History YMMV / SyphonFilter

* AmericansHateTingle: While many consider ''3'' as a SophomoreSlump of the series, this particular installment is infamously disliked in Ireland and Northern Ireland because two Dublin levels portray IRA as enemies and MI-6 as allies of justice that help the protagonist stopping terrorism. Even with the publisher releasing altered product that changed IRA into ARM, this installment's popularity did not improve that much.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In ''2'', Lian encounters Mara Aramov in Russia while both are looking for Gregorov; Mara has her chaffeur driving her in a limousine while Lian is on foot. Mara has the chance to kill Lian there, but decides to just let her be and tells her driver to drive forward. There is also another cutscene that shows Mara telling her boss that she doesn't see Gabriel Logan, which counts as a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial, as she mentions Gabe's name to prevent herself from having to mention seeing Lian in Russia. Why does Mara do that? Does she feel sorry for Lian due to being infected with a deadly virus? Does she think of Lian as a weak NotWorthKilling frail? Or does she think that Lian is more useful to her as a bargaining chip to deal with Gabe Logan by leaving her alive but ill?

** Dillon Morgan, once Teresa defuses all his bombs in China Exhibit, is surprisingly easy to beat if Gabe still has ammo for crossbow from the previous level, as crossbow has high accuracy and arrows are designed to penetrate bulletproof armors. If the player locks on Morgan with auto-aim and has Gabe shot him with crossbow before the latter shoots his M-79 grenade launcher, the fight is as good as done.
* AssPull: Chance being a traitor makes no sense since he as Unit One has a different voice actor.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF61E_JgdHk&t=2s "United Pacific Train 101"]] is an adrenaline-pumping music which is suitable for Gabe's never give up attitude and the gunfights that happen on runaway trains.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIllX2jpR8c "Paradise Ridge"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDG0545zsxU&t=27s its alert counterpart]] are played in Montana levels. The suspenseful element manages to make the players realizing how dire the situation is, between rescuing teammates, avoiding gunfights with angry townsfolks and fending off corrupt agents.

* CompleteMonster: [[PlayerCharacter Gabriel "Gabe" Logan]] and [[TheLancer Lian Xing]] have faced many terrible people in their mission to stop the titular [[ThePlague virus]], with these being the worst:

** Possessing [[StuffBlowingUp Explosive weapons such as M-79, MIL-15, and Grenade]] as well as SniperRifle in [[PlayerVersusPlayer two players mode]] will make it clear which player acts as the predator and which player acts as the prey. Granted, when someone dies, they drop all their weapons (which can be collected) and respawn at random place with only a handgun and a knife.

** In ''2'', about halfway into the game, Lian Xing arranges a meeting with a former partner, Uri Gregorov, at a neutral meeting point: a techno dance club. But their meet-up is ruined by an attack on the club in an attempt to assassinate Lian. And the date that this happens on in the mission dossier? ''09/11''.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Believe it or not, there was a significant part of the fanbase who found Lian Xing annoying when the first game came out. Her chastising tone in "Stronghold Catacomb" when Gabe needs to escort her has her saying things like "What are you doing?"[[note]]when Gabe takes too long fighting mooks[[/note]], "Where are you going?"[[note]]when Gabe picks up flak jackets and ammo left behind by the mooks he or Lian killed[[/note]], and "Are you crazy!?"[[note]]when Gabe shoots Lian in a friendly fire, even if it's accidental[[/note]] made the already difficult level becoming more frustrating. It took the sequel ''Syphon Filter 2'' in which she has less chastising tone, combined with her being playable in the story mode and the sympathy factor where she can do her tasks flawlessly despite being ill, for Lian to earn the fans' favor.

*** In the Rhoemer's Base level, you have to plant C4 on each of the base's fuel tanks while remaining unseen by the mooks.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Believe it or not, there was a significant part of the fanbase who found Lian Xing annoying when the first game came out. Her chastising tone in "Stronghold Catacomb" when Gabe needs to escort her has her saying things like "What are you doing?"[[note]]when Gabe takes too long fighting mooks[[/note]], "Where are you going?"[[note]]when Gabe picks up flack jackets and ammo left behind by the mooks' he or Lian killed[[/note]], and "Are you crazy!?"[[note]]when Gabe shoots Lian in a friendly fire, even if it's accidental[[/note]] . It took the sequel ''Syphon Filter 2'' in which she has less chastising tone, combined with her being playable in the story mode and the sympathy factor where she can do her tasks flawlessly despite being ill, for Lian to earn the fans' favor.

* AmericanHateTingle: While many consider ''3'' as a SophomoreSlump of the series, this particular installment is infamously disliked in Ireland and Northern Ireland because two Dublin levels portray IRA as enemies. Even with the publisher releasing altered product that changed IRA into ARM, this installment's popularity did not improve that much.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In ''2'', Lian encounters Mara Aramov in Russia while both are looking for Gregorov; Mara has her chaffeur driving her in a limousine while Lian is in foot. Mara has the chance to kill Lian there, but decides to just let her be and tells her driver to drive forward. There is also another cutscene that shows Mara telling her boss that she doesn't see Gabriel Logan, which counts as a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial, as she mentions Gabe's name to prevent herself from having to mention seeing Lian in Russia. Why does Mara do that? Does she feel sorry for Lian due to being infected with a deadly virus? Does she think of Lian as a weak NotWorthKilling frail? Or does she think that Lian is more useful to her as a bargaining chip to deal with Gabe Logan by leaving her alive but ill?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In ''2'', Lian encounters Aramov in Russia while both are looking for Gregorov; Mara has her chaffeur driving her in a limousine while Lian is in foot. Mara has the chance to kill Lian there, but decides to just let her be and tells her driver to drive forward. There is also another cutscene that shows Mara telling her boss that she doesn't see Gabriel Logan, which counts as a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial, as she mentions Gabe's name to prevent herself from having to mention seeing Lian in Russia. Why does Mara do that? Does she feel sorry for Lian due to being infected with a deadly virus? Does she think of Lian as a weak NotWorthKilling frail? Or does she think that Lian is more useful to her as a bargaining chip to deal with Gabe Logan by leaving her alive but ill?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In ''2'', Lian encounters Aramov in Russia while both are looking for Gregorov; Mara has her chaffeur driving her in a limousine while Lian is in foot. Mara has the chance to kill Lian there, but decides to just let her be and tells her driver to drive forward. There is also another cutscene that shows Mara telling her boss that she doesn't see Gabriel Logan, which counts as a SuspicipuslySpecificDenial, as she mentions Gabe's name to prevent herself from having to mention. Why does Mara do that? Does she feel sorry for Lian due to being infected with a deadly virus? Does she think of Lian as a weak NotWorthKilling frail? Or does she think that Lian is more useful to her as a bargaining chip to deal with Gabe Logan by leaving her alive but ill?

* HoYay: Gary Stoneman confirms [[spoiler:Mara Aramov and Elsa Weissinger]] are in a canon relationship by using his rifle scope in the ''Dark Mirror'' bonus mission (only in hard mode).

** You're up against Rhoemer at the final level of the original ''Syphon Filter'' and he's armed with an M-79 which can kill you in one hit. There are two details that make what should've been a epic gunfight into a let-down: First, Rhoemer is standing in defilade between the mainframes with no line of fire unless you give it to him. And second, the game is scripted to have Rhoemer die from a Gas Grenade, meaning that he goes out with a whimper instead of a bang.
** Shi Hao is arguably the most ambitious Syphon Filter potential buyer who goes rogue and leads his army rebelling against PRC and Russia, yet he is easily defeated and killed by Gabe, as he wields normal gun with mediocre accuracy, and he does not even wear bulletproof vest.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIKQKlUWIPA The iconic title screen theme of the Playstation trilogy]]; sounds catchy, suitable to set the players in the mood before the game starts.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-l9SC7HICA "Freedom Memorial" a.k.a. Anton Girdeux boss fight music]] and its remix version [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjCu-ATjuOI&t=122s "Base Tower" which is played in a battle against enemy chopper]]. Opinions about which one is better may vary, but there is no doubt that both music are amazing, especially knowing the fact that this is the first action shooting game for the developer.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObHVmo96jXQ&t=30s "Expo Center Reception"]] which also plays in the second game fits the espionage theme well.

* HoYay: Gary Stoneman confirmed [[spoiler:Mara Aramov and Elsa Weissinger aka Mara x Elsa]] as a canon relationship by using his rifle scope in ''Syphon Filter Dark Mirror'' bonus mission (only in hard mode). However, their relationship reached the breaking point thanks to [[spoiler:Mara]]'s possessiveness and [[spoiler:Elsa]]'s involvement with IPCA during ''Syphon Filter Omega Strain'' events. [[spoiler:Either Mara sinked the ship by herself, or Stoneman did it for her.]]

** Some missions in the [=PS1=] trilogy feature super-secret military base with advanced technology hidden in a rather ordinary, if not remote village in real life. This did not escape the fans who actually lived in said area.

** The voice acting for the original trilogy could be ''rough'', with fake stereotypical accents all over the place, and it meshed hilariously with motion-captured character models that often looked more like walking tall LEGO people rather than human beings. Especially if it cuts in up close where they suddenly gain an awkwardly-animated 2D face texture.
** Gabe Logan is supposed to be a OneManArmy super agent badass that the story loves to hype up as being unstoppable. He also runs like he shat himself, stumbles from every fall like he has no idea what he's doing while flailing around, and ScreamsLikeALittleGirl when he gets set on fire or takes a big fall in the plot.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Maggie Powers (an [=MI6=] agent) was not a playable character either in Mini Game or PlayerVsPlayer mode despite her important role in Ireland.
* ToughActToFollow: ''Syphon Filter 2'' is still considered by majority, if not all fans of the series as the best Syphon Filter game ever for many reasons. [[NintendoHard The challenging difficulty setting of enemies can do head shots]], the availability of PlayerVersusPlayer mode, [[{{SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic}} background soundtracks that emphasized both suspenseful atmosphere and high adrenaline action better than other SF games]], [[RealPolitik 'Realpolitik' based plot]], [[MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting and the fact that the game developers are not afraid of criticizing their own government policies]], you name it.
** The third game attempted to follow the second game's success formula but fell short in both storyline and music category.[[note]] Majority of the third game is WholeEpisodeFlashback and the Christoper Stevens who co-wrote SF3 soundtracks with Chuck Doud put more emphasis on suspense than high-adrenaline action. Needless to say, many fans considered SF3 soundtracks as boring.[[/note]]
** The newer games in [=PS2=]/PSP platform got even worse flaks as they became generic ThirdPersonShooter game by giving the PlayerCharacter fancy gadgets (such as infrared/thermal googles) from the beginning instead of requiring them to explore the terrain and find said gadgets like in the first trilogy.

* LesYay: Gary Stoneman confirmed [[spoiler:Mara Aramov and Elsa Weissinger aka Mara x Elsa]] as canon relationship by using his rifle scope in ''Syphon Filter Dark Mirror'' bonus mission (only in hard mode). However, their relationship reached the breaking point thanks to [[spoiler:Mara's]] possessiveness and [[spoiler:Elsa's]] involvement with IPCA during ''Syphon Filter Omega Strain'' events. [[spoiler:Either Mara sinked the ship by herself, or Stoneman did it for her.]]

* TierInducedScrappy: Ellis is often bashed by many fans due to his mediocre combat skills in ''3''[='=]s Convoy level, making him TheLoad most of the time.

** [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter1 First]] and [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter3 third]] games: [[TerroristWithoutACause Erich Rhoemer]] is the leader of the terrorist organization Black Baton, and Gabe's most personal enemy. Responsible for multiple bombings and plane hijackings before partnering with Pharcom, Rhoemer is placed in charge of creating the Syphon Filter virus. Hearing that the Agency sent men out to stop him, he captures, tortures, and holds Agent Ellis captive, then has his laboratory burned, the cure destroyed, and Ellis executed once Gabe and Lian arrive. Escaping to Washington, D.C., he detonates the city's subway system and has multiple virus-filled bombs planted in a park in an attempt to infect the entire city. When Gabe invades his hideout, Rhoemer kidnaps and infects Lian with the virus. Occupying underground catacombs, he has people captured and used as test subjects for the virus, ordering every one of them executed when Gabe is caught sneaking around. Rhoemer later decides to steal a nuclear missile, fill it with the virus, and launch it anywhere, not caring where it lands or the possibility that it might start [[WorldWarIII a third World War]].
** ''[[VideoGame/SyphonFilterTheOmegaStrain The Omega Strain]]'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mihai Niculescu]] is the GreaterScopeVillain of the original trilogy, and [[BigBadEnsemble one of the game's main threats]]. A psychotic banker, Mihai created the Syphon Filter virus as a bioweapon to be sold for money, using his connections to have it sold to countless terrorist and criminal groups, which he also funds with his own bank money. Using Vincent Hadden's Consortium as a way to sell the virus, Niculescu allowed Hadden to kill anybody who came close to the conspiracy and [[WarForFunAndProfit start wars to keep the virus profitable]], having Mara Aramov murder him when his plans are exposed. Creating the Omega Strain virus to be more powerful than his previous Syphon Filter, Niculescu allows the rogue Ivankov to nuke Moscow, believing the missile to be filled with his own virus, and hoping to [[PoisonAndCureGambit sell a vaccine]] to the survivors.

** The newer games in [=PS2=]/PSP platform got even worse flaks as they became generic ThirdPersonShooter game by giving the PlayerCharacter fancy gadgets (such as infrared/thermal googles) from the beginning instead of requiring them to explore the terrain and find said gadgets like in the first trilogy.

** First and third games: [[TerroristWithoutACause Erich Rhoemer]] is the leader of the terrorist organization Black Baton, and Gabe's most personal enemy. Responsible for multiple bombings and plane hijackings before partnering with Pharcom, Rhoemer is placed in charge of creating the Syphon Filter virus. Hearing that the Agency sent men out to stop him, he captures, tortures, and holds Agent Ellis captive, then has his laboratory burned, the cure destroyed, and Ellis executed once Gabe and Lian arrive. Escaping to Washington, D.C., he detonates the city's subway system and has multiple virus-filled bombs planted in a park in an attempt to infect the entire city. When Gabe invades his hideout, Rhoemer kidnaps and infects Lian with the virus. Occupying underground catacombs, he has people captured and used as test subjects for the virus, ordering every one of them executed when Gabe is caught sneaking around. Rhoemer later decides to steal a nuclear missile, fill it with the virus, and launch it anywhere, not caring where it lands or the possibility that it might start [[WorldWarIII a third World War]].
** [[CorruptPolitician Vincent Hadden]], the BigBad of the original trilogy, is the traitorous Secretary of State and head of the Agency who seeks to increase his political power. Working for the corrupt Mihai Niculescu, Hadden secretly creates the [[ArmsDealer Arms Consortium]], an illegal black market where weapons would be sold to foreign terrorists, planning to sell the Syphon Filter virus at a high price. He plans to have terrorists use the virus to wreak havoc on American soil and step in to save the day, hoping to use that clout to become President. Selling the virus to rebellious Chinese General Shi-Hao, knowing full well that he would use it to infect China and Russia and start a war with them, he kills any of his agents aware of the conspiracy. When Gabe starts getting in the way of his plans, Hadden tries to have him and Lian arrested and blamed for the conspiracy, hoping to throw everyone working for him under the bus and escape scot-free.
** ''The Omega Strain'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mihai Niculescu]] is the GreaterScopeVillain of the original trilogy, and [[BigBadEnsemble one of the game's main threats]]. A psychotic banker, Mihai created the Syphon Filter virus as a bioweapon to be sold for money, using his connections to have it sold to countless terrorist and criminal groups, which he also funds with his own bank money. Using Vincent Hadden's Consortium as a way to sell the virus, Niculescu allowed Hadden to kill anybody who came close to the conspiracy and [[WarForFunAndProfit start wars to keep the virus profitable]], having Mara Aramov murder him when his plans are exposed. Creating the Omega Strain virus to be more powerful than his previous Syphon Filter, Niculescu allows the rogue Ivankov to nuke Moscow, believing the missile to be filled with his own virus, and hoping to [[PoisonAndCureGambit sell a vaccine]] to the survivors.

*** Agency Bio-Lab level is a complicated stealth mission in a maze-like terrain, where you have to spend half of the level navigating the place while avoiding guards and CCTV cameras to find weapons and reach the lab's computer room in order to give Teresa necessary files.