Game description: A deadly global terrorist consortium threatens the human population with an outbreak of the Syphon Filter virus, and Gabe Logan returns to save humankind in Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. The newest installment in the series offers four-player cooperative gameplay, as well as 100 deadly weapons and gadgets, hand-to-hand.

Contents Biography Early LifeElsa Weissinger was born twenty-two years after the Allied Forces firebombed her hometown of Dresden during World War II. She believed that time was a sign of her purpose to change the world.EducationElsa attended the Immunology University in Hamburg, Germany during her adulthood. She developed a relationship with a man named Lukas Kaufmann. Together, they researched biological weapons. Kaufmann explained his desire to eliminate cancer and every other disease. Weissinger decided to seek the same goal.RecruitmentWeissinger was recruited by the Pharcom organization and became one of its chief scientists. Her partner, Kaufman, faked his own death to assume a new identity.ExperimentationWeissinger started to conduct tests of the Syphon Filter virus in Costa Rica.

Eventually, she was recruited into another agency when Pharcom was confronted by federal investigation. She managed to extract plasma from her former boss, Johnathan Phagan. It was shipped to the Shi-Hao's rebellion. Elsa also managed to trap Gabriel Logan, one of the agency's ex-operatives, in an underground lab.

However, he was able to escape.EvacuationThe agency sent Weissinger to the Australian Outback after learning about an arms consortium. She was assigned to the test the Syphon Filter virus on aborigines. Her superior, Mara Aramov, abandoned her when the consortium's commander plotted to shut down operations. MI6 agents Lian Xing and Maggie Powers captured Elsa. She gave them a disc about Syphon Filter and the consortium in exchange for her freedom. Afterward, she disappeared.DepartureWeissinger met with Aramov again.

She assisted a man named Lawrence Mujari to find a cure a more powerful version of Syphon Filter known as the Omega Strain. She murdered her colleague, Dr. Jandran, with a serum. Weissinger then departed from the agency to rid herself of her past.DeathElsa Weissinger and Mara Aramov started a relationship. They moved to Narbonne, France.

Agent Gary Stoneman tracked them. He assassinated both of them before they could continue their relationship.PersonalityElsa Weissinger is delusional and narcissistic. She was not traumatized by the bombing of her hometown but intrigued by it. Her original desire was to rid the world of all diseases including cancer. Her desire was changed when she invented the Syphon Filter virus. Elsa desired to prolong Syphon Filter and test its effects on other people regardless of the possible consequences.

Elsa is also a closeted bisexual. She developed a relationship with her original male colleague, Lukas Kaufmann, when they were still in university. Later in Elsa's life, she forms a relationship with Mara Aramov who is also a woman.

Syphon Filter 3 is a third-person shooter developed by SCE Bend Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation. It is the third game in the Syphon Filter series.

Plot[edit]

Secretary of State Vince Hadden brings in Gabriel Logan, Lian Xing, and Lawrence Mujari to testify in Congress about their relationship to the Agency. He believes all three to be guilty, and questions them after they assassinate Shi-Hao from a hotel in Japan. The three do not realize that Hadden is involved in the conspiracy, and is looking for scapegoats.

Gabe begins by describing the first Syphon Filter investigation. He and Lian went to Costa Rica to find missing Agent Ellis. When they arrive, the two see that Erich Rhoemer has ordered Ellis killed, but Gabe must continue his mission and identify what Rhoemer was doing at the drug plantation. Gabe chases Rhoemer onto an airplane despite his Agency superior Edward Benton denying him permission. Gabe did not know back then that Benton and the Agency controlled Rhoemer, who escaped from the plane.

Mujari testifies next, and tells Hadden how he once worked for a resistance during the Apartheid era in South Africa. At the Pugari Gold Mine, he discovered that mining slaves had caught a deadly plague and the mine owners were covering it up. Mujari retrieved samples and gave them to Teresa Lipan.

When it's Lian's turn to testify, she details her first encounter with Gabe during the Soviet–Afghan War and her role in the Costa Rica operation. Meanwhile, Gabe goes to Ireland with MI-6 agent Maggie Powers in an effort to scuttle a shipment of Syphon Filter, denying possession to the consortium and the local IRA cell. On board the S.S. Lorelei, Gabe plants several explosives and finds a document that will point to a virus test site in Australia. He also looks for any information on the mysterious arms consortium that controls the Agency. Gabe uncovers a mole in MI-6, Nigel Cummings, who is aiding them. He kills Nigel and secures the last viral transport on the docks. The Lorelei is sunk with all hands.

Back in Washington, D.C., Gabe talks about his first meeting with Benton during the Soviet-Afghan conflict. Benton claimed to be a CIA agent transporting weapons to Afghans rebelling against the Soviets, but when Gabe and Ellis escort the convoy, the Afghans attack them. Gabe gets into Kabul and meets Lian, who sets up the diversion. However, a tank gets in their way, so Gabe destroys it. He learns that Benton was supplying arms to the Soviets, and was really an Agency operative.

As Hadden questions Gabe, Lian teams up with Maggie to abduct Dr. Elsa Weissenger from the Australian test site. Elsa is ready to betray the conspirators since Aramov left her behind, and she has Lian assemble a vaccine for aborigines held captive by Commander Silvers. Silvers plans to kill the test subjects, so Lian kills him first. When she returns to Elsa, Lian finds her gone.

Hadden accuses Gabe of lying and corruption. He believes Gabe murdered Teresa, but Teresa surprises him by appearing herself. Agency operative Jason Chance had only injured her, not killed. She describes her first meeting with Gabe during her time as an officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. A group of NSA agents headed by Colonel Silvers were posing as FBI to eradicate a private militia that had recovered data from a government satellite. Gabe, as an Agency operative, saved her life, and helped her when she rescued the wife and son of the militia leader. She left the ATF and joined the Agency.

Teresa faked her death to find the people behind the Agency. Her investigations into Aramov yielded a connection to Hadden himself. Before Gabe can apprehend him, Mara kills Hadden. She and several consortium terrorists take over the Senate building, but Gabe prevents her from detonating any explosives. He chases her onto a train full of hostages, and wounds her.

In a post-credits cutscene, Mara escapes despite being incarcerated. Gabe decides to find her, but for now the Syphon Filter crisis appears to be over with the death of Hadden. Gabe will become the new Agency director, and free it from corruption. Little does he know that an operation is ongoing near the S.S. Lorelei's wreck site. People are recovering the viral crates, and Mara is heard laughing, setting the stage for Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain.

Release[edit]

The game was originally slated for release on 25 September 2001. However, the fallout of the September 11 attacks forced Sony to postpone the release while modifying the marketing campaign.^[1] The game was released on 6 November. The game's original cover had Gabe and Lian in action inside a courtroom that had a U.S. flag in the background amidst a swirl of gas. The anthrax scare following the attacks resulted in the cover being changed to a simple one showing Gabe and Lian's faces, while the header line 'United States Federal Bureau of Investigation' on the back cover was changed to 'Agency Mission Briefing'.^[2]

Reception[edit]

Syphon Filter 3 received mixed reviews. It received a score of 74.64% on GameRankings based on 28 reviews^[3] and 73/100 on Metacritic based on 19 reviews.^[4] Letter soup taste of manila.

References[edit]

1. ^'Sony delays Syphon Filter 3 - GameSpot.com'. Asia.gamespot.com. 30 November 2001. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
2. ^'Game Rave Presents: Syphon Filter 3 - September 11th Version'. Game-rave.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
3. ^ ^ab'Syphon Filter 3 for PlayStation'. GameRankings. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
4. ^ ^ab'Syphon Filter 3 for PlayStation Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
5. ^Nash, Joe (1 December 2001). 'Syphon Filter 3 Review'. Game Revolution. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
6. ^Shoemaker, Brad (19 November 2001). 'Syphon Filter 3 Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
7. ^Fujita, Mark (27 November 2001). 'Syphon Filter 3 Review'. IGN. Retrieved 25 March 2014.

External links[edit]

• Syphon Filter 3 at MobyGames