), just as MGS places a heavy emphasis on sneaking around.
• As with the Syphon Filter Conspiracy, Metal Gear's story is incredibly puzzling and involves multiple plot elements tied together.
• Snake mentions Gabe in a conversation with Colonel Campbell during Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (in the game Snake vs Monkey).

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

• In the Logan's Shadow mission 'Trinidad', the player is assailed by enemies firing from an elevated vantage point while in a shower room, just like Task Force 141 in the mission 'The Gulag'.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

• The Manticore virus is strikingly identical to Syphon Filter. Both can be modified to affect only certain targets with a particular genome.

Doom

• The M82 BFG sniper rifle borrows its namesake from this game's Big Freaking Gun.

Movies

James Bond

• Perhaps the most famous example of a 007 reference in Syphon Filter is how Dr. Kaufmann, from Tomorrow Never Dies, pleads for his life when Bond forces a pistol to his head, justifying himself with the fact that he was just "a professional doing a job", which Jason Chance also uses to explain himself in Syphon Filter 2.
• Another element from 007 seen in Syphon Filter is the Walther PPK pistol, which is Bond's signature weapon, being used in Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain.

Die Hard

• The Steyr AUG bullpup assault rifle, made famous in this Bruce Willis movie, is used from SF3 all the way to Logan's Shadow.
• Willis is also seen sneaking through vents in much of the film, and each playable character does this at some point during the Syphon Filter series.

Alien

• In Syphon Filter 2, Archer comments how his men are 'expendable', which is the exact line that Ash and MUTHUR both use: "Bring back life form, priority one. All other priorities rescinded. Crew expendable."
• In Logan's Shadow, Cordell comments that Gabe and Alima were also both 'expendable'.

Predator

• In The Omega Strain's Tokyo mission, players fight off Ryusaki, who's armed with a chaingun similar to the one used in this movie. The theme would be repeated in Dark Mirror, where Gabe takes down a guard under Jimmy Zhou's employ, the patrol having an identical weapon.
  • Additionally, players can acquire two weapons equipped with infrared scopes: the AU300 Mod R and the DSC-1 Thermal. Both these firearems highlight targets by detecting their heat signature, just like the Predator does.
• In Logan's Shadow, Cordell comments that Gabe and Alima were both 'expendable'. The NIOC director also tells Logan he used him 'to get the job done'. This is exactly what Dillon admits to Dutch following the guerilla camp assault.

• In Predator 2, Jerry Lambert taunts the City Hunter with 'Let's dance!', which Jason Chance also uses in Syphon Filter 2.

Robocop

• In the original movie, Alex Murphy is heard using the line "Dead or alive, you're comin' with me" which is also similar to what Pulikovsky says in Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain during 'Belaya Vezha' (I want them found, dead or alive).

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

• Gabe's line: "I'm making this up as I go", which then evolves into total chaos during Syphon Filter 2.

The Beast of War

• A mission set in 1987 war-torn Afghanistan titled "The Beast" features Gabe squaring off against a T-62 Soviet tank in a Kabul square during Syphon Filter 3 flashbacks.

The Rock

• The shower room ambush is strikingly similar to the mission 'Trinidad' during Logan's Shadow, where Gabe and Maggie are pinned down by enemies occupying an elevated position. This sequence was also used during Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in the mission 'The Gulag'.

The Shawshank Redemption

• The scene in which Andy Dufresne crawls out from the prison sewage pipe is similar to how Gabe and Maggie escape from Gebel Tyorma.

The Terminator

• When Gabe rescues the hostage in 'Hotel Fukushima', he tells her to "Come with me, if you want to live."

Saving PVT. Ryan

• The fourth episode in Dark Mirror is called 'Saving PVT Janzen'.

Speed, Broken Arrow

• In Syphon Filter 3, Mara Aramov snatches numerous hostages and loads them on a train along with a few viral bombs, just as Howard Payne does in Speed.
  • This is also what Vic Deakins does in Broken Arrow.

Batman Begins, Toy Story 3,Lego Movie

• The scene of Archer destroying the bridge to stop a train is strikingly similar to how Bad Cop tries to take out the main characters in the Wild West.
  • It is also what Potato Head does during the prelude of Toy Story 3 when he tries to escape from the train.

The Dark Knight

• Jimmy Zhou's line 'do you like to play with knives' and what the Joker uses are both identical. (Do you want to know why I use a knife?)

Sniper

• Stone's policy of only 'using one shot' to complete his mission.

The A-Team

• Main characters are framed for a crime they never committed which is what happens to Gabe and Lian in Syphon Filter 2, as well as its sequel, and they try to exonerate themselves.

Inception

• Syphon Filter 3 plays like a 'dream within a dream', jumping from one character's experience to a second character's flashback, and then finally going back to 'reality' at the end.

Pulp Fiction

• When one of Zivmovic's men interrogates Private Janzen, he dares him to "Say what again!" during Dark Mirror's mission 'Forged Under Fire'.