Syphon Filter: How To Use Flashlight

Thanks to the success of Metal Gear Solid on the PS1, the stealth genre was coming into its own in the later 90s and early 2000s as a thinking person's action game. Other titles emerged on the scene with Tenchu, a ninja game that was a pure stealth game, and of course, Syphon Filter, an espionage superspy thriller with a similar aesthetic to Metal Gear Solid. Thanks to PlayStation Plus Premium, fans have the chance to play this classic on PS4 and PS5.

Unlike Metal Gear Solid, Syphon Filter combines both action and stealth with a fantastic level design. The missions are highly explorable, offering players an almost unprecedented amount of replayability on the PlayStation. The Syphon Filter series found more success on the PSP with Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow was one of the handheld system's standout titles. Many elements of the Syphon Filter series made their way into Bend Studio's Days Gone, a post-apocalyptic open-world stealth zombie game. However, as a game over two decades old, Syphon Filter has dated mechanics by today's standards its shooting mechanics and selecting Gabe Logan's gadgets can be a little tricky as the game doesn't do a great job of telling its players how to do it.

How To Select The Torch In Syphon Filter

Syphon Filter is a worthwhile classic entry on PS Plus Premium, but the mechanics in Syphon Filter feel like they were designed to be played with the original PS1 controller before the analog sticks were introduced. As a result, it's hard to navigate maps as only the D-Pad and left analog stick work. Gabe can strafe left and right by using the R2 and L2 buttons and shoot with the Square button. Unfortunately, it's not immediately obvious how to change weapons and equipment in Syphon Filter.

To change equipment in Syphon Filter, the player must press the select button giving Gabe access to the different weapons he has at his disposal. This includes the iconic taser, sniper rifle, silenced pistol, and more. However, the flashlight isn't immediately available to use without equipping it.

Equipping The Torch

The instructions to make the torch/flashlight available to Gabe are as follows:

Find a quiet spot without any respawning enemies.

Select the Start button by pressing down the right side of the PS4/PS5 Touchpad.
Scroll down and Select Weapons.
Press the X button.

The Flashlight is at the bottom of the weapons list.
Select the Flashlight and Press X to equip it.
The game will jump back into the mission automatically.

Unfortunately, as it's under the weapons menu, the flashlight/torch cannot be used at the same time as weapons. Moreover, pressing the Select button again will reequip Gabe's weapon, but to reuse the torch it needs to be equipped via the Weapons menu.