Despite having a large smile on our faces, we’re reeling from the end of our latest mission with Gabe Logan due to a last minute kick to our love bags. Why? Well, the final sections of Logan’s Shadow, which culminates in a climatic and jaw-dropping boss battle with a hydraulic lift, kind of left a nasty taste of lame in our mouths… so why are we so happy about it?

This year’s follow up to last year’s excellent Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror finds Gabe trying to thwart yet another global terrorist threat that’s every bit as melodramatic as anything Tom Clancy’s fingers are capable of knocking out.

This new appendage retains the series’ well-established third-person perspective and re-incorporates that subtly effective stealth action that was introduced in Dark Mirror. Here, running-fire is pretty much running-suicide, so you’re continually forced to make Gabe cosy up against walls and take a considerate aim to pick off his enemies.

This methodical means of combat feels perfectly suited to the PSP. Never are you forced to wrestle with doughy controls and disobedient cross hairs as the screen flashes panic red, which sadly, has become one of the necessary evils for games of this ilk appearing on the handheld.

This methodical means of combat feels perfectly suited to the PSP. Never are you forced to wrestle with doughy controls and disobedient cross hairs as the screen flashes panic red, which sadly, has become one of the necessary evils for games of this ilk appearing on the handheld.

The benefits that the game’s Havok physics bring are also showcased throughout; the lifeless drape themselves over their environs realistically and a believable fluidity drenches the game’s underwater sections.

Of course, no one-man-terrorism-plugpuller is worth his salt without boasting an exhaustive number of weapons and controls and, thankfully, Gabe has both in abundance. He can now blind-fire with showy amounts of weaponry, use enemies as human shields and even has a handy grappling hook.

While the gameplay in Logan’s Shadow is noticeably linear – to the point where you’re told precisely when to climb and when to grapple – Sony can be forgiven for putting on a great cinematic show throughout the game’s missions. And while that subdued finale is by no means a complete shambles – in comparison to others we’ve witnessed in our days – it’s a shame that the promise and quality of Logan’s Shadow doesn’t cast a grand spectacle to round everything off nicely.

Stuart Hunt