With the quick advance of technology throughout the 1990s, plenty of opportunities arose to create new styles of video games. Many were successful, including the debut of Syphon Filter, which arrived 20 years ago, in 1999.

The third-person stealth action game focused on Gabe Logan and his partner, Lian Xing, who are investigating a series of biological outbreaks caused by an international terrorist. In tracking the terrorist, Erich Rhoemer, Gabe and Lian uncover a report on a biological weapon called a Syphon Filter, which can be programmed on a genetic level in order to target specific groups of people. Lian is eventually infected with the Syphon Filter herself, leaving it up to Gabe to uncover the cure and take out Rhoemer in the process.

Syphon Filter was developed by Eidetic, and the game came out of a one-page synopsis that contained no plot, characters or gameplay ideas. The development team was influenced by the successful Goldeneye 007 game that Rare had released, and decided to lean into that in order to create a new super-spy game. Unfortunately, there weren’t many games at the time from which the development team could draw inspiration from when it came to gameplay, and the inexperience of the team when it came to third-person action caused problems. Eidetic’s only previous console release at the time was the critically-panned Bubsy 3D, considered one of the worst games of all time.

The game eventually came together and released to critical acclaim, especially with regards to the attention to detail provided in the environments and to the level of artificial intelligence seen. Sony immediately commissioner producer 989 Studios to make a sequel, eventually beginning the larger Syphon Filter franchise that would conclude with Logan’s Shadow in 2007.