Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow review

Fortunately, Gabe's varied arsenal and short supply of silenced ammo encourages you to mix it up with noisy gunfights against hordes of alerted guards. You'll eventually be able to rip it up with rapid-fire shotguns, ultra-high-tech assault rifles and submachineguns that fire fast enough to shred bulletproof armor in seconds. It also helps that your enemies are actually pretty sharp, especially in later levels; plenty of them still run out into the open and start shooting, just begging you to cap them, but most will duck behind cover if it's available, and some will even try to outflank you when you're hiding from them.

Also, duck-and-cover gunfights aren't the only thing you'll do in each level, and you'll frequently be tasked with stuff like sinking small ships, escorting a tank through a desert and ordering it to shoot things for you, or using the aforementioned Simon Says sequences to solve simple puzzles. You'll also be able to swim, which is fun, although apart from one fantastic undersea stage - in which you'll worm your way into a sunken ship and fight through its semi-flooded interior - you won't be spending too much time in the drink.

Fortunately, Gabe's varied arsenal and short supply of silenced ammo encourages you to mix it up with noisy gunfights against hordes of alerted guards. You'll eventually be able to rip it up with rapid-fire shotguns, ultra-high-tech assault rifles and submachineguns that fire fast enough to shred bulletproof armor in seconds. It also helps that your enemies are actually pretty sharp, especially in later levels; plenty of them still run out into the open and start shooting, just begging you to cap them, but most will duck behind cover if it's available, and some will even try to outflank you when you're hiding from them.

Also, duck-and-cover gunfights aren't the only thing you'll do in each level, and you'll frequently be tasked with stuff like sinking small ships, escorting a tank through a desert and ordering it to shoot things for you, or using the aforementioned Simon Says sequences to solve simple puzzles. You'll also be able to swim, which is fun, although apart from one fantastic undersea stage - in which you'll worm your way into a sunken ship and fight through its semi-flooded interior - you won't be spending too much time in the drink.

The only really lamentable thing about the game is its approach to boss fights, which all seem to be over way too quickly. Sure, a boss might have a certain gimmick that you'll need to overcome, like extra armor or a fuel tank that needs to be blown up before you can hurt him, but once you get a clear shot at the dude's face, he'll be about as quick to die as anybody else. And after the tough-as-nails boss fights of Dark Mirror, that's disappointing.

In addition to its globe-trotting, death-filled, grittier-than-ever storyline, Logan's Shadow offers up some replayability for the dedicated with a Mission mode, which enables you to revisit missions you've already completed to find things you might have missed, and to unlock new side missions. More interestingly, it packs in a kickass, online-enabled multiplayer mode for up to eight players to tear through, with seven big maps and five different game types (deathmatch, team deathmatch, Retrieval, Rogue Agent and Sabotage) to keep things interesting.

The only really lamentable thing about the game is its approach to boss fights, which all seem to be over way too quickly. Sure, a boss might have a certain gimmick that you'll need to overcome, like extra armor or a fuel tank that needs to beblown up before you can hurt him, but once you get a clear shot at the dude's face,he'll beabout as quick to die as anybody else. And after the tough-as-nails boss fights of Dark Mirror, that's disappointing.

In addition to its globe-trotting, death-filled, grittier-than-ever storyline, Logan's Shadow offers up some replayability for the dedicated with a Mission mode, which enables you to revisit missions you've already completed to find things you might have missed, and to unlock new side missions. More interestingly, it packs in a kickass, online-enabled multiplayer mode for up to eight players to tear through,with seven big mapsand five different game types (deathmatch, team deathmatch, Retrieval, Rogue Agent andSabotage)to keep things interesting.