'Syphon Filter' Leaves Nothing but Pure Fun

By AARON CURTISS

March 29, 1999 12 AM PT

Games like “Syphon Filter” make PlayStation owners happy. Things blow up. Women wear stretch pants with their flak jackets. And the fate of the civilized world depends on how nimbly players navigate environments crawling with machine-gun-toting terrorists.

Snobs may sniff at “Syphon Filter” as yet another example of mindless video violence, yet another lesson in how video games rot the minds of America’s youth, yet another corrupting influence on a society gone mad.

Whatever.

For people who love video games, “Syphon Filter” is everything a game should be at the end of the 20th century: fast, complex, rich and a heck of a lot of fun. It reminds us how far we’ve come from the simple days of “Pong” and “Breakout” and how much potential remains untapped in Sony’s trusty 32-bit rig. PlayStation II? We don’t need PlayStation II. Well, not for a while, anyway.

Players assume the role of Gabe Logan, a top-secret agent with degrees in biology and chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The mission: Root out the terrorists responsible for a deadly virus called Syphon filter.

Logan lands in hot spots all over the world. The action unfolds from a third-person perspective much like “Tomb Raider.” As with most third-person 3-D games, maneuvering can take some getting used to--particularly if players choose the analog controls.

Players must guide Logan through each mission’s objectives. These include taking out a bad guy or blowing up a piece of equipment or infiltrating a location. Then there are things Logan must not do, such as shooting a good guy or damaging the vials containing the virus. As in life, shooting a co-worker or smashing test tubes brimming with deadly toxins are bad things.

There the realism ends. Although Logan must sneak through some levels, most of the game involves shooting and running, running and shooting. Unlike “Metal Gear Solid,” in which players didn’t even get a gun for the first few levels, “Syphon Filter” subscribes to the see-you-in-hell school of counterinsurgency.

Not that that’s a bad thing. The action is relentless, and for players who enjoy feeling the simulated recoil of an M-16 as they save the world, “Syphon Filter” delivers the goods.

‘Blast Radius’

For players who just know they would make an awesome intergalactic fighter pilot, “Blast Radius” offers lightning-fast PlayStation action in environments that feel as vast as outer space.

Designed by the crew that’s responsible for “Colony Wars,” “Blast Radius” looks and feels a lot like that classic space shooter. Consider it a simpler version of “Descent Freespace.” But what it lacks in complexity it makes up for in speed.

Like all great shooters, the story is marginal to play. The sole survivor of a fighter squadron is recruited by an alien race to fly mercenary missions. Players who survive are rewarded with money to buy new ships and weapons.

The heads-up display gives players a nice readout of everything they need to know as enemy ships swarm. In a dark room on a large screen, “Blast Radius” can give some players vertigo as planets, stars and spacecraft zip in and out of view.

‘Kensei Sacred Fist’

Even though I hadn’t played “Kensei Sacred Fist” before, it sure felt like I had. This PlayStation fighter treads such familiar ground that players will have a tough time telling it apart from any number of games--from “Virtua Fighter” to “Tekken” to “Dead or Alive.”

True, there are some cool moves--the “knee bazooka,” the “hawk claw attack,” the “dancing viper.” But “Kensei Sacred Fist” simply fails to take players anywhere they haven’t been a dozen times before.

That said, the graphics are great. Even the creases on one fighter’s jeans show up, and the characters move smoothly with none of the choppiness or detached polygons that plague some games. For die-hard fighter fans, “Kensei” may be worth a look--perhaps a weekend rental--but few others will find much to enjoy.

‘Mario Party’

Nintendo has a knack for taking ideas that sound crazy and making them work. Who would have thought, for instance, that a cartridge-based game system would be viable in the era of CD-ROMs? But “Mario Party” takes the cake--proving that execution is what counts.

“Mario Party” is essentially a board game played on a television screen. As in a board game, players move characters around a linear landscape as they try to collect coins and stars. It sounds like a preschool game, but it’s surprisingly fun.

Much of the fun comes from the mini-games embedded in the board. At the end of every round, players compete in a range of simple video games--none of which could support itself on its own. But as a group, they provide an experience that parents and children can enjoy together.

Parents tired of watching their kids play video games might want to join the “Party.”

Times staff writer Aaron Curtiss reviews video games every Monday in The Cutting Edge. To comment on a column or to suggest games for review, send e-mail to aaron.curtiss@latimes.com.

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ESSENTIALS

Title: “Syphon Filter”

Platform: Sony PlayStation

Publisher: 989 Studios

ESRB* rating: Teen

Price: $39.95

Bottom line: A gamer’s game

Title: “Blast Radius”

Platform: Sony PlayStation

Publisher: Psygnosis

ESRB rating: Everyone