Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror

While it’s nothing groundbreaking, the action is solid, mission objectives are varied and interesting, and the enemies are intelligent enough to make for some intense sequences.

While it's still an enjoyable title, particularly for the incredible story and the presentation of the game world, this is by no means as solid as its UMD counterpart.

There is a somewhat dated feel to the action that will be felt most firmly by those used to elaborate team-based shooters, but for fans of the best of the series, and those who want a shining example of the epitome of first wave third-person-shooters, the latest Syphon Filter is an essential purchase.

A good port of a great PSP game.

Stick to the PSP, and Dark Mirror won’t let you down.

On PSP it set new standards but this port, enjoyable spy romp that it is, simply seems a bit dated when brought to the PS2. [Sept 2007, p.82]

This port of the excellent PSP game filters out online play and much of the fun that comes with it.

The lack of the PSP's brilliant multiplayer mode hurts. Still, if a PS2's all you have, by all means, snag it.

It might not have the depth of Solid Snake or Sam Fisher's adventures, but if you love sneaking up behind enemies and murdering them with hi-tech gadgetry (who doesn't?), then take a look into the Dark Mirror. [Nov 2007, p.95]

In the end, Dark Mirror is a good solid title that suffers from being a bit dated and missing some key features.

It's not that Dark Mirror is a bad game; it's not. It's just that it's not as good as the PSP version that's been sitting on shelves for over a year now, which begs the question: why bother bringing it to the PS2 at all? The whole thing has a real air of pointlessness about it.

There’s more substance behind Syphon Filter than in most of the style-obsessed trash-talking third-person shooters out there. Dark Mirror is thankfully without agenda, unfortunately without a bit of much-needed fine-tuning, but comes with a whole bag full of good intentions.

A good game with decent, no-frills graphics and excellent sound. It offers more action than most third person action games and the explosions are always much more fun than sneaking around corridors in the dark.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror was a great PSP game, but the chop job done to the title on its way to the PlayStation 2 really hurts the product's overall quality.

More like a third-person shooter and this works to its benefit. [Nov 2007, p.83]

Enhanced graphics and the option of a different control scheme don't make up for the missing [multiplayer] mode, and the price is hard to swallow, especially if you already own both systems.

Possibly the most detrimental aspect of the PS2 port is the stuff they’ve taken out of the original PSP version. The visual gore is gone, which is odd considering you can still hear the crack of a bad guy’s neck being broken (it still retains its R16 rating). The ability to taser is gone, and most noticeably, the much lauded multiplayer is gone.

The only way to experience the full impact of this title is to play it on the PSP. It's too bad that this version makes PS2 owners feel like third-world gamers.

Paying a full $40 for something that should realistically been $20 at most is pointless, and why the hell Sony priced the game so high is beyond me.

As a conversion of an acclaimed handheld game, Dark Mirror is a touch sloppy. It doesn't feel like much effort has been made to optimise the game for the PS2, either in looks or gameplay, and the omission of online play and crispy-fried taser fun will only annoy fans expecting a full conversion. And yet...I still kind of like it.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror was made for the PSP, and it is there that it succeeds. In trying to take the game and slap it onto the PS2, they've thrown away or lost everything that made it special to begin with, and are actually trying to charge $20 more for it. Where I come from, that's what we call a "rip-off."

Syphon Filter will absolutely please fans of the series, but also everyone who wants a good action game for Sony’s old-gen machine.