New Review Posted: Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain

[Daniel Weissenberger]

Mike Bracken takes a look at the cultural phenomenon that is Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, and decides that:

"If the hottest buzzwords at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo were "Action RPG" and "World War II shooter", then "counter-terrorist shooter" (of both the solo and squad-based variety) were probably the shoo-in for third place. The show floor and game store shelves seem to be filled to the brim with games where players take on the role of covert military operatives charged with bringing down the Osama Bin Ladens of the virtual universe. One of the more highly anticipated titles in this genre was Sony Bend's Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain."

The rest of the review is here: http://www.gamecritics.com/review/syphonomega/main.php - if you think you can handle it.

[Springer]

I agree. Syphon Filter : The Omega Strain is a pretty dire game, and another example of the terrible trend of trying to prop up a sub-par game with an equally flaccid multiplayer option. The series has always felt like a poor man's verison of several better titles. Like "Aw Timmy couldn't afford an MGS, but his mum made him a Syphon Filter. Don't you dare laugh!"

The Omega Strain seems to take this to a new low, the game now feels like a fan mod made by 14 year old high school IT students. The only positive thing I can say about it is about the nice animation blending while running, where your weight seems to shift as you change direction. Unfortunately, one nice animation is hardly a killer feature, and it's an animation you'll see a lot of, as trying to move in on a targeted enemy is often like circle strafing a MiG fighter jet around to come in for the kill.

This is another game that is doing nothing new and is proud of it. As Mike rightly said, just about everything worth doing in this game has been done better somewhere else, making the title a genuine waste of time for everyone involved.

[michael2004]

that game is realy big time crap

67€ in europe for that game

its a real rip off

im never ever gonne buy syphon filter again

crap crap crap

any guys know who developt that game

i wanne write them to tell them that there game is crap

[EnduroGamer]

I haven't played the game but I've always thought of the Syphon Filter line of games as a poor-man's Metal Gear Solid.

But it really makes you wonder, with the money that is thrown around in this industry, and the amount of time it takes to produce so many games that we end up blasting, making good games cannot be that easy. Or is there a total dearth of talent working in this industry?

At $50 a pop, I think gamers have an absolute right to be as picky and critical as possible (and we do appear to be so) but with the endless supply of reviews and forums that do nothing but bash bad games, it's amazing that so many bad games are still made.

I know it's not an easy question to answer, but perhaps some of the guys who work for developers can try to explain how/why such bad games come to be? It's been my own experience when dealing with developers personally that many of them are so involved in the project and for such a prolonged period that they're unable to honestly tell whether or not if it came out well. This is usually the case for average or sub-par games. When a game's great, the folks behind the scenes seem to know it's good.

I know a part of the game's greatness/suckiness has to do with the powers-at-be forcing an artificial release date, or not giving the group the resources they need. But is that always the case, or does blame often fall on a lack of talented workers? Perhaps the artists aren't all that, or the programming is lazy, or the testing dept only scratches the surface?

I know there are times when the only thing we can complain about is a cornball story or bad voice-acting--those are usually the really good games that are just shy of greatness. But what about games that just have horrible control schemes, boring, repetitive gameplay, bugs, dated graphics, more bugs? Is this just a fact of life for the inexperienced developer or is there a larger, more profound explanation?