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Revisiting The Syphon Filter Trilogy: Part 4 – Conclusion

/ Imperfect Glass / Leave a comment

If you were fortunate to have played video games in your youth, you probably had some favorites that you loved going through again and again, and the idea of going back to them years, if not decades later, can feel like a trip back to a more innocent time. But time is a cruel thing, and revisiting said games often reveals outdated graphics, a story that isn’t as gripping as you thought it was, frustrating gameplay, or being so outdated that you just can’t enjoy it anymore. But for me, the Syphon Filter trilogy manages to withstand the test of time. While graphically and technologically outdated, the gameplay is still as gripping as ever, the story and characters still hold up, and the music is as awesome today as it was over twenty years ago. From beginning to end, the PS1 Syphon Filter trilogy is a solid example of an action-adventure spy thriller done well… with one exception.

When going back through the trilogy, I expected the first two games to hold up well, which they do. When it came to the third game, I was expecting to be a fun experience, albeit with the weakest story. But with the passage of time, I was surprised at how much Syphon Filter 3‘s story stumbles, sometimes quite badly. In the first two games, every level – no matter how frustrating or mediocre – advances the story in a meaningful way. But Syphon Filter 3 has several levels that don’t do that, due to its biggest issue: there are too many flashback missions.

Like every literary tool, flashbacks are not inherently bad, but Syphon Filter 3’s problem is that half the game consists of flashbacks, and most don’t add anything to the main conflict of stopping the Syphon Filter virus. All the Afghan missions, Montana militia missions, and Costa Rica missions could have been removed and the story wouldn’t have been harmed by their absence. By comparison, there’s only four levels from the first two games that could be removed to similar effect (Pharcom Elite Guards, Colorado 70 highway, returning to the Pharcom museum in Syphon Filter 2, and Volkov park). Had Syphon Filter 3’s flashbacks been removed, it would have freed up more time for modern-day missions that would have continued to move the story forward.

When we step back and view the Syphon Filter trilogy as a whole, it has a very strong first act, an equally strong second act (with a few stumbles), but comes to a halt in the third act, only finding its footing again at the very end when Gabe starts gunning down terrorists in the Senate hearing building. And with that in mind, I believe the greatest lesson the trilogy offers writers is this: limit using flashbacks in stories as much as possible, and if they do appear, to have them directly contribute to the story’s main conflict. While it’s nice to take the time to develop protagonists and see what adventures they had before the story, that development shouldn’t come at the expense of the story, especially not one that’s in its final act. And much like revisiting a beloved game series, there’s nothing wrong with reminiscing about the past, but not when it comes at the expense of the present.

Revisiting The Syphon Filter Series: Part 2

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Continuing our look back at my favorite levels of the Syphon Filter Playstation 1 trilogy, let’s continue with the second game, Syphon Filter 2. Released less than a year after its predecessor, Syphon Filter 2 is everything a great sequel should be: it expands upon the world from the first, advances the plot in a logical and meaningful way, and has the protagonists take on bigger obstacles: Gabe and Lian are both being hunted by the US government and the Agency, Lian is still infected with the virus and running on borrowed time, and some of their new allies may not who they seem to be…

Typically seen by fans as the best of the original three games, I agree with them that Syphon Filter 2 is really, really good… with the caveat that the game relies too much on frustrating trial-and-error gameplay that leaves little to no room for mistakes. With that said, here are my favorite levels, ranked from least-enjoyable to best. Note that, like before, this breakdown will spoil every big story detail.

21. McKinzie Airbase Interior

While the opening level in the Colorado Rockies is a good introduction to the game, and a good way to ease players back into Gabe Logan’s shoes, the second level, the airbase hospital, introduces players to SF2’s biggest gameplay change: Trial-and-error gameplay. Whereas players had a fairly forgiving difficulty in the first game, SF2 is nowhere near as merciful, where a single mistake will result in an instant game over, and the Hospital is a jarring introduction to said gameplay. You have to sneak around the hospital with no map, no weapons, and cannot raise the alarm. No mistakes are allowed, and rather than leading excited players deeper into a world of spy-adventure, it instead makes them wonder what they’re getting into.

Best story element: In the ending cutscene, Lian is found by a security guard. However, he realizes that Lian is being held illegally, and, having taken an oath to uphold the law, allows her to escape and will cover up said escape as long as he can. While he’s never seen or mentioned after this level, this soldier leaves an impression as a nameless mook who chooses to do the right thing, even at (presumably) great cost to himself.

20. Pharcom Exhibition Center

Gabe returns to the Pharcom Museum from the first game to track down an important object. While it is fun to revisit a level from the previous game and explore more of its previously-unseen wings, the trial-and-error gameplay makes it a frustrating slog, especially when Agency mooks chuck grenades into the air vents while you’re scurrying about. (and how do the soldiers stationed in the building not hear that?)

Best story element: Gabe showcasing his moral code by having no qualms about killing Agency mooks, but refusing to kill soldiers, due to them being innocents unaware of the espionage taking place all around them.

19. McKinzie Airbase Exterior

If the hospital escape was a frustrating mess, escaping the military base is even worse; where the hospital was fairly small, this enormous level can test your patience. Thankfully, you have a map this time around, and more things to hide behind. Plus, it’s great seeing how your actions here will make things easier for Gabe and his troops in subsequent levels, making this level a good example of how one character’s actions can help someone else further along in a story.

Best story element: Lian ensuring that Gabe and his soldiers won’t be gassed on the mountain, making their journey easier.

18. Moscow Club 32

SF1’s most unique location had players going through an abandoned cathedral, and SF2’s most unique romp takes place in Club 32, a Russian dance club that’s come under siege from bad guys as Lian tries to catch up with an old friend fleeing the chaos. There’s nothing overly great or bad about this level, but the techno-Russian dance music sure is catchy.

Best story element: Lian demonstrating her moral code by refusing to kill innocent police officers, no matter how hard they make things for her.

17. Agency Bio-Lab

If the hospital escape was a pain, and sneaking out of a military base was hard, then the Agency Bio-Labs are a nightmare, and the worst example of SF2’s trial-and-error gameplay. You, as Gabe, are trapped in a massive underground laboratory with no map, no equipment, a flimsy disguise to keep you safe, and a knife for self-defense. Your to-do list is long, and you’re surrounded by guards who won’t hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later, and all it takes is a single mistake to send you back to the last checkpoint. The only reason this mission isn’t at the bottom of the list is because Gabe has a very good reason for being here (getting Lian’s vaccine), giving the player a good incentive to keep going; she helped Gabe out so much, so now it’s only fair that he help her in return.

Best story element: Having to kill agency scientists to stop the alarm from being raised. They’re innocent and don’t attack you, but Gabe has no choice but to kill them to avoid being overwhelmed and captured. It’s a good – if uncomfortable – example of how protagonists sometimes have to be ruthlessly pragmatic in order to achieve a greater goal.

16. Volkov Park

Compared to it’s predecessor, SF2 features some genuinely creepy, almost horror-inspired levels, and a prime example is Moscow Park with it’s spooky, moody atmosphere of running through a park in the dead of night during a snowstorm. While the level itself is a straightforwards run-and-gun mission that has you trying to catch up to Yuri while under attack by his goons, the atmosphere is what makes the level memorable.

Best story element: Taking on several snipers in the middle of the night in a snowy forest with a night-vision-equipped rifle.

15. Colorado Interstate 70

Having made it to the freeway after their transport crashed, Gabe and Chance now have to make their way further down the mountain to escape. As a breather level after making it through the hospital, The interstate doesn’t have any real standout moments, but it helps build up Gabe and Chance’s camaraderie.

Best story element: If you’re killed during the mission, the Agency goons stop shooting at both you and Chance, foreshadowing that he’s secretly working with them.

14. New York Sewers

What’s a modern-day spy game without a journey into some sewers? SF2’s penultimate level has Gabe and his partner Teresa going through some of Manhattan’s sewers on their quest to finally kill Agency leader Stevens… but they’ve to go through an army of infinitely respawning Agency mooks before a pitched and tense fight in a parking garage, where Gabe finally ends Stevens for good, ensuring a happy ending for everyone!… right?

Best story element: Killing Agency leader Stevens is so satisfying, but nothing can top learning that Chance, your ally from the first third of the game, is actually a traitor who’s been working for the Agency from the beginning, and is the one ultimately responsible for Lian being captured and so many deaths, including his own men. Yet, as he points out, he was just doing his job as an Agency operative and asks Gabe how many men he killed to get this point. It’s a perfect example of an antagonist justifying their actions (rightly or wrongly) and correctly pointing out that the protagonist has done a lot of morally questionable things, too.

13. New York Slums

Having finally escaped from the Agency’s labs, Gabe now has to flee through the slums of New York City to reach safety and save Lian’s life. Of course, it won’t be easy, as not only is the Agency deploying legions of photocopied goons to stop him, but the police believe Gabe is a terrorist and are after him as well. What follows is a race through city streets, burning buildings, and fighting off everyone who wants you dead. After the stress of the previous two Bio-lab levels, the slums are refreshingly straightforward.

Best story element: Gabe comes to the rescue of a police officer pinned down by Agency goons, but instead of thanking him and letting him go in gratitude, she still tries to carry out her duty and arrest him, a nice subversion from how said rescues usually go in these kind of games.

12. Aljir Prison Break-In

Unquestionably the most tense stage in the Syphon Filter trilogy, Aljir prison is a bleak, depressing, gloomy, and intense level that has Lian sneaking through a Russian maximum-security prison to free the real Yuri from being executed in an hour. This level is pure stealth, where one mistake results in an instant game-over. While other missions that rely heavily on this type of gameplay are frustrating, the unexpected horror-style atmosphere of this level (just listen to the music) make it stand out, and finally making it to the very end is an incredibly rewarding experience.

Best story element: making it to the very end of the level, only to learn that Yuri’s execution has suddenly been moved up, leaving Lian with just one minute to reach him before he’s fried to a crisp, ramping up the tension even more.

11. Aljir Prison Escape

You thought sneaking into Aljir Prison was tough? Try breaking out! Having rescued Yuri, Lian now has to fight her way out of the prison while protecting Yuri. Thankfully, stealth is largely dropped here, and you get the satisfaction of being able to shoot your way out, taking out the sadistic guards responsible for running such a horrible place, a cathartic experience if there ever was one.

Best story element: Finding your way blocked by some crazed prisoners with guns. While you’re responsible for setting them free, they don’t care, and will kill you as quickly as they would the guards, forcing you to take them out non-lethally in order to proceed.

10. Colorado Mountains

Having survived his C-130 transport being shot down over the Colorado Rockies, Gabe has to rally the surviving GI’s who flew with him, and start his way down the mountain while under attack by the Agency. Though it’s the lesser of the three opening missions for the PS1 trilogy, the Rocky Mountains do a good job of establishing the stakes of what Gabe will face going forward, as well as increasing the difficulty compared to the opening level of SF1, letting players know that things aren’t going to be as easy this time around.

Best story element: Gabe rallying the surviving GI’s and working to keep everyone’s spirits up. While it isn’t long before the shooting starts, it’s refreshing to have Gabe focused on helping others instead of having to get into fight after fight like most of the other levels in the series

9. Industrial District

Syphon Filter doesn’t do too many urban levels throughout the three PS1 games, but Moscow’s Industrial District are easily the most unique: having escaped Club 32, Lian chases Yuri through the streets of Moscow, which includes fighting on the streets, avoiding getting run over by cars in alleys, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and dodging headshots from Yuri while chasing him into a park. It’s a solid, action-filled level with more catchy music.

Best story element: Having to act fast to avoid being crushed by a car in an alley when you have nowhere to hide.

8. Volkov Park – Gregorov Fight

Remember having to stop Mara Aramov from killing Phagan in the last game without killing her? SF2 revisits the concept, only this time it’s harder: having been cornered by Lian in Moscow’s Park, Yuri decides to turn and fight to the death, forcing Lian to stop Yuri without killing him. How do you do that? Shoot out all the lights, sneak up to Yuri in the dark, and taser him. But even then, Yuri can still sense and kill you if you’re not careful, but oh is it satisfying to finally taser the bastard after he’s spent the last three levels making your life miserable.

Best story element: Learning that ‘Yuri’ is actually an imposter, making you see the events of the past three levels in a new light.

7. Pharcom Expo Center: Ancient China Exhibit

This new wing of Pharcom’s museum has Gabe and Teresa involved in a race to stop the Agency’s second-in-command, Morgan, from detonating bombs to send the whole place up in flames. After protecting Teresa while she disarms said bombs, the climax features Gabe facing off against Morgan, who’s armed with an M-79 grenade launcher. While the first half of this fight involves just staying out of Morgan’s line of sight while he does the standard bad-guy monologue, the second half requires Gabe to actually take him out. One mistake, and Gabe gets a grenade to the face. The tension’s high, the pace is swift, and it’s one of the series’ most intense boss battles.

Best story element: Taking on a boss who dies as easily as anyone else, but who has a weapon that can kill the protagonist in one shot, leaving no room for error.

6. Bio-Lab Escape

Compared to the long stealth sections of the prior level, escaping the Agency’s bio-lab is refreshingly straightforward… but it’s anything but easy. You’re being hunted down by Agency goons wearing head-to-toe bullet-proof body armor, the place is in lockdown, and even at the very beginning you’re faced with one such goon and no way to kill him… unless you shoot the glass beakers on the table in front of you, causing them to explode, which the game doesn’t even hint is possible. Thankfully, the rest of the mission is more enjoyable, and a great example of escaping a sealed underground base, faced with nearly insurmountable odds, and fighting your way to freedom.

Best story element: Gabe – having no other way forward – is forced to leap into a large air vent to grab onto a tiny opening two stories below. One slip-up, and he’ll be chopped into bite-sized pieces by a giant, unshielded fan right below him, making it a nail-biting drop (and demonstrating Gabe’s incredible grip-strength)

5. 1-70 Mountain Bridge

In my opinion, this is one of the best levels of the Syphon Filter series, and one of the more clever ones: you have to stop the Agency from blowing up a bridge on the mountains to trap Gabe and his GI friends so they can be saturated with nerve gas. To accomplish this, you have to sneak around said bridge, quietly eliminate Agency goons and their commanders, and disarm bombs without being seen, as doing so will result in the bridge being blown up immediately. Not only that, but you also have to make your way along the bridge’s girders, where one fall will result in death as well. And then, after all that, you have to save two GI’s from being killed by Agency goons by shooting said goons with a single bullet to achieve a double-headshot. And THEN you have to take on one last convoy of Agency goons before finally escaping… and being blown off another bridge.

Though this is a very tough level, saving the bridge and making it to safety makes you feel like a badass more than any other point in the game… oh yeah, and the music here is also cool.

Best story element: A tie this time around:

  1. The protagonist facing off a numerically superior enemy force and stopping them from doing something terrible without them being aware that you’re there that saves not only you, but others as well.
  2. Gabe somehow falling at least 15 stories onto a moving train and surviving without a scratch. Totally impossible, but funny at the same time, and continuing the series’ tradition of him falling fatal distances without a scratch.

4. United Pacific Train 101

After several levels of stealth, trial-and-error gameplay, and countless mission restarts, Pacific Train 101 is a breath of fresh air where all you have to do is make your way to the front of said train and gun down any goon who tries to stop you. There’s no stealth, no mission parameters, and no one you have to save or protect. It’s just good, old-fashioned running and gunning with a kickass soundtrack.

Best story element: Gabe rightfully calling an Agency mook an idiot for throwing a hand grenade onto a fuel car less than ten feet in front of him.

3. United Pacific Train 101 – Part 2

Essentially the previous train level, only now there’s a time-limit, which gives you an extra incentive to reach the front of the train before it crashes.

Best story element: Gabe leaping from a moving train onto a helicopter as the train plunges into a canyon. Awesome!

2. C-130 Wreck Site

Finally arriving at the C-130 crash site, you need to retrieve the data disks required to help save Lian’s life. But getting to them won’t be easy: the Agency has reached the site first and has deployed some of their best soldiers to stop you, requiring you to use all your combat skills to make it through, culminating in a desperate fight to stop Archer from escaping the site with the disks while he hangs underneath a helicopter that’s flying away. And to top it all off, the PS1’s graphic limitations makes it look like you’re fighting not through a crash site, but hell itself, and it’s here that you’re introduced to the series’ most pulse-pounding music. A hard level, but intense and fun.

Best story element: Stopping an important adversary who’s not only hanging from a helicopter that’s flying away, but who’s wearing body armor, forcing you to either tear through said armor in a nonstop barrage of bullets, or take him out with an incredibly well-aimed headshot.

1. Syke’s Parking Garage

Sticking the landing of any story is difficult, doubly-so for video games. The final level needs to be a culmination of your experience and offer something engaging to finish the story, and SF2 nails it with what is, in my opinion, the best boss fight in the series. Chance, your so-called-friend who was actually an Agency mole, is out to kill you after having murdered Teresa. Problem is, his body armor is so thick that not even grenades can pierce it. Defeating Chance seems impossible at first, but eventually you’ll realize that you can use the VAS-12 automatic shotgun to knock him back into your helicopter’s blades, slicing him to ribbons (and if your timing is perfect, doing so after he taunts you by yelling, “Is that the best you can do, Gabe?!”).

Though it’s the shortest level in the game, Chance’s boss fight has it all: A neigh-invulnerable foe, emotional stakes, incredible music, and forcing a protagonist to find an a creative way to defeat a foe when raw firepower won’t work. It’s the best level in the game, and one of the best in the series, and a perfect way to end Syphon Filter 2.

Best Story Element: Fighting a former friend turned traitor who massively outclasses the protagonist in every way, yet still emerging triumphant.

Come back next time, when we’ll take a look at Syphon Filter 3, the last game in the Playstation 1 trilogy.

Revisitng The Syphon Filter Series: Part 1

/ Imperfect Glass / Leave a comment

The 90’s were a magical time for video games: At the beginning of the decade, we had 16 bit consoles and ended the decade with the PlayStation and CD’s. It was a transition from 2D sprites to 3D worlds, and with that transition came many franchises that stuck with the kids and teenagers who, in a way, grew up with them.

For me, the franchise that stuck with me the most wasn’t Super Mario, Metal Gear Solid, or Resident Evil, but Syphon Filter, a third-person action adventure series that followed secret agent Gabe Logan as he traveled around the world in a race against time to stop a deadly virus that, if released by its terrorist creator, Eric Rhomer, could kill millions. For my teenage self, it had everything: An awesome protagonist with a badass voice, a gripping story, great gameplay, cool guns, incredibly catchy music, and some highly creative and unique scenarios that the player encounters when going through the levels.

I’ve been meaning to revisit the Syphon Filter series for a while now to take a look at it from a writer’s perspective. But instead of your typical retrospective that would focus on the story, the characters, and the gameplay, I figured I’d try something different. As much as I enjoy the story, it is a standard secret-agent, espionage story with evil agencies, double-crossings, conspiracies, and the like. Therefore, instead of doing my usual analysis of what works and doesn’t work in each game, I’d like to go through the games and look at their levels instead and see what unique moments, hooks, and ideas they have. Today, we’ll start off with the first game in the series, 1999’s, Syphon Filter. And to mix things up a little more, we’ll go through the levels in order of how I enjoy them, from least to best.

20. Stronghold Catacombs

Syphon Filter’s least enjoyable level has you start off sneaking after some killer monks to save elderly, morally bankrupt CEO Phagan from being murdered, then doing a dreaded escort mission for said CEO through endless identical, ugly tunnels, and then do another escort mission to save Lian Xing, your partner you thought was dead. Though it’s nice helping her bust out of prison, the level’s size, ugly visuals, length, and having two escort missions makes this the game’s least enjoyable level.

Best story element: Learning that a partner who you thought was dead is actually alive and rescuing her (and unlike the morally bankrupt CEO, she actually has a gun and can defend herself, making your job easier).

19. Pharcom Elite Guards

This is pretty much a repeat of the Warehouses level (see the next entry), but harder. Plus, it’s much more of a maze this time around, and the Pharcom guards are now focused on you rather than Rhomer’s men, meaning you’re under fire constantly throughout the mission, and all of them wear flak jackets, meaning they require a headshot, leg-shot, or explosives to take out. Plus, finding some of the dead bodies you’re supposed to tag is a pain in the butt.

Best story element: The revelation that the silo you’re heading to holds a massive missile that was supposedly retired decades ago. When combined with all of Pharcom’s stuff being shipped here, it becomes clear that there’s something much bigger and more dangerous going on than you initially thought.

18. Pharcom Warehouses

The race to the finale of the game begins here, with Gabe having to fight his way through an enormous warehouse district to reach a well-hidden missile silo, all the while having two factions of enemy mooks (Pharcom guards and Rhomer’s men) fighting each other to death while ignoring you (unless you get too close). The level works at nailing the feel of an urban warzone, but the bland colors, ugly warehouses, and having to find multiple dead bodies doesn’t make this much fun to go through.

Best story element: Being involved in a three-way race to reach something important (the missile silo) while two of the three factions are more focused on fighting each other than you, all while having lost contact with the outside world.

17. Silo Access Tunnels

While en-route to Rhomer’s missile silo, you have to make your way through some abandoned mining tunnels that are swarming with his elite soldiers. The best thing about this mission is the spooky ambience of going through abandoned mining tunnels while being outnumbered by well-armed and armored soldiers.

Best story element: Making your way through a dark and creepy underground hideout with highly-skilled mercenaries trying to kill you, and being completely cut off from outside help.

16. Stronghold Lower Level

As a continuation of the previous level (see entry number 14), not much is different here: the atmosphere of a massive, abandoned cathedral is suitably gothic, saving the lives of innocent people infected by the Syphon Filter virus is still satisfying, and leaping through a massive, stained-glass window is cool (though how Gabe does it without being sliced to ribbons or breaking his legs on impact is never explained), but the level’s enormous size does start to wear down on the player after a while.

Best story element: Leaping through a large, ornate, stained-glass window to escape a cathedral is a great visual.

15. Base Bunker

A classic example of ‘continue your mission despite everyone knowing where you are,’ this level has Gabe trying to get through a dark tunnels to find and catalogue some missiles, all while being hunted by a constant stream of guards and death lasers without having any idea of where he’s going. What works well here is the fear of not knowing what’s around the next corner: it could be a set of lasers or a set of guards, but you have to keep pushing through, no matter what.

Best story element: Having to accomplish your mission in an area you know nothing about while constantly being hunted, and an entire base knowing where you are.

14. Rhomer’s Stronghold

Previous levels in the game featured a modern city, a museum, and a military base, which makes going to an abandoned cathedral a surprising change of scenery. The Gothic atmosphere, enormous layout, and appropriately moody music sets the stage well, and saving innocent test patients is a welcome break from gunning down hundreds of terrorists. Plus, there’s the humor of taking on monks armed with machine guns and shotguns. The downside is that this is a huge level with a lot of stuff to do, and it’s frustrating to reach the end, only to have to backtrack to find the one sick patient you missed.

Best story element: the novelty of going through a massive, abandoned cathedral that’s been turned into a stronghold by a terrorist, complete with monks with machine guns. But the best part about this level is revisiting it after a surprising plot twist later in the game (see number 2 on this list).

13. Rhomer’s Base

Every spy thriller has to include the infiltration of an enemy base at one point (it’s like a law, or something), and this level makes good use of all the tropes: a lone agent has to infiltrate a military base at night in a snowstorm, plant explosives at key locations, assassinate the base’s commander, turn off the power to the base’s bunker, and sneak inside said bunker without being seen. While the mission will continue if he is, it will become a lot harder, as many frustrated teens from the 90’s joining Gabe in yelling, “Damnit!” can attest.

Best story element: Having to sneak through a military base unseen; if you can pull it off all the way to the end, it’s an awesome feeling.

12. Expo Center Reception

Aside from having one of the game’s catchiest themes, the Pharcom Expo Center Reception is a good level that takes advantage of its museum theme to present a variety of themed locations to go through, from Stonehenge, to Egypt, to the Aztecs, and even outer space. But the best part of this mission takes place early on, when you learn that your commanding officer, Benton, is secretly a traitor working to get his hands on the Syphon Filter virus, leading to a duel between you and him in the Egyptian wing.

Best story element: Taking on your former boss, and (if you’re a quick enough shot), shooting him in the head before he can do anything, making for a hilariously one-sided boss fight.

11. Expo Center Dinorama

This level offers more of the same as its predecessor, but adds in two great moments: falling through a massive glass ceiling (and once again, not explaining how Gabe can survive a fall that would otherwise kill you in any other part of the game), and a truly great dilemma at the end: Gabe finally catches up to Mara and Phagan, both of whom he needs alive to interrogate. The problem is, Mara will kill Phagan, and Gabe has to figure out how to stop her when he can’t kill her. The solution? Shoot the gun out of her hand; while Phagan escapes, Mara is stopped, allowing Gabe to capture her. (You could also tase her, but it’s nowhere near as cool.)

Best story element: Having to stop one character from killing another, but without killing them in the process.

10. Base Tower

A short but intense level, the Base Tower has Gabe face his most dangerous opponent yet: an attack helicopter that he has to bring down using assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols (or, if the player uses cheat codes, a grenade launcher). It’s a challenge to be sure (and one that many have noted bears a very strong similarity to a similar boss fight from Metal Gear Solid), but the level has the first big twist of the game: hearing your partner, Lian, be killed over the radio at the beginning of the stage, and then hearing Rhomer himself mocking you before sending his helicopter after you.

Best story element: An operative hears one of his/her allies be killed over the radio, with him/her being unable to do anything but listen, and then having to fight for his/her life before any grieving can take place.

9. Base Escape

If the entry into Rhomer’s base was a slow, methodical sneaking mission, this level is the opposite: Gabe has just three minutes to escape before all the bombs he planted detonate, turning the base into a crater a mile wide. And to make things more difficult, the helicopter you destroyed has blocked the quickest route out, forcing you to take the long route. It’s a great escape level, where the emphasis is on running over fighting, and any fighting you do has to be quick, lest you run out of time.

Best story element: I’ve always loved that one guard at the base’s gate, the last man standing between you and freedom. And how does this guard intend to stop you? By standing in place and chucking grenades, which you can effortlessly avoid by just running past him. And as the screen fades to black, you can easily imagine the guard realizing that maybe his choice of weaponry was kinda dumb.

8. Freedom Memorial

The ending of the Washington DC levels has Gabe taking on terrorist Anton Girdeux, who is wearing impenetrable body armor, wields a flamethrower, and terrorizes friend and foe alike with his silly french accent. In order to save Washington, you have to kill Girdeux, but his armor is immune to conventional weapons, and using any explosives of any kind will detonate the last viral bomb, making this a test of wits and quick-thinking… which is resolved by shooting Anton’s backpack three times. Do it quickly enough, and you’ll win the fight in less time than it takes to pour a bowl of cereal. Despite it’s rather easy difficulty, it’s a memorable fight.

Best story element: A military operative taking on a powerful enemy with one of the most terrifying weapons ever invented, and with body armor that none of his regular weapons will hurt, forcing him or her to use their wits to win the battle.

7. Tunnel Blackout

While Syphon Filter is an action adventure game, this level is a swerve into horror territory: there are no supernatural monsters or otherwordly happenings, but it starts off creepily enough with Gabe in the flaming ruins of the generator room, complete with twisted metal, beams, and fire. And since you’re deep underground, you can’t just escape back to the surface. The only way out is to drop down a shaft into the pitch-blackness of the mining tunnels. From there, you have to slowly make your way to the level exit while methodically sniping Rhomer’s elite guards using a night-vision equipped sniper rifle. If you take your time, you’ll make it, but even a single missed shot will make things more difficult. (And Heaven help you if you somehow miss the rifle…)

Best story element: An operative has to make his way through a pitch-black location while being hunted with only a single, night-vision equipped weapon and stealth to help him succeed.

6. Washington Park

A massive, sprawling level with an hour-long timer counting down the whole time, this level is a technical marvel considering the PS1’s technological limitations. There’s a real sense of forthcoming danger, and coupled with the enormous size of the park, you’re moving quickly to find the bombs and cover the CDC agents responsible for disarming them, on top of taking out more of Rhomer’s operatives, and even dealing with a hostage situation. I like the sense of teamwork in this level, in that you’re working with the CDC to disarm the bombs instead of doing it yourself, adding to the feeling that you’re working with other people determined to stop Rhomer as much as you, rather than being a Rambo-Superman who can do everything yourself.

Best story element: Someone racing against the clock in a dark and spooky location at night in a rainstorm to help the good guys stop a city-sized catastrophe from taking place.

5. Main Subway Line

This short but intense level is the most unique boss fight in the game: Mara Aramov – one of Rhomer’s allies – has escaped into the Washington DC subway tunnels and must be captured. Problem is, the trains running through the tunnels aren’t going to stop for you, forcing Gabe to chase Mara without getting crushed into paste. Worse still, you can’t use explosives to stop her, as that will cause the cars to derail and make an already bad situation even worse. Though shot, this is an intense and thrilling level that establishes the Syphon Filter’s franchise affinity for unique and interesting boss encounters… and Mara’s incredibly thick skull that allows her to survive being shot in the head time and time again.

Best story element: A chase/duel between two operatives in an active subway tunnel with trains constantly going back and forth, where one mistake will lead to instant death, and using explosives to win is not an option.

4. Georgia Street

Making a good first impression is always important, doubly so in video games, where having a great first level can mean the difference between a player being eager to continue on, or rethink whether they want to spend their limited free time on the game. Thankfully, Syphon Filter does a stellar job with it’s first level, which sees you running through a Washington DC suburb fighting terrorists with goofy eyes and laughably bad aim while helping the CDC disarm viral bombs set to go off and kill everyone within a hundred miles. You go through the streets, through a bar, a bank, and finally a subway, all while learning the game’s mechanics. It’s a solid introduction to the game, and the series as a whole.

Best story element: Fighting terrorists in a variety of urban locations while trying to track down and stop explosives from going off.

3. Destroyed Subway

Aside from establishing the series-wide trademark of Gabe somehow surviving situations where he’d be blown up or die from falling from impossible-to-survive heights, the destroyed subway is probably Syphon Filter’s most visually impressive level: having survived a bomb explosion, Gabe now has to escape from a collapsed subway station that’s engulfed in flames. Not only will you have to take on a few more of Rhomer’s men while doing so, but you also have to help the CDC break in and disarm a viral bomb from the previous level that they never got to. Although still limited by the Playstation 1’s technology, this is still a visually awesome, moody level that’s harrowing and tense and exciting to play through.

Best story element: Still having to disarm an unexploded bomb in an destroyed subway.

2. Warehouse 76

After slugging his way through what feels like the world’s biggest warehouse district, Gabe arrives at the hidden entrance to the missile silo, where he’ll find an elevator that will take him to said silo. The only problem is that the warehouse is on fire and burning to the ground, and with no other way down to the silo, Gabe has no choice but to fight his way through the warehouse. And unlike the subway in Washington, the warehouse will inevitably collapse, killing Gabe if he can’t make it out in time.

While this level is similar to the collapsed DC subway, it has a more urgent and frantic tone, as there’s now a countdown timer to deal with in addition to having to find your way through the warehouse and fight the fools who insist on trying to kill you instead of, you know, escaping the warehouse that’s burning to the ground around them. It’s a tense thrill ride, and one of the best levels in the game.

Best story element: while the trope of a military operative purposefully running into a burning, collapsing building to reach his only way to get to his objective is cool, it’s a revelation in the opening briefing that hits the hardest: remember all those infected people you were saving back in Rhomer’s Stronghold? It turns out the vaccine you were given was actually poison. All of them are now dead because you unknowingly killed them on the orders of your boss, who you had no reason to suspect was anyone but an ally. Yikes.

1. Missile Silo

It’s good to begin well, but better to end well, and Syphon Filter’s final level is my favorite: you’ve made it to Rhomer’s missile silo, but stopping the missile is going to be anything but easy: the missile is about to launch and is impossible to abort, giving Gabe less than a minute to climb onto said missile to retrieve the codes that can detonate it in mid-flight, and then he has only seconds to get to safety to avoid being burnt to a crisp when the missile launches, and then he has less than three minutes to reach the silo’s computer controls to detonate the missile mid-flight, or World War 3 will begin, and THEN Gabe has to face Rhomer, who has impenetrable body armor that not even grenades can penetrate (despite his head and face being completely unprotected), forcing Gabe to find another way to stop him, which ends up being gas grenades.

Though a short level, ‘Missile Silo’ is an exciting finale where all of your skills are put to the test, but in a fun way: you’ve mastered doing headshots, combat rolls, and the K3G4. You’re ready, and finally taking out Rhomer and saving the world is a great feeling, and a great end to a great game.

Best story element: While most scenarios involving world-ending missiles are about stopping them before they launch, Syphon Filter’s revolves around stopping a missile after it’s launched, making the race to stop it even more urgent than usual.

That’s it for the first game, but there are still two more to go: Come back next time, where we’ll take a look at what is commonly regarded as the best entry in the franchise, Syphon Filter 2.

Playing In The Sandbox

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When we’re kids, we have the gift of an imagination unconcerned with logic. In the sandbox of our youth, we effortlessly create stories where, say, Optimus Prime teams up with Alan Grant from Jurassic Park to take on Xenomorphs, or have Indiana Jones and James Bond head into outer space to stop Darth Vader in his fortress on Mars. Logic and common sense go out the window in the name of having fun and being able to say, ‘Wow, that’s cool!’ But, alas, as we grow up, this innocence and carefree disregard of intellectual copyrights gradually slips away in favor of logic, common sense, and understanding that franchises – with rare exceptions – are self-contained universes that never overlap.

But what if that didn’t have to be that way? What if we, as adults, were to try and recapture our love of our favorite stories existing in the same universe, but with the challenge of figuring out how it could logically happen?

For the past month, I’ve been… well, obsessed with this idea of creating a fan-made cinematic universe, where all my favorite movies, tv shows, and video games exist together without contradicting each other. While it sounded easy enough, it become a challenging mental exercise in logic and reason; as a fan of spoofs, all of them had to go: ‘Airplane!’ just does not fit in next to ‘Jaws’ and the ‘Terminator’ series, no matter how much I want it to. Likewise, ‘Deep Impact,’ ‘Knowing,’ and 1998’s, ‘Godzilla: the Animated Series’ had to go, as they dealt with world-ending events that just couldn’t be reconciled in a timeline that includes ‘Independence Day.’ And let’s not even start on Saturday morning cartoons featuring anthropomorphic animals.

In the end, I managed to make the task easier by coming up with four parameters:

1. You can have any film, TV show, book, or video game you like in your timeline, but they must not contradict each other to an unworkable degree: The world cannot nearly destroyed by aliens in Roland Emmerich’s ‘Independence Day,’ then have the world and everyone on it be completely destroyed in 2009’s ‘Knowing,’ and then have ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ take place after that.

2. The only information about what year and date your stories take place in must come from the stories themselves, and not from external sources. For example, ‘Alien’ and ‘The Matrix’ are vague about how far in the future they occur, so there’s room for them to be moved about. If a date cannot be reasonably determined, the release date of the movie, book, show, or video game can be used instead.

3. The only information about the characters, organizations, and the like, can only come from the film or show itself, so as to allow maximum creativity in linking characters and organizations together.

4. You are free to disregard any sequels you don’t like.

Still, it wasn’t easy to come up with a grand, unified list, and in the end I had to leave out quite a few favorite films and shows, but I managed to come up with a timeline that I would be happy to sit down and watch (and play) from beginning to end if given the chance. So, just for fun, here’s my ultimate sandbox crossover timeline:

*At the beginning of time, Eru Illuvitar creates Eä (the universe) and within it, the world of Arda, which contains both Middle-Earth and Valinor. The events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place, and the Fourth Age begins with the last of the elves leaving Middle-Earth forever. Several generations later, all traces of magic are gone. (The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings)

*Later, in a galaxy far, far away, The Old Republic, weakening after a thousand generations, succumbs to the schemes of Emperor Palpatine. However, through the efforts of the Rebellion to restore the Old Republic, Palpatine is defeated and his Empire falls. Though the galaxy doesn’t automatically become a utopia, it becomes a much nicer place, as Palpatine doesn’t return from the dead, the Empire stays down, and the New Republic rules a galaxy at peace, and Luke, Han, Leia, and all their friends live happily ever after. (The Star Wars Prequels, Solo, Rogue One, and the Original Star Wars Trilogy)

(Note: In this timeline, the sequel trilogy never happened.)

*A really, really long time later, the humans of Middle Earth have gone through their technological renaissance, achieved the singularity and become godlike beings known as the Engineers. They leave Arda and travel throughout the universe creating life on desolate planets. One such planet – Earth – is located, and seeded with Engineer DNA. (the prologue from Prometheus)

*Sometime later, one of the Engineer’s most dangerous lifeforms is stolen from them by another alien species, only for both to crash-land in Antarctica, where the lifeform is frozen solid. (The Thing)

*For the next few thousand years up until the present day, Predators – having discovered Earth during their own interplanetary visits – use it as a hunting ground for their young to become adults. (backstory for Alien vs. Predator)

1868: Captain Nemo of the submarine Nautilus attacks military ships and destroys the island of Vulcania to stop their weapons of war. Nemo is killed and the submarine sinks shortly after: it’s wreckage – and the highly advanced technology it carries – are never found. (20,000 Leagues Under The Sea)

1895 to approximately 1910: William Murdoch of the Toronto Constabulary solves lots of crimes with his partners and friends while meeting lots of historical figures and even finding the Holy Chalice. (Murdoch Mysteries)

1904: A predator hunting expedition to Antarctica ends with the deaths of every human at the whaling camp on Bouvetøya. (backstory for Alien vs Predator)

1912: Rose DeWitt Bukater sails aboard the RMS Titanic, only to fall in love with third class artist Jack Dawson. Jack dies during the ship’s sinking, but saves Rose, who goes on to live a long and eventful life. (Titanic).

1930: In one of the most remarkable discoveries ever recorded, a group of filmmakers led by Carl Denham land on the previously uncharted Skull Island and find wildlife that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and has continued evolving to the present day, including a giant ape known as King Kong. Kong is captured and brought to New York City, but is killed. Shortly afterwords, Denham heads back to the island in the hopes of finding treasure, but Skull Island and everyone on it are destroyed by a sudden earthquake. All traces of the island vanish. (King Kong and Son of Kong)

1935-1947: Although his exploits remain unknown to the world at large, archaeologist Indiana Jones becomes an unsung hero of the Second World War due this efforts preventing the Nazis and other despots from gaining supernatural artifacts that could have turned the war in their favor or allowed them to conquer the world, such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the power of Atlantis, the Holy Grail (separate from the Holy Chalice), and the Infernal Machine. (Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine)

1941: U-96 goes on the worst u-boat patrol ever. (Das Boot)

1942: The USS Copperfin undertakes a daring mission to Tokyo Bay to gather intelligence that will aid in the upcoming Doolittle raid. (Destination Tokyo)

1955-1960 (approximate): Father Brown helps solve a lot of crimes in his parish of Kembleford, England. (Father Brown)

1957: Indiana Jones stops the Soviet Union from obtaining the power of the Crystal Skull and marries his sweetheart, Marion Ravenwood. (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

1972: During a voyage on the high seas, the luxury liner SS. Poseidon capsizes and sinks with heavy loss of life. (The Poseidon Adventure)

1974: The Glass Tower – the world’s grandest skyscraper – catches fire in San Francisco and almost burns down, but is extinguished. The building languishes for years as the cost of repairs is too much for its owners, yet the cost of demolishing it is equally too expensive. (The Towering Inferno)

1975: In the small coastal town of Amity Bay, a sheriff and his motley crew manage to kill a shark terrorizing the community. (Jaws)

1978: A zombie apocalypse is unleashed upon the Earth, causing a complete breakdown of society. Four survivors flee to a shopping mall, where two die. The last two manage to escape and flee in a helicopter as the mall is overrun. They are forced to land in a remote area, where they travel across the country and eventually take refuge inside the remains of the Glass Tower, where they hold out with other survivors, including Jack Torrance and his family. When the plague dies out, the zombies are wiped out in an ensuing counterattack by humanity, with Jack Torrance killing several with an axe when San Francisco is cleared. (Dawn of the Dead)

1980: Jack Torrance and his family, trying to get a fresh start after the zombie apocalypse, head to the Overlook Hotel, where Jack – his marriage already on the ropes and suffering from alcoholism – goes insane and tries to kill the two, who manage to escape, leaving him to freeze to death. (The Shining)

1982: A team of researchers in Antarctica discovers the Thing, but are almost wiped out. A few hours later, a second team encounters the creature and just barely manages to save the planet from the Thing when it is frozen solid once again, though Childs and MacReady freeze as well. Reports from Kate Lloyd (who sent out a broadcast before she froze to death) ensure that the site is napalmed for a week straight to ensure that any traces of the Thing are destroyed for good. (The Thing and The Thing)

1984: A Terminator arrives in Los Angeles to kill Sarah Conner, son of the future savior of humanity, John Connor, who will lead the human race to victory against Skynet, an AI developed to control all of the United State’s military systems in 1997. However, the Terminator fails, and Sarah sets off on her quest to learn as many military and survival skills that she will one day pass on to her son. (The Terminator)

1987: Dutch Schaefer – a former military commando turned mercenary – is employed by the CIA to go on a supposed rescue mission in South America, only to be hunted by an intergalactic hunter. Dutch is the only survivor of his group and decides to retire from mercenary work, having seen too much death. He will later survive the events of Judgment Day and join the human Resistance against Skynet, but will be captured and have his likeness used for the 101 model of the T-800. However, he still escapes and goes on to survive the war. (Predator)

1991: The Perfect Storm takes place. (The Perfect Storm)

1993: John Hammond opens a theme park full of dinosaurs. It is a complete disaster and the park is abandoned. (Jurassic Park)

Nasty weatherman Phil Connors is trapped in a time warp in Pennsylvania, but eventually breaks free and lives the rest of his life as a changed man. However, he is unaware that the time warp took place due to an anomaly caused by constant time-traveling between the Resistance and Skynet as they continuously try to defeat and destroy one another. (Groundhog Day)

1995: Two more terminators arrive from the future to both assassinate and protect John Conner. The T-1000 is defeated, and the T-800 seemingly erases Skynet from existence after sacrificing itself to destroy all traces of the program before it is created. (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)

Air Force One is hijacked with President James Marshall aboard. He manages to take out the terrorists and escapes with his family and most of the passengers and crew before the plane crashes. He finishes up his term as President and retires from public life as his successor, Thomas Whitmore, takes office. (Air Force One)

A volcano erupts at Dante’s Peak, Washington, ruining everyone’s day, including a woman who looks strikingly similar to Sarah Connor. (Dante’s Peak).

Ingen attempts to open a new dinosaur park in San Diego. Having learned nothing from the 1993 Isla Nublar incident, it fails miserably. (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

A cowboy doll named Woody struggles with the thought of being replaced by a cooler, modern space ranger toy, but the two reconcile their differences and learn that there’s no greater joy than making a child happy. (Toy Story)

1996: Now 100 years old, Rose Dawson recounts her survival aboard Titanic to a salvage crew, and then dies peacefully of old age, moving into the afterlife and reuniting with Jack. (Titanic).

John Conner and Sarah Conner continue their quest to ensure Skynet won’t come back, eventually infiltrating a Cyberdyne presentation of their latest technology, at which point yet another T-1000 comes back through time to stop them, and yet another T-800 model 101 comes through to protect them. John and the T-800 go forward in time and manage to destroy Skynet’s system core, seemingly destroying Skynet for good… again. (T2 – 3D: Battle Across Time)

On July 2nd, 1996, one of the most monumental days in humanity’s history occurs as aliens arrive and attempt to kill everyone on the planet in order to pillage our world’s resources. Thankfully, they are repelled in the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind (which is preceded by one of the greatest speeches in history), and humanity rejoices in overcoming their common enemy. (Independence Day)

1999: Scientists working on a remote, underwater research facility attempt to use enhanced Great White Sharks to cure Alzheimer’s disease. They fail, and after much death and bloodshed, the project is abandoned. (Deep Blue Sea)

Special operative Gabe Logan works to save the wold from a deadly virus known as Syphon Filter. Along the way, he manages to take down the shadowy Agency that employs him and reforms it from the ground up as a force of good. His arch-nemesis, Mara Armaov, almost manages to retrieve a sample of the last known sample of the virus, but her submarine is blown up by Logan’s operatives, ending the virus’ threat for good. (Syphon Filter 1, 2, and 3)

Woody suffers an existential crisis when he realizes that his owner will one day outgrow him. Thankfully, he manages to overcome it. (Toy Story 2)

2001: Dr. Alan Grant, a survivor of the 1993 Isla Nublar incident, is kidnapped and taken to Isla Sorna, where he assists a divorced couple in rescuing their son from the dinosaur-filled island. (Jurassic Park 3)

2002: In New York City (now rebuilt from being vaporized by aliens), a young man is bitten by a genetically altered spider and goes on to fight crime. (the Sony Spider-Man trilogy)

2003: Gordon Hauge suffers a breakup from his wife, only to end up Purgatory, where he helps defeat an inter-dimensional being hell-bent on invading our world and conquering it. He survives, and manages to help free several noble souls trapped within, who move on to Heaven, while Gordon reconciles with his wife. (Despiser)

John Connor, having survived an alien invasion with his mother (who later died of leukemia), learns that Judgment Day has not been stopped, but postponed when yet another T-800 arrives to protect him from yet another advanced Terminator. His attempts to stop it again fail, and the war against the machines begins (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). It continues for several more years (Terminator Salvation) . However, due to countless instances of both the Resistance and Skynet traveling through time to wipe each other out (which includes Terminator Genysis and Terminator: Dark Fate), the Resistance eventually manages to stabilize the timeline, ensuring that Skynet was indeed defeated in 1995, seemingly preventing it from ever being created.

John manages to sober up and eventually live a peaceful, quiet life, though he forever remains on the lookout for any sign of Skynet’s continued existence.

Dutch Schafer, having never been abducted by Skynet, enjoys his retirement in peace as well.

2004: Three Predators arrive on Earth to begin the traditional fight against Xenomorphs that will prove their worth as adults, but all three of them die, making it a waste of time. Worse still, the only human survivor – Alexis Woods – freezes to death before she can alert humanity about the Xenomorph and predator races. A subsequent search for her by the authorities fails to find her, along with any trace of the pyramid where the battle took place. Shortly afterwords, the Weyland corporation collapses. (Alien vs. Predator)

2005: The Masrani corpation – having purchased all of Ingen’s assets – defies history and opens Jurassic World to fantastic success. (backstory for Jurassic World)

Peter Weyland – a distant relative to Charles Weyland – is born, destined to one day revive the defunct Weyland corporation.

2009: A special forces team is dispatched to Ibis Island to recover a scientist and his groundbreaking Third Energy research. However, they are surprised to find the island swarming with dinosaurs due to said energy’s time-warping effects, and just barely escape after the island is destroyed. (Dino Crisis)

2010: Regina – one of the survivors of the Ibis Island incident – participates in a rescue operation where a region of the American midwest has been altered due to Third Energy shenanigans. She alone manages to escape after her teammates are wiped out by dinosaurs, but manages to use time-travel to come back and rescue one of them before he dies. As a result of the incident, the Third Energy program is shut down and abandoned. (Dino Crisis 2)

Andy grows up and heads off to college, but not before passing Woody, Buzz, and all his other beloved toys off to Bonnie so that they can be played with and loved as much as he loved them. (Toy Story 3)

2013: In a stunning move, North Korea attacks the White House to try and turn the United States into a radioactive wasteland. Thankfully, they are stopped. (Olympus has Fallen)

2015: The Indominus Rex is due to be debuted at Jurassic World, but escapes and leads to the park being shut down, as well as leaving several teenagers stranded on the island. (Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Camp Cretatecous)

2018: Captain Joe Glass – who looks strikingly like Secret Service agent Mike Banning – averts a war between Russia and the United States after saving the Russian president from a coup attempt. (Hunter Killer)

Isla Nublar is rendered uninhabitable by a volcanic eruption, but some of its dinosaur population is evacuated by a group of greedy human mercenaries who want to make lots of money selling the dinosaurs to private collectors and militaries. However, the dinosaurs escape into the wild, leading to the Human-Dinosaur war. Humanity eventually wins with the help of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcom (And an older John Conner, who teams up with Regina, Dylan, and Rick from the Third Energy incidents, but the two groups never meet), but not without great cost. (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion)

2060: John Conner, having stopped Judgment Day, and having survived both an alien invasion and a war between humanity and dinosaurs, dies peacefully of old age.

2089: Archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw discovers several cave paintings suggesting that humanity did not evolve on Earth, but was created by extra-terrestrial beings. (Prometheus)

2093: The Prometheus expedition – funded by Peter Weyland – arrives on LV-223 and learns about the existence of the Engineers and that we are like them on a genetic level (they are the race of men from Middle-Earth, after all). However, the expedition ends in disaster, and only Elizabeth Shaw and the android David survive. They set out to find the Engineer homeworld. (Prometheus)

2105: The colony ship Covenant hears a transmission from a planet while en-route to colonize a distant world, only to discover that the android David – now the sole survivor of the Prometheus expedition after murdering Elizabeth – has decided to create life to wipe out his creators via Xenomorphs, who he reverse-engineered in an attempt to improve upon one of the Engineer’s most perfect creations. While he succeeds in escaping the planet he was trapped upon, David and the Covenant are lost in space, and destroyed by surviving Engineers hell-bent on avenging their slain brethren. Before he is destroyed however, David sends a transmission to the Weyland Yutani corporation, letting them know of the existence of a crashed Engineer ship on LV-426. (Alien: Coventant)

2122: Weyland Yutani diverts the Nostromo to LV-426 to obtain a specimen of the Xenomorph species for study. The crew of the ship are killed, save for Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley, who defeats the Xenomorph and sets off for earth in the Nostromo’s shuttle. (Alien).

2137: Ellen’s daughter, Amanda, searches for a clue as to her mother’s disappearance. While she does find a voice recording of Ellen, she will never see her again. (Alien: Isolation)

2179: After spending 57 years in hypersleep, Ellen Ripley once again faces off against more xenomorphs, but manages to survive again, and rescue a girl that she later adopts. The two live happily ever after, while the Weyland Yutani corporation’s evil deeds are exposed, and they are dissolved. (Aliens)

2250: Experiments with inter-dimensional technology take place on a Union Aerospace Corporation base on Mars, and unwittingly opens a portal to hell, triggering a demonic invasion of the moons Phobos and Deimos. Everyone on the bases are killed, but the invasion is stopped by a single marine, who single-handily beats the demons back, ventures into Hell, and kills the mastermind behind the invasion. (Doom)

However, while the Marine was busy, Hell invades Earth and quickly reduces it to a barren wreck. The Marine hurries to Earth and manages to help humanity’s population evacuate before going back into Hell and killing the biggest demon in existence, who’s death throes destroys Hell itself. With Hell defeated, the Marine journeys back to Earth to help rebuild it. (Doom 2)

2300: Skynet – which had secretly sent itself back through time before losing the war against the Resistance and hidden in various computer systems for over a century, decides to once again overthrow humanity and, having learned from its past mistakes, succeeds. But instead of completely destroying the human race, Skynet decides to keep them as slaves for revenge after being foiled so many times in the past, and plugs humanity into a virtual reality system to pacify them, a system it calls the Matrix. As a backup to protect itself, Skynet wipes all traces of itself from all known databanks and creates a fabricated history about humanity creating AI that wanted to peacefully co-exist with them, only to erupt into a war that led to humanity’s defeat.

With humanity under its complete control, Skynet finally achieves ultimate victory over its most hated enemy.

2700: Skynet – having realized that it can never achieve complete control of humans – has created an incredibly convoluted system to allow the Matrix to be re-created over and over again thanks to the One program. This plan backfires when the seventh One arises (The Matrix) and then breaks the system (The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions). However, this has an unexpected benefit: Skynet, having evolved to want an existence without the fear of being overthrown and destroyed, makes peace with humanity (who remain unaware of Skynet, and refers to all artificial life forms as ‘The Machines’). Now aware of how hellish Earth has become, the overwhelming majority of humanity decide that it’s better to live in an ideal, 1990’s virtual world rather than the sewers of megacities and eat flavorless porridge.

Eventually, Skynet manages to clean up the planet, and both humans and machines unite to create a new utopia where organics and mechanical beings alike work together to create a beautiful future for all of them.

Watching it all, Eru Illuvitar is impressed and awed at how his grand experiment has gone.

What we can learn from ‘Spider-Man’ (2000 video game)

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Everyone who ever grew up playing video games has a favorite, a treasure that they enjoy coming back to year after year, even when the game is outdated and forgotten by the gaming public at large. Having gone from playing The Oregon Trail’ on black and green apple computers in grade school, to experiencing the power of the PS3, there are many games I count as personal favorites, but when it comes to superhero games, there’s only one choice for me: ‘Spider-Man’ for the Playstation 1. In the 19 years since it came out, I continue to pop it into whatever Sony console I have at the time (hooray for backwards compatibility!) and give it a go every now and then, and every time I’m delighted that it still holds up. Yes, the graphics are outdated, the camera and controls a little wonky, but it’s a fun, colorful, light-hearted game that offers so much for Spidey fans, including an often hilarious ‘What if?’ mode that tweaks little things in the game, including giving having one of the bosses be voiced by a little kid.

If I had to take only one superhero game with me to a deserted island for the rest of my life, ‘Spider-Man’ would be the one packed inside my bags. But enough nostalgia-gushing. Let’s see what writers can learn from Spidey’s successful leap into the third dimension.

If the situation is right, consider bringing all your A-list characters together in one story

Doc Ock. Venom. Carnage, Mysterio. Scorpion. The Rhino. Captain America. The Punisher. Daredevil, Black Cat. ‘Spider-Man’ didn’t hold anything back when it came to filling out the roster of Spidey’s foes and friends, giving each one at least a satisfying cameo, or a pivotal role in the game. The sheer weight of all these characters – with their backstories, history, and personal grudges against Spider-Man – shows that that Activision and Neversoft held nothing back when it came to bringing in familiar faces for fans and newcomers alike.

In our own stories, it’s tempting to hold back when starting out with multi-part epics, and not put all our most prominent, heavy-hitting villains and allies in the first story, either from a desire not to have the plot be overstuffed, or not wanting to use up all our best characters at once. Both are valid concerns, but ‘Spider-Man’ proves that you can have multiple A-list characters: Only a few (Doctor Octopus, Venom, and Carnage) have prominent roles, but everyone else still has their moment to shine, even if only just a cameo – the important part being that those one-off appearances does impact the plot, and Spidey’s journey, and aren’t just there for fan-service.

Have both the villains and the good guys come after your hero

Like all good stories, ‘Spider-Man’ raises the stakes for our hero by having not only all the bad guys of New York City going after him, but the good guys as well: The police, thinking that Spidey’s the one behind the heist that starts the game, unleash everything they have to catch him (including the world’s most relentless helicopter). Even heroes like The Punisher and Daredevil aren’t sure if Spidey is innocent or not. Thus, not only does Spider-Man have to stop Doc Ock’s diabolical plan to rule the world, but also have to clear his name at the same time.

In our own stories, it’s typical for the hero to have to take on more powerful villains, but having him or her have to take on the good guys adds an extra layer of danger and moral complication. As the hero, our protagonist can’t just kill the forces of good, as this would make his or her situation even worse, forcing them to be creative when it comes to incapacitating good guys without killing or harming them. Our audiences enjoy seeing that creativity at work.

For extra points, this trope can also apply to villain protagonists. If your protagonist isn’t trying to redeem themselves, they can go to war with both good and bad guys; if they’re trying to redeem themselves, they have to struggle against their corrupt nature to try and do what’s right, ensuring even more drama.

Consider giving your villain a code of honor

Of all of Spidey’s villains to appear in-game, it’s Venom – in my opinion – who fares the best. Unlike Doc Ock, Carnage, Rhino, or Mysterio, who just want to get Spider-Man out of the way so he won’t interfere with their plan, Venom isn’t out to conquer the world, but to bring Spidey to justice for (supposedly) stealing Doc Ock’s machine. Yet, after Venom learns that Spidey is innocent, he immediately joins forces with him to find out who really caused the heist.

In our own stories, villains with a sense of honor – and even a willingness to team up with protagonists if the need arises – are far more compelling and interesting than those who are just cruel, evil, and have no redeeming traits. While he’s clearly not a nice guy, Venom’s contrasts make him fascinating to follow, especially his sense of humor: I never fail to chuckle at seeing him surfing the internet and asking for Captain America’s autograph.

Consider a sudden genre change at the climax of your story

Compared to many superhero games of the past nineteen years, ‘Spider-Man’ is a lighthearted tale. Yes, it has the occasional serious moment (Black Cat being impaled by Rhino’s horn certainly takes the cake), but by and large it’s a kid-friendly game that anyone can enjoy.

That is, until the final level.

Back when I first played ‘Spider-Man’, I was wondering who the inevitable final boss would be. Doc Ock was an obvious choice. If not him, then Carnage. To my surprise, both were defeated, but the game wasn’t over. Then I saw who the real final boss was: Monster-Ock, a combination of Doctor Octopus and the bloodthirsty personality of the Carnage symboite, who chases after you in darkened tunnels while howling at the top of its lungs.

Like any kid of the late 90’s, I did what any other kid in that situation would do: Have crippling nightmares for life.

Okay, not really. But the final level of ‘Spider-Man’ is such a radical departure from the rest of the game. There’s no jokes from Spidey, no quippy one-liners, and no humor. It’s a segment out of a horror game where you have to outrun an unbeatable foe. There’s no one to help you, no one coming to save you as you fight to outrun this screaming, multi-toothed, skinless-looking monster that will cave your face in if it catches you, and all the while trying to escape an underwater base before it explodes.

Awesome, right? And what makes it so memorable is because it’s so unexpected. First-time players expect an epic boss fight against one of Spidey’s legendary villains, with him finally winning the day and swinging off into the sunset with a witty joke. Instead, he has to run for his life, so scared that he doesn’t even try to be humorous. In our own stories, such shifts in tone shows the audience that things have gotten serious; the stakes are at their highest, the danger has never been more immense, and failure will bring catastrophic consequences. Doing such a shift can be difficult, and if done wrong, it can ruin the immersion. But when pulled off correctly, it can create moments our audience will remember for years to come. To this day, the ‘fight’ against Monster-Ock remains one of my favorite boss encounters in any video game, and is a great ending to a great game.

The Takeaway:

If the conditions are right, putting in all your A-list characters in one story is a surefire way to please fans who want to see their favorite characters team up, and having your hero having to not only face off against their most powerful villains, but against other good guys, will make the stakes higher than ever, especially if one of those villains has a code of honor that they follow religiously. And to cap off such a story, consider making a genre shift at the very end to catch your audience off guard and surprise them with something they didn’t expect, like horror.

Perfect Moments: Fighting with Gabe Logan

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Once in a while, you come across a moment in a story that is so perfect that it stays in with you for years, or even a lifetime. These are moments that, in my opinion, are flawless; perfect gems of storytelling that cannot be improved in any way, and are a joy to treasure and revisit again and again.

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The Video Game:

‘Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain’ (skip to 8:36 to reach the relevant part)

 

Why it’s perfect:

‘Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain’, while ambitious in design, is, at best, a mediocre game since its release in 2004, due to the lack of an online mode, frustrating trial-and-error gameplay, and a story that has the unenviable task of extending a series that ended perfectly at the end of the previous installment. However, it does have one segment at the end that makes the game worth playing: The player character fighting side by side with series hero Gabe Logan.

When I was growing up, Gabe Logan was my favorite gaming character, beating out the likes of Mario, Sonic, Solid Snake, and so many other video game mascots. I played through all three games of the original Playstation One trilogy, so I was looking forward to seeing how the series had continued in the Playstation Two followup, ‘The Omega Strain.’ Unfortunately, I wasn’t that impressed, due to the limitations mentioned above. Still, I trudged on, creating a digital version of myself to help save the world, trying to find what fun I could in the process.

Then I played the final level.

Near the end of the final mission, I ran into a terrorist base to help stop the nuclear destruction of Russia. It’s a pretty standard mission, with plenty of running, gunning, and dying over and over again, but then something happened that made my inner child scream with glee: my in-game self was face to face with Gabe himself, who needed my help to save the day. And when I had calmed down enough, I unpaused the game and experienced gaming bliss: Gabe and me running through the base, blowing away terrorists in a fight to save millions of innocent lives.

I was fighting side by side with my favorite videogame character, and to this day it remains one of my favorite videogaming moments.

One advantage video games have over all other forms of storytelling is that they give the player to chance to actually interact with their favorite characters, but player-created characters doing so is extremely rare; the only other time I can think of it happening is ‘Sonic Forces,’ but ‘Strain’ remains special for me. I tried playing the ensuing sequels after this one, but didn’t like them, and thus, ‘Strain’ remains the series finale of the Syphon Filter franchise for me, if only for the final level. I began the series as an impressionable teenager guiding Gabe Logan in his quest to defeat the agency, and I finished the series fighting side by side with him, a treat that no movie, book, or tv series has ever come close to duplicating.