For other uses of the term Syphon Filter, see this link.
For Project Dark Mirror, see this link.
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror is a third-person action game released for the PSP in 2006. In Dark Mirror, players take on the role of Gabe Logan and occasionally Lian Xing, special operatives for a secret government agency. It is the first game to be rated MA15+ and also the first to carry the tagline of 'Infiltrate, Recon, Execute.'
Plot synopsis
The Syphon Filter fiasco has finally ended, and Gary Stoneman's assassination of Mara and Elsa permanently terminates any further conspiracies, but the IPCA must solve a new case when paramilitary squads belonging to a group called Red Section attack an oil refinery owned by the corporation KemSynth Petroleum. When Washington calls for a Precision Strike, a mission too sensitive for military forces, Gabe brings his team to Alaska and investigates.
Gabe explores the refinery for the whereabouts of foreman Malcolm Freeman, and soon discovers hints of another project directed by a scientist named William Kreisler. More questions arise when Gabe observes the dead body of NSA agent Jack Miller, a man he knew, and proof of other NSA spying inside the area. He then kills a field commander codenamed Red Jack to advance, after observing that a soldier called Black King is in command of the operation.
Once Lian destroys Red Section's transport, Gabe continues to search for data on the project Red Section is seeking. As he looks for Security Section D in hopes that it contains answers, Gabe rescues the genetic engineer Kreisler, only to have him die from what appears to be an exotic plant, without surrendering any information. Gabe hurries to Kreisler's botanical garden and takes an optical disc before Red Section can steal it.
Lian and Teresa alert him to Black King's plan to destroy the pipeline, so Gabe engages the forces and learns of the name Project Dark Mirror from graffiti on the wall. Gabe eliminates Black King, but Malcolm Freeman commits suicide, like Kreisler, rather than be interrogated.
The Agency decodes the disc and learns that Dark Mirror involves plants. KemSynth Botanicals is growing them in Iquitos, but Red Section is using the local Peruvian Revolutionary War Council to attack the location. The mission becomes personal when Gabe learns that an old associate of his, Addison Hargrove, is part of the KemSynth operation, and Gabe must assist her while hiding his feelings.
Their successful mission in Peru takes them to Bosnia, where Goran Zivmovic is attempting to steal nuclear fuel. His men are allies of Red Section, so Gabe must uncover what they know. Along the way, he saves a private named Janzen and cooperates with him to reach the remaining UN forces who are fighting Zivmovic. Gabe soon finds that UN medical officer Richard Kress is a mole, but he is unable to stop Kress from murdering Janzen and an unnamed wounded soldier. Gabe hunts down and kills Kress, exacting revenge, before destroying a tank which Zivmovic hijacked.
Gabe is able to turn his attention to Red Section and he seeks another of their allies in Viktor Yavlinski, a Russian criminal operating out of a casino. Other information gleaned from Kress' computer yields the codenames Singularity and Touchstone, the Red Section leaders. Gabe tracks down the source of their finances and eliminates Yavlinski while dodging Touchstone. He escapes from the casino and soon receives word from none other than Addison.
Addison reveals that she left the Agency to have a daughter. Her ten year-old daughter Blake is now a captive of Touchstone, and they are demanding her to trade information. Gabe and his former love travel to the exchange point, but during an argument Touchstone knocks Addison down a cliff. Enraged, Gabe attacks Red Section until he can defeat Touchstone and drop him into the abyss.
Blake is still Red Section's prisoner, but the Agency is able to identify Singularity as an Interpol accountant named Grant Morrill. He copied every piece of classified data he received and used his resources to create Red Section. Gabe brings his team to the group's headquarters to kill Singularity and destroy the remaining traces of Dark Mirror. They rescue Blake, but Singularity taunts Gabe with memories of his past after breaking into Agency records, from the murdering of the cathedral test subjects and the betrayal of Jason Chance to the conspiracy when Gabe was working for Vincent Hadden and Logan's obsession with Mihai Niculescu. Infuriated, Gabe disrupts the special armor worn by Morill and shoves him into the path of an incoming train.
Back at the Agency, Mujari determines that Project Dark Mirror is a chemical nerve agent, and Singularity was trying to release it in the atmosphere. A small amount could have killed millions, but the threat has passed now.
Gabe visits the mausoleum for Addison and reflects on her while the credits roll. In a post-credits cutscene, she suddenly appears behind him, indicating that she had brought a harness to save her from falling. She and Blake have reunited. Gabe also learns that Blake's comments reveal that Addison was lying about her age. Far from ten, she is twelve. Gabe realizes Blake is his daughter, but he cannot say anything. Addison wants her to live away from the world of deception found in the Agency, so the two say goodbye and drive off. Gabe watches them disappear.
A bonus level in Bangkok takes place after the AIT assault. Jimmy Zhou, a gang leader tries using the avian bird flu as a weapon against his rivals. Gabe kills the birds and learns that Zhou has taken Lian hostage. Inside his penthouse, Gabe faces an army of Zhou soldiers, including one with a Gatling gun. Gabe manages to rescue Lian and kills Zhou.
Missions
Game Share | Elevation |
---|---|
Training Missions | Training 1 · Training 2 · Training 3 · Training 4 |
Act I - Fire and Ice | Insertion Point Alpha · Red Jack · Finding Freeman · A Man Without Power · Freeman's Files |
Act II - Blood and Oil | Under NORAD's Nose · Security Section D · Kreisler's Garden · Freeman's Answer |
Act III - Ancient History | Old Friends · Memories |
Act IV - Saving Private Janzen | Forged Under Fire · Traitor in our Midst · The Ultimate Sacrifice · The Trojan Horse |
Act V - Root of All Evil | Fist Full of Rubles · Blood Money |
Act VI - Touchstone | Meeting with Fate · Into the Abyss |
Act VII - Singularity | Red Section · Drowning · Event Horizon · Matter's End |
Act VIII - Bonus Stages |
Goodnight Sweetheart · KemSynth Tower · Sana Yemen · Birds of a Feather · Jimmy Zhou's Army |
Deleted Missions |
Shaitaan's Canyon |
Online Shutdown
As of June 27, 2012[1], Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror online feature was shut down, as well as Syphon Filter: Combat Ops and Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow.
Controls
PSP
Standard
- D-PAD [UP]: Interact (jump, crawl, etc.)/Zoom in
- D-PAD [DOWN]: Crouch/Zoom out
- D-PAD [LEFT]: Use selected gadget
- D-PAD [LEFT] (HOLD): Gadget selection screen
- D-PAD [RIGHT]: Cycle through weapon firing mode (change ammunition or firing type)
- D-PAD [RIGHT] (HOLD): Weapon selection screen
- ANALOG STICK: Move forward or backward/strafe
- [L](WITH SCOPELESS WEAPON)(HOLD): Lock on to target (press it again quickly to switch to another target)
- [L](WITH SCOPED WEAPON)(HOLD): Enable zoom (press up or down on the D-Pad to zoom in or out)
- [R]: Fire
- [X]: Aim down
- [CIRCLE]: Aim right
- [TRIANGLE]: Aim up
- [SQUARE]: Aim left
- [START]: Pause
- [SELECT]: Command (when you have a teammate in combat with you, use this to issue orders like "follow me", "take cover", etc.)
Advanced
- D-PAD [UP]: Interact (jump, crawl, etc.)/Zoom in
- D-PAD [DOWN]: Crouch/Zoom out
- D-PAD [LEFT]: Use selected gadget
- D-PAD [LEFT] (HOLD): Gadget selection screen
- D-PAD [RIGHT]: Cycle through weapon firing mode (change ammunition or firing type)
- D-PAD [RIGHT] (HOLD): Weapon selection screen
- ANALOG STICK: Aim
- [L](WITH SCOPELESS WEAPON)(HOLD): Lock on to target (press it again quickly to switch to another target)
- [L](WITH SCOPED WEAPON)(HOLD): Enable zoom (press up or down on the D-Pad to zoom in or out)
- [R]: Fire
- [X]: Backpedal
- [CIRCLE]: Strafe right
- [TRIANGLE]: Move forward
- [SQUARE]: Strafe left
- [START]: Pause
- [SELECT]: Command (when you have a teammate in combat with you, use this to issue orders like "follow me", "take cover", etc.)
Classic
- D-PAD [UP]: Interact (jump, crawl, etc.)/Zoom in
- D-PAD [DOWN]: Crouch/Zoom out
- D-PAD [LEFT]: Use selected gadget
- D-PAD [LEFT] (HOLD): Gadget selection screen
- D-PAD [RIGHT]: Cycle through weapon firing mode (change ammunition or firing type)
- D-PAD [RIGHT] (HOLD): Weapon selection screen
- ANALOG STICK (RIGHT/LEFT): Turn
- ANALOG STICK (UP/DOWN): Move forward/backward
- [L](WITH SCOPED WEAPON)(HOLD): Enable zoom (press up or down on the D-Pad to zoom in or out)
- [L](WITH SCOPELESS WEAPON)(HOLD): Do the kinda sorta zoom I mentioned earlier
- [R](WITH SCOPELESS WEAPON)(HOLD): Lock on to target (press it again quickly to switch to another target)
- [X]: Fire
- [CIRCLE]: Strafe right
- [TRIANGLE]: Snap to wall
- [SQUARE]: Strafe left
- [START]: Pause
- [SELECT]: Command (when you have a teammate in combat with you, use this to issue orders like "follow me", "take cover", etc.)
PS2
Standard
- Left joystick...........................Move forward/backward and sideways.
- Right joystick..........................Turn around, aim
- X (tap).................................Crouch/Rise.
- Triangle................................1° Interaction button. Note: When a action is possible, a tag will show up on your screen 2° Crawl when you find yourself in front of a crouch space (a vent duck for instance).
3° Climg over a low obstacle.
Squarre.................................Give an order.
Note: When you can issue an order, a
tag will show up in the upper
right corner of your screen.
Circle..................................n/a
L1......................................Shoulder aiming. Use the right analog
stick to move the targer around.
L2......................................Reload weapon.
R1......................................1° Fire.
2° Knife or body attack (when you are
barehanded).
R2......................................Flatten against a wall.
If you find yourself near a corner, or
if the wall is low, push and hold down
the joystick in the corresponding
direction to peek and aim. You can now
fire from that position. Let go the
joystick to hide back.
Left arrow (hold).......................Brings up the gadged selection screen.
Note: Press X, Square, Triangle or
Circle to pick the corresponding
goggle. Press R1 to use a medkit
if have one or L1 to select the
fire extinguisher, again if you
have one.
Right arrow (hold)......................Brings up the weapon selection screen.
Note: Press X, Square, Triangle, Circle
L1 or R1 to select the
corresponding weapon.
Up arrow................................Zoom in (while looking througs a
scope).
Down arrow..............................Zoom out.
Start...................................Pause the game and lets you check your
mission objectives. You can also access
the game options.
Select..................................n/a
Trivia
- This is the first Syphon Filter to be rated MA15+
- This is the only Syphon Filter game that is based off another franchise (Metal Gear Solid) rather than being using real-life enemies as the other games do.
- Singularity's speech at the end is somewhat similar to Jason Chance's.
- Fourth and last game to allow the player to assume the role of Lian.
- First game to be released for the PSP and Vita. It later received a PS2 port.
Censorship
In the original PSP version, Singularity is run over by a train when Gabe kicks him into the path of an oncoming vehicle in a rather bloody and graphic sequence. For some reason whatsoever, the PS2 version of his demise has him being shot by Gabe and falling in front of the approaching train, but most of the explicit content was cut out. Consequently, the PS Vita cutscene used the same footage as the PS2 (again for an unknown reason).
Furthermore, the PSP also contained death sequences where enemies could be set aflame with the various tasers and a flare gun. This method could be used to achieve environment kills (which requires players to take out enemies without, of course, their own weapons). The PS2 and later the Vita both removed this feature of igniting them on fire, requiring players to physically use the environment rather than their own weaponry to score these kills.
An interesting fact is that while the game transcript contained numerous swear words on the PSP, the PS2 and Vita also both omitted the offensive language.
Plot holes
- Significant issues arise during Stone's assassination of Mara Aramov. For one, the latter is clearly seen sitting on a balcony before being killed in Omega Strain's post-credits cutscene, yet in the bonus mission, she is walking inside a house. Secondly, bodyguards are absent in the aforementioned cutscene, but they are present in the Dark Mirror version of this event.
- Singularity has literally no motives in his intention to gas Europe with Dark Mirror.
Retcons
- Elsa Weissenger, despite being a perfect character for the storyline, is nonchalantly written into the role of being Mara's secret lover.
- Zohar clearly killed al-Hassan in the previous game, but it is implied in a bonus mission that Stone assassinated the antagonist.
- More problems are seen if the Dark Mirror variant of Mara Aramov's assassination is to be believed. Firstly, Stone insists he only needs one bullet to make the kill as evidenced by the assassination of Dimitri, yet he is somehow carrying a fully loaded weapon when he stops the Syphon Filter conspiracy. He later does the same during a mission in Yemen. Furthermore, despite carrying an unsilenced weapon, Mara's bodyguards somehow do not become alerted if Stone kills them in a certain pattern.
Goofs
Continuity
- In a cutscene during ''Red Section'', a terrorist can be seen wielding an M-16 but the weapon is never found during gameplay.
- Gabe is clearly carrying an MP5 during the mission 'Traitor in our Midst', but during a cutscene, he kicks an Uzi to Pvt. Janzen. The Uzi is only used during 'Old Friends' and 'Memories'. This would also imply that Logan would no longer have an auxiliary weapon for the next part of the mission, yet the player is still armed with a firearm in this category following the cutscene.
- Addison tied her self to a rope that saved her from falling but apparently Touchstone, and, indeed, all the rest of the Red Section men, failed to see the rope in the first place, which is rather inexplicable given the presence of snipers positioned around the tram terminal.
Factual errors
- The Desert pistol would in reality generate enough recoil to rip the hand off an inexperienced user, but it can be used without much trouble in-game, both by the player and by enemies. Indeed, Mara is somehow able to kill Stone outright with 3 shots on higher difficulty settings.
- Janzen refers to Gabe as 'Sarge' in 'Forged Under Fire', when in fact Logan would be a lieutenant. However, this can perhaps be handwaved by the fact that the former was suffering from combat trauma with his entire unit annihilated, and also because his immediate superior in the unit was a sergeant rather than an officer.
- Despite the game's assertion that the SMAW can destroy a main battle tank, MBTs are actually hardened against explosive attacks such as these. In fact, their front and sides are MUCH more heavily armoured than their rear end. Furthermore, while their back has minimal armour, the top of tanks are completely vulnerable against these assaults, and Gabe would in reality have needed a Javelin missile launcher, which attacks targets from a top-down perspective rather than head-on, in order to effectively defeat Zivmovic.
Miscellaneous
- If the player begins a mission with 2 pistols of any kind, swaps them for an enemy's handgun, and then switches back to the original weapon, the game somehow only provides them with one of the selected firearm.
Gallery