IGN Compares PSP Syphon Filter to Halo and FFX [Archive]

Salesmunn

03-13-2006, 08:02 AM

IGN reviewed Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror last week, giving it an "Outstanding" score of 9.3. (http://psp.ign.com/articles/695/695160p1.html) The score isn't what's truly interesting about this article. Juan Castro, the author, states that Syphon Filter defines the PSP the same way Halo defined the Xbox and Final Fantasy X defined the PS2.

It's a rare thing when a game actually defines a system. Not an easy thing to do in any case, but once in a great while a title comes out that sums up the perks and potential of a particular game system. Halo defined the Xbox, for instance, while Final Fantasy X did the same for PS2. Now, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror has done the same exact thing with the Sony PSP. It exploits just about every technical capability the little system has to offer, and it does so with an extreme degree of elegance and refinement.
I can agree that Halo was the "Killer App" on the Xbox, followed up by Halo 2. Even though FFX is awesome, I don't think it "defined" the PS2. What do you guys think and if you agree with me, how much does this skew your opinion of this entire review?

xcalibur

03-13-2006, 08:51 AM

FFX was booooring. You spend more time watching cinematics than you do actually playing the game.

-X

AntB

03-13-2006, 08:52 AM

Ah finally the killer app we have all been waiting for. Between this and Daxter I will be having a lot of fun with my PSP this month.

Syphon Filters and Daxters graphics look on par with most PS2 titles!

Heretic Machine

03-13-2006, 08:55 AM

FFX is one of the worst games in a series full of mediocraty. It's not a game that you want to be "defining" your system with. The PS2, though my least favorite of the three last gen consoles, deserves better than that. Besides, it had such variety that I would say every person defines it differently...

AntB

03-13-2006, 08:59 AM

Perigon is right. The PS2 has so many great titles that a fan of any genre can find something great. Between God of War, Shadow of the Collosus, countless RPGs, sports titles the PS2 is defined by many excellent games.

Dr Quincy

03-13-2006, 09:00 AM

Surely GTA3 defined not only the PlayStation2, but the entire past console generation as the most far-reaching title?

agentgray

03-13-2006, 09:02 AM

Sales will tell how defining it is.

Good to see the PSP finally get some game love, but I'm still not buyin'.

smashism

03-13-2006, 09:02 AM

Final Fantasy X was definantly pretty dull to me.
Alot of people bought X Box's for Halo, I remember that. I dont think people will go out and buy PSP's for this game. But, I already have a psp so I'll probably give it a go.

AntB

03-13-2006, 09:06 AM

Do any of you remmember how much hype surrounded Halo!?

I saw major all over the fuckin' place before it's release.

If sony spent that much money on Syphon Filter and Daxter marketing, people would flock to the stores.

IndependentGMR

03-13-2006, 09:16 AM

Surely GTA3 defined not only the PlayStation2, but the entire past console generation as the most far-reaching title?

I argree with you. I enjoyed Final Fantasy X, but I would hardly say it defined the PS2.

Abednigo

03-13-2006, 09:21 AM

Well remember, Final Fantasy X is the greatest game of all time. ;)

jacktion

03-13-2006, 09:28 AM

FFX was booooring. You spend more time watching cinematics than you do actually playing the game.

Exactly. It defined the PS2.

Zing!

All kidding aside, even if you disagree with his specifics you can appreciate his point. Certain games are really built around a system's strengths. Halo was built around Xboxs' strengths. The PS2 was really good at games like FFX that had amazing cinematics but not as much power to push 3d visuals. Now it is the same things with Syphon Filter.
Basically he is just saying that the game is really good.

askheaves

03-13-2006, 09:29 AM

I personally think Katamari Damacy defines the PS2. One bright ray of originality screaming to be noticed under a heaving pile of sub-par sequels and cash-ins.

jeffool

03-13-2006, 09:31 AM

I still contend that FFX should've been the Final Fantasy movie. Just take out the occasional button pressing and voila!

if76

03-13-2006, 09:59 AM

Another vote for GTA3 as being console-defining

Salesmunn

03-13-2006, 10:05 AM

Great comments, guys.

I guess we couldn't expect him to compare Syphon Filter on the PSP to a more "PS2 defining" game like GTA3. No matter how awesome Syphon Filter is on PSP, it's not ushering in an entirely new genre like GTA3 did.

King Drewsky

03-13-2006, 10:06 AM

Any console that has FFX as its defining game would have to be pink and frilly.

MosBen

03-13-2006, 10:10 AM

Granted, I'm really not clear on what the release schedule was, but I think the author was referring to the fact that Final Fantasy X was among the first arguably great games to come out for the system. To get it out of the way, I'm not a fan of the game or the series, but Final Fantasy X was at least among the first games to make you think the PS2 was worth owning.

Mister Pie

03-13-2006, 10:25 AM

Well, I personally enjoyed the hell out of Final Fantasy X. To each his own, I guess.

Crabby

03-13-2006, 10:29 AM

Seriously, the gushing is a little too much. How can it define something that existed years and years prior to its own existence? Easy answer.

gawaintheblind

03-13-2006, 10:32 AM

Twisted Metal: Black, or silent Hill 2, I would say. FFX was ass.

JazGalaxy

03-13-2006, 10:39 AM

personally if I was going to pick a genre that "defined" my experiance with Xbox it would be the "morality games" of which the Xbox was singularly famous for. Morrowind, Jade Empire, KOTOR 1 and 2,Fable, and Deus Ex: IW. Granted all those games are available on PC, they were only notable within the games industry as a collective because they appeared on Xbox.

Salesmunn

03-13-2006, 10:39 AM

Twisted Metal: Black, or silent Hill 2, I would say. FFX was ass.

Twisted Metal Black was an awesome game.

Serapth

03-13-2006, 10:49 AM

bone_matrix

03-13-2006, 10:49 AM

I played the multiplayer Beta for Dark Mirror. 1st and 3rd person shooters don't work well on the PSP. Period. And I believe that Lumines defines the PSP. Everyone should have it and love it.

Infinity

03-13-2006, 10:49 AM

Consider that FFX appeared 14 months after the PS2 launched, 12/2001, and that SF Dark Mirror (and Daxter) are appearing about 12 months after the PSP's launch and I think we're seeing an interesting parallel between the two systems.

I'd like to know what the lead time to these two titles is. It would make sense to me if both teams have been creating these titles since the moment they got the dev kits (FFX for PS2 and SF Dark Mirror or Daxter for PSP). I.e. All the content and polish on both of these games takes just that long to do. This would go towards answering earlier complaints about a lack of quality games for the PSP.

Dr Quincy

03-13-2006, 11:01 AM

No Gran Tourismo lovers out there? That game was the single biggest reason I bought both a PS2 and then a PSP.

I'd say that GT excelled on the PS1 before it did on the PS2. Definately a defining game of that console, along with FFVII and Metal Gear Solid.

I'd love Katamari to be held up as one of the console's greats though. If only more people would go out and buy it!

Twisted Metal Black was an awesome game.

Not to be confused with either Twisted Metal or Black, both of which blew rather substantially.

Kagger

03-13-2006, 11:10 AM

No Gran Tourismo lovers out there? That game was the single biggest reason I bought both a PS2 and then a PSP. Im still f@$@king pissed how GT4 for the PSP ended up being vaporware, when sony basically showed it being a launch title.

Asshats :(

Good point actually, I didn't even think of that. It does have a good parallel to Xbox/Halo due to the fact both were marketed with a specfic bundle. My first ps2 was the the GT3 bundle, red box for the game and system.

Returner

03-13-2006, 11:14 AM

I hope they are talking about single play cause the multiplayer suck ass. I was on the beta for that and the few times I was able to connect and stay connected the game blew monkey nuts.

MosBen

03-13-2006, 11:32 AM

Again, I think the phrase "system defining" is being used here as a synonym for "first system seller". Xbox was defined by Halo and it was several months before another game came out that made people want to buy the machine just so they could play that game. The PS2 launch, though there were some good games in there (Twisted Metal Black has been mentioned and SSX wasn't bad either), was generally considered to be lacking any system seller games or, to put it another way, any system defining games. Again, my chronology could be off and there could have been a system seller released before FFX. If that is the case, well, my whole theory goes out the window, assuming of course that the writer doesn't have the same spotty memory that I do.

Stormwatcher

03-13-2006, 11:45 AM

naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nananana nananaaaaaaaa KATAMARI DAMACY!!!!!!!!!11
But really, I think GTA3 and MGS2 are the most IMPORTANT games in the PS2. Katamari and ICO/SoC come in second.

Shifteh

03-13-2006, 12:06 PM

personally if I was going to pick a genre that "defined" my experiance with Xbox it would be the "morality games" of which the Xbox was singularly famous for. Morrowind, Jade Empire, KOTOR 1 and 2,Fable, and Deus Ex: IW.

Your XBox experience was defined by Invisible War? Did you throw the console out the window, or just across the room?

SuperMonkeyFighter2

03-13-2006, 12:07 PM

UnderHero5

03-13-2006, 12:07 PM

I don't know if anyone else actually read the IGN review... but it was horrible.
Sounds incredibly biased to me.
It didn't give ANY negatives about the game at all... NONE.
It didn't explain the control scheme... it just said how amazingly great it controls... and didn't actually tell me whether I'd only use the analogue nub, or if it's a combination of the nub and face buttons... or what. Or whether I could customize the controls. It told me how you switch weapons though... because that's the all important factor in controlling your characters...
It didn't mention how the load times are, whether they are long or short... nothing.
Personally, load times on my PSP games are a big deciding factor in whether I buy a game or not. It should at least get a MENTION in the review. 3 pages and all I know is that they loved it and it's the best game ever for PSP...

My favorite part is the closing comment...
"It controls well, plays well and generally does everything right. Not perfect, mind you, but what’s actually wrong with Dark Mirror is barely worth mentioning."

Yeah... "barely" shouldn't be in there... because they weren't "barely" mentioned... they weren't mentioned "at all".
One of those flaws coult be 2 minute load times.
Thanks but I'll wait for an ACTUAL review. Not IGN giving Sony a rusty trombone.

UnderHero5

03-13-2006, 12:14 PM

it comes down to the games that showcase what a system can really do, and how they did commercially. GTA 3 sold close to 20 million copies (really) .... if that does not define a system, I don't know what does.
But GTA3 is a multiplatform game. I think that would be the reason it doesn't define the PS2 specifically... even if it was "exclusive" for a while. It was only a few months after the PS2 launch that it went to PC as well. I don't think you can call a multi-system game "system defining".

Serapth

03-13-2006, 12:16 PM

I wonder how well Katamary actually sold. I know its popular online with geeks, but did it sell well to the other 95% of the gaming population? I would be shocked if it actually did 1/4 GTA3's sales.

Also, does anyone know a site that shows volume shipped for gaming?

captainspankypants

03-13-2006, 12:44 PM

This points out a key difference between the Xbox and the PS2. At the beginning of its life cycle, the PS2 was already known for a number of titles that were "must haves." The PS2 was "defined" by Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Twisted Metal, Virtua Fighter, Devil May Cry, Onimusha, Ace Combat, and a bunch of other stuff. It wasn't just one game that you had to have, it was a slew of games that defined the console. You can say whatever you want about the state of the console now, but when it launched, it wasn't defined by just a single game, it was defined by its library.

Sazime

03-13-2006, 12:58 PM

I liked the fact that FFX pretty much eliminated loading, in most cases. That was pretty ground breaking. Wasn't that due to the PS2s memory bandwidth? I would say that was at least an important show of power for the PS2.

ElectricMonk

03-13-2006, 01:06 PM

i would say ffx did 'define' the ps2. maybe it wasn't a killer app, not like gta was, but it was the type of game that the japanese like and the type of game the system was designed for.

MosBen

03-13-2006, 01:50 PM

Well, captaincrankypants, I'd say your statements are accurate except to say that the PS2 was defined by the PS1's library. People had played a Sony console and they had a vague idea what to expect from the subsequent console, just as they do with a Nintendo console. The Xbox was the first of its line and therefore didn't have that history to rely on. But still, just as how with the Revolution you know there'll be a Mario adventure/platforming game there is a degree of uncertainty about what a generation of console will be defined by until a game, or some games, show you.

Some of the game series you mention, however, I believe debuted on the PS2, and most of the series took quite a while to come out. If you exclude the best selling PS1 games, it was quite a long time before the PS2 had its own defining games, as is the way with most new consoles.

JazGalaxy

03-13-2006, 02:52 PM

Your XBox experience was defined by Invisible War? Did you throw the console out the window, or just across the room?

Quite the opposite. One of my favorite games of all time actually.

(I've yet to find anyone who dislikes the game for what it was, but only people who dislike the game for what it wasn't. That is to say, they wanted it to be one thing and it wasn't. That's a fine reason to dislike a game, but it doesn't make that game bad.)

dr_wily

03-13-2006, 04:09 PM

the defining games in my opinion are the ones ive slated to play within the next 20 years (I dont have a ps2)

mgs 2/3
gt4
ratchet n clank 1-3
jak 1-3
sly cooper 1-3 (?)
god of war
shadows of colossous/ICO
Dragon Quests
Tales
DevilMayCry 1-3
DarkCloud2

hmm what else am i missing thats PS2 exclusive.

Heretic Machine

03-13-2006, 04:42 PM

Your XBox experience was defined by Invisible War? Did you throw the console out the window, or just across the room?

He probably nudged it, and it flew out of his entertainment center at three hundred miles per hour, did five summer saults in the air, and then got stuck in a wall. At least, that's what I would expect from IW physics.

Grimmjow

03-13-2006, 05:35 PM

No Gran Tourismo lovers out there? That game was the single biggest reason I bought both a PS2 and then a PSP. Im still f@$@king pissed how GT4 for the PSP ended up being vaporware, when sony basically showed it being a launch title.

Asshats :(

i agree, i think GT3/GT4 defined PS2. visuals is jus so damn beauiful and thats not cinamatics. ALL REAL BABY. personally im not fond of halo or GTA but there good games i can say that but im not busting nuts for either of them

Royal Fool

03-13-2006, 05:48 PM

1. The Syphon Filter games are shit.

2. Final Fantasy X didn't "define" the PS2.

3. Juan Castro is obviously a fucktard.

(I didn't read the thread.)

Royal Fool

03-13-2006, 06:02 PM