Syphon Filter (series)

Syphon Filter is a video game series published by Sony and developed by Sony Bend (formerly Eidetic), that has appeared on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable game systems. In the series, Syphon Filter is the name given to the mysterious biological weapon.

Series

• Syphon Filter - released in 1999 and is the first game in the Syphon Filter series. It deals with the chase of Erich Rhoemer and uncovering his bioterrorism plans behind the Syphon Filter virus, with Gabe Logan experiencing subsequent betrayals and conspiracies.
• Syphon Filter 2 - released in 2000 and is the first sequel to Syphon Filter. It picks up where the first game ended, with Gabe leaving Kazakhstan with his CBDC partners on his way to the U.S. The game is about getting the encryption codes and discs containing the virus data and finding a vaccine to cure Gabe's partner, Lian Xing, who was infected with the virus.
• Syphon Filter 3 - the third of the series and is a sequel to Syphon Filter 2. It was released in 2001, and it was one of the last big games released on the PS1, instead of PS2, which became more common that year. This game is told mostly in flashback during a congressional hearing for the main operatives about their history, the origins of the Syphon Filter virus, and ultimately; stopping Syphon Filter.
• Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain was the first installment of the Syphon Filter series to be released on the PS2. Instead of playing as Gabe Logan, the exiled agent from the top secret Agency, players will create their own character, which is a new recruit for the Agency.
• Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror - released on March 14, 2006 (United States) and October 6, 2006 (Europe) for the PlayStation Portable, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror takes advantage of a number of the system's capabilities, including game sharing and online multiplayer. The game is considered by GameSpy to be, "possibly the best game on the PSP yet."^[1] A PS2 port was released on September 18, 2007 in North America, with European and Australian versions released on November 2 and 8, respectively.^[2]
• Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow - released on October 2, 2007 in North America, this game finds Gabe Logan searching for Lian Xing, who may be in danger, or a double agent. Now Gabe must search the globe for her, but with a government official, Robert Cordell, shutting down the IPCA under presidential powers, and Logan in the eyes of an assassin, this may be his biggest mission yet.
• Syphon Filter: Combat Ops - released in November 20, 2007,^[3] right after Logan's Shadow (in which a demo of Combat Ops was included), it was released as an online-only game, featuring an innovative map editor where you are able to create the layouts, weapons, crates, barrels and objects of your map, name it and then upload it so that others can play it. The game was released as a $10 PC PlayStation Store download and became available to download from the PS3 Store a few weeks later. It was then released on the PlayStation Network Power Play UMD.

Overview

Characters

Main article: List of Syphon Filter characters

Gabriel Logan

Gabriel "Gabe" Logan is the series' main protagonist. Logan is an agent for the International Presidential Consulting Agency in Syphon Filter, Syphon Filter 2, Syphon Filter 3, Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, Gabe served in the 75th Ranger Regiment and fought in Grenada. He met Lian Xing in 1987, during a mission in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. He served in the Persian Gulf War. In 1993 he joined the Agency.

In The Omega Strain, Gabe is appointed Commander-In-Chief, and reforms the Agency, naming it the International Presidential Consulting Agency.

In Logan's Shadow, Gabe is shot four times in the chest by Trinidad at the end of the game. It is unknown whether he survived.

Voiced by: John Chacon (Syphon Filter 1-3), James Arnold Taylor (Omega Strain, Dark Mirror, Logan's Shadow)

Lian Xing

Lian Xing is Gabe Logan's partner in the Agency and later the IPCA.

Born in Kashi, China, she first met Logan in Afghanistan in 1987, both working on assignments against the Soviets. During the 1990s, Lian was then working for the IPCA as Logan's partner. In the second game, it is revealed that before she joined the Agency, she was an agent of the Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China.

Originally, her biography in Syphon Filter stated she was a Chinese-American, born in San Francisco, California whose credentials for being The Agency's leading communications intelligence expert included a Ph.D in Computer Science from Stanford University. These facts were retconned by Syphon Filter 2 under the pretenses that The Agency falsified her records in order to grant Xing U.S. citizenship, and so she would be able to work for them.

In Logan's Shadow, it is revealed she has a husband, Shen Rei. It is also revealed that she is in love with Gabe. Lian may be the last surviving character of the original series after the events at the end of "Logan's Shadow".

Voiced by: Ava Fang (Syphon Filter), Zoe Galvez (Syphon Filter 2, 3), Kim Mai Guest (Omega Strain, Dark Mirror, Logan's Shadow)

Teresa Lipan

Teresa Lipan is a former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, voiced by Shannon Tilton in all appearances. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, she implied that her family is of Native American descent during her testimony in the third game. She graduated college and started working for the ATF in 1992. In her first mission for the ATF, Lipan was caught in the middle of a conspiracy with National Security Agency agents. With the help of an undercover Gabe Logan, Teresa saves her fellow ATF agents and as many militia men as she can. She also saves Dusty and Debbie Oakton, family relatives of Earl Oakton, a mountain survivalist who was executed by NSA agents.

In the series, Teresa Lipan started working for the Agency in 1994, but prior to the events of the first game she leaves the Agency, upon discovering what the Agency really was.

In Syphon Filter 3, Teresa decided to fake her death after getting shot and seriously injured by turncoat CBDC agent Jason Chance in the second game. She tracked down Russian spy Mara Aramov and managed to expose her and Secretary of State Vince Hadden about the agency's activities while testifying about her involvement with the conspiracy.

Although initially reluctant, Teresa joined the IPCA to provide backup reconnaissance in Omega Strain.

In Logan's Shadow, Teresa is shot by Trinidad at the end of the game. Whether Teresa survives is unknown.

Voiced by: Shannon Tilton

Lawrence Mujari

Lawrence Mujari is a friend of Teresa Lipan's, introduced in the second game. He was a former soldier in the Umkhonto we Sizwe during the time of apartheid. It is also known, for example according to his Senate testimony given during Syphon Filter 3, that he had been a member employed by the African National Council. Mujari testified it was in this role that he first encountered the Syphon Filter virus, during his 1984 investigation of a new disease outbreak at a gold mine located in Mpumalanga. Mujari has a flashback during this testimony; during this flashback, the player controls him while he carries out that investigation.

After seeing the effects of viral infections firsthand, Mujari left his previous work and joined the Agency, in which he trained as a biochemist. He was a strong believer in non-lethal force (although he killed numerous people during his 1984 mission) and refused to take a life if it could be avoided. Mujari is killed by Chinese agent Trinidad at the end of Logan's Shadow.

Voiced by: Bryan Session (Syphon Filter 2, 3), Khary Payton (Omega Strain, Dark Mirror)

Edward Benton

Edward Benton was the deputy director of the Agency introduced in Syphon Filter, and later appearing in Syphon Filter 3. He filed all the reports for field agents Logan and Xing. He also filed reports for other field agents such as another operative known as Jenkins. An example of his true meanings was in the Syphon Filter. Jenkins and his team was told to enter Washington Park, where a viral bomb was being held. What Jenkins and his team did not realize was that Black Baton was prepared. Jenkins and his team were ambushed and eliminated. Benton was later spotted by Logan at an exhibition center party for Pharcom. He was revealed that he was working for Aramov and Phagan. Logan kills Benton in the process.

In Syphon Filter 3, Logan tells a story about when he was an army ranger. He first tells about his first assignment in Afghanistan, which involved delivering supplies to the rebels in the area. Logan, his commanding officer Ellis, and Benton, who claimed to be a CIA operative, were the only survivors after the ambush. They later successfully made it to the camp. After Logan finished testifying, he admitted that he had no idea Benton was actually an Agency operative.

Benton later recruited Logan and Ellis into the Agency.

Voiced by: Frederick L. Gillette

Vincent Hadden

Vincent Hadden was the United States Secretary of State and a member of The Consortium. He first appeared in the first game as the shadowy figure who tells Markinson that they will "wait and see what he [Gabe Logan] can discover". He is later seen talking to Aramov. He is also featured at the beginning of the second game and later during the game with his face shadowed again, and finally seen talking to Aramov at the end of the game. He appears more often in the third installment. In the beginning of the second game, he explains the nuclear launch that was caused at the end of the first game to the public. In the end, he appeared spying on Logan, Xing and Mujari, beside Teresa Lipan's grave.

In the third game, he calls for Logan, Xing and Mujari to testify. He questions each person, while being intrigued by their stories. It is revealed that Hadden was involved with The Agency and The Consortium. Aramov kills Hadden. Mujari notes that leadership in The Consortium is rapidly shifting after Hadden's death.

Elsa Weissenger

Dr. Elsa Weissenger was a doctor for PHARCOM, the Agency, and the IPCA.

In the second game, Weissenger works for the Agency. She attempts to study the effects of the Syphon Filter virus. She fails, after Xing, infected, escaped the group's custody. Near the end of the game, Logan forces Weissenger to finish a vaccine while inside the Agency's lab.

In the third game, Weissenger is remembered in a flashback mission, told by Xing. Weissenger was in Costa Rica, getting plant samples. Her involvement with the Agency started here. In a current mission later in the game, Weissenger crosses paths with Xing in Australia. She was at a refugee camp in which villagers were being tested with the Syphon Filter virus. Lian forces Weissenger to create a cure. She gives Xing a data disk that involves Aramov and leaves.

During the events of The Omega Strain, Weissenger was recruited into the IPCA, doing medical research on the Omega Strain virus. She eventually manages to create a vaccine, but she requests a recruit kill one of her mentors, Jandran. Weissenger leaves a note confessing her mental instability, about wanting to create and break things for the world with her medical knowledge.

In Dark Mirror, Weissenger is seen at Aramov's apartment. Gary Stoneman, a member of the IPCA, kills both Weissenger and Aramov. Upon the players choice she may die from a bullet or from being run over by a car.

Voiced by: Andrea Satin (Syphon Filter 2, 3), B.J. Ward (Omega Strain, Dark Mirror)

Alima Haddad

Alima Haddad was a chopper pilot for the IPCA.

She plays a role in The Omega Strain. While in Belarus, her chopper is shot down. She gets separated from Stone and other agents. She is assumed dead, but is later found during a mission in Ukraine at a holding cell. As the game finishes, she is seen in a wheelchair. For rescuing her and taking other various actions throughout the game, the agent is awarded with Karkadann, Alima's Unicorn Charm.

In Dark Mirror, she is seen piloting an aircraft which carried Logan and Xing.

In Logan's Shadow, she is piloting the aircraft which carries Logan in the first episode of the game. She also assists him throughout the mission from her aircraft. She is shot down by enemy fire and killed. Gabe can recover her unicorn charm from the chopper's wreckage at the end of the level, which counts as hidden evidence.

Voiced by: Bettina Spier

Uri Gregorov

Uri Gregorov was a fictional head of the SVR. Gregorov is introduced in Syphon Filter 2 when he led a convoy to Kazakhstan attempting to provide back-up for Logan and CBDC forces in the area, but arrived too late. He had claimed that he was good friends with Logan's partner, Xing. The main reason for Logan and the CBDC to be in Kazakhstan were to retrieve data disks, but it was later revealed that Gregorov had the second half of the data disks recovered in Kazakhstan. Gregorov was captured by Aramov and sent to the Aljir Prison, with an impostor being put in his place. Xing eventually finds out about Gregorov's fate and goes to rescue him. After being extracted, Gregorov gives the data disks to Logan while trying to prevent a war with People's Republic of China personnel, headed by General Shi-Hao.

In Syphon Filter 3, Gregorov was leading the Soviet troops in the occupation of Afghanistan.

In The Omega Strain, Gregorov had a very small role, though Russia and Chechnya were at the brink of war. Russian military forces were forced to bombard Mikhas Ivankov's (a Russian leader) hometown in Chechnya, inflicting civilian casualties. The aftermath was photographed by Mujari, with Logan confronting Gregorov about the incident. From that point on, Gregorov was never heard from again.

Voiced by: J.S. Gilbert

Maggie Powers

Maggie Powers is a member of MI-6, a counter-terrorist group based in the UK. She helps Logan in Ireland by destroying shipments of the Syphon Filter virus. She later appeared in Australia, where she helps Xing by piloting a helicopter and providing radio backup.

She reappears in The Omega Strain, providing an IPCA agent backup while in Belarus.

In Logan's Shadow, she assists Logan after he frees her from captivity. She provided covering fire for Gabe as they went through a prison, where she was captured and saved again by Logan. She is later taken into custody after it is revealed that MI-6 wanted Shen's device as well as Shen himself.

Voiced by: Shannon Ward (Syphon Filter 3), Jennifer Hale (Omega Strain, Logan's Shadow)

Mara Aramov

Mara Aramov was an ex-KGB agent and one of the major antagonists in the series.

She originally worked as an assassin for Black Baton hired by Victor Yavlinski but later defected to the Consortium. She executed Logan's colleague Ellis. She killed Hadden in Syphon Filter 3. At the end of The Omega Strain, Stoneman can be seen aiming through his rifle's telescopic sight about to assassinate her. In a bonus mission in Dark Mirror, it is revealed that she and Weissenger were involved in a secret love affair. It is also revealed that Stoneman had orders to eliminate them. Stoneman set up in an apartment, down the street from Aramov's residence. After eliminating Aramov's bodyguards, Stone kills Aramov and Weissinger.

Voiced by: Anna Murivitskaya (Syphon Filter), Elina Fillipova (Syphon Filter 2), Corina Harmon (Syphon Filter 3), Jennifer Hale (Omega Strain, Dark Mirror)

Gary Stoneman

Gary Stoneman is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and current member of the IPCA. He served in every war from Vietnam to the Gulf War. He serves as an expert sharpshooter and commanding officer.

In Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Game, he joined the IPCA. His first mission was in Pescara, Italy, where he eliminated Dmitri Alexopoulos after discovering he planned to use the Syphon Filter virus in mob wars. He also commanded IPCA recruits in Mazyr, Belarus, and appears in Ivankov's fortress at the end of the game to help rescue Alima. After the credits roll, a hidden cutscene featuring Mara Aramov shows that Stone was hired to kill her. Stone awards the player with "Stone's Medal of Courage," which is actually a Purple Heart, suggesting that Stone was injured in the line of duty.

In Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, Stone is controlled by the player on one of the secret missions, unlockable after finishing Training Mode. In this mission, Stone carries out his hit on Aramov, who is revealed to be having an affair with Elsa Weissinger. Both are killed; the player may decide how Elsa dies depending on their actions.

References

1. ^ "Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror review". GameSpy. http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/syphon-filter-psp/696210p1.html. 
2. ^ "Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror info". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/data/940257.html. Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
3. ^ PlaystationStore

External links

• Syphon Filter series at MobyGames
• Syphon Filter Central. A Fansite