Syphon Filter wasn't the most original game out there; it pretty much ripped of good components from other titles and mashed them together to make a very good, fun game. The inevitable sequel unfortunately doesn't do anything new and feels rushed, given away by coming out merely seven-and-a-half months after the original. While the game is still generally competent, plays about as well as the first, and newcomers might still be impressed, it's a let-down to fans of the first game.

The game picks up immediately where the first ended, with protagonist Gabe Logan having been betrayed by the shadowy Agency he works for, as they were behind the Syphon Filter virus all along. This time, partner Xian Ling is now infected with the virus, and the focus of the game is on recovering a vaccine to save her life. In fact, she'll even help as you'll control her for some missions, though it's only a cosmetic difference as she plays exactly the same as Logan, some coughing and swaying in cut-scenes aside. (The virus negatively affecting her gameplay would have been a nice touch). From searching Colorado wilderness for a downed plane, infiltrating a Siberian Gulag, and a battle in New York's streets, there's again a decent amount of locational variety. Eventually you'll find yourself in possession of the vaccine, and be left with a heck of a fight to escape with it alive in time to save Xian.

The good in the game has but a few improvements from the original, and luckily a nice variety of weaponry is a returning feature. A nice touch is that head shots may be executed against you, and seeing the danger indicator flash red and the "head shot" icon flash over your head provides for some genuine panic knowing that a one-shot kill is imminent. Analog control know means Gabe and Xian can walk, though there's little call for it. An encounter with an enemy shooting tear gas grenades smartly has your controls lock up briefly if caught in the gas; sadly there's only one of these areas that should have been implemented more.

The biggest downfall of the game is the number of things they didn't improve: a blatantly telegraphed end-game plot twist, grenades that either kill or do no damage, and stealth sequences that are more scripted 'find the one route that will allow stealth to occur' rather than being organically stealthy. While you'll likely never fail to take advantage, getting head shots against enemies is typically far too easy (even easier than the first game), and an enemy far across a chasm can be easily one-shot in the head from a machine gun. Level difficulty see-saws, with pathetically easy levels followed by nastily difficult ones, and then back to the easy. The first disc of the two-disc set plays far too quickly, in under four hours for most.

Control wise all works about as well as in the original Syphon Filter, and the only real extra is the aforementioned walking ability. Similarly, graphics and sound-wise, there's really very little difference from the first game, though there is a bit too much re-use of graphic images. The voice acting also seems a notch shoddier than before. While at two discs you'd be expecting a lengthier adventure, but it's really all chock-full of FMV for cut-scenes, and not really loaded with additional gameplay time. As a standalone game it's probably more impressive than considering it as a sequel, and while genre fans who missed the first may want to pick this up if they see it, if you've played the first you're not missing out on much if you skip this title (but if you see it for $2 at a yard sale, go ahead and indulge!).