The neck snap is an ability that kills enemies in a single hit without any weapons. It was seen in Syphon Filter 2, Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow.
History
Syphon Filter 2
During the Secret Council with Vince Hadden and some senior Agency personnel, Mara Aramov was first seen performing this on Mr Cochrane. When the latter tried to excuse himself for making delays, Hadden secretly gave Mara the green light and allowed her to kill the second CEO pf PHARCOM for failure to complete his job.[1]
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
Gary Stoneman was the first person who introduced the concept of a neck snap in the IPCA: since he was sneaking around with a sniper rifle during Dimitri's assassination, he hated the idea of knives, which left a bloody mess. Rather, he came up with a 'neck breaker' move in which he stepped behind a victim, placed a hand on his forehead and another on his chin and forcefully snapped the latter hand sideways while the former hand slammed into the victim's temple.[2] The resulting blow applied enough force to instantly kill the target by a broken vertebra.
Eventually, Lian Xing[3], Gabe Logan[4] and even Lawrence Mujari[5] employed this technique to silently kill enemies, although the third person elected not to use violence[6] . However, he would nonetheless ultimately resort to lethal force against firearm-bearing opponents, especially if it came to a matter of self-defence[7]. The player could also perform it if one completed the Carthage episode within solo par.
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Gabe Logan and Lian Xing both used this lethal killing technique against enemies when the former two saw fit to do so.
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
As was the case in the previous two games, Gabe and Teresa both used the neck snap to take down opponents if either saw an opportunity.
Advantages
- Even more useful than the throat slit, which requires a weapon to be carried out.
- Ignores armour, can one-hit kill enemies from behind.
- Technically has 'infinite' ammunition.
Limitations
- Not available from the start, you must complete Carthage missions in solo par to unlock it.
- Useless at long distances.
- At the start of the game, only the 4 bonus characters possess this ability.
Gary Stoneman performs the neck snap in Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain.
Trivia
- With the exception of the poison administered to Saydahmat's water chalice, it is the only death animation that does not require a weapon in Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain making it integral in stealth missions.
- ↑ Syphon Filter 2 initial cutscene before Mckenzie Airbase Interior
- ↑ Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Transcript - Pescara, Italy: St Cetteo's Square - 'Knives are too messy'
- ↑ Tash, Kumyr, Kyrgystan: Saydahmat's Village
- ↑ Budva, Montenegro: Niculescu's Villa Estate
- ↑ Samashki, Chechnya: Ivankov's Home
- ↑ Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Transcript - Samashki, Chechnya: Ivankov's Home - 'Many types of non-lethal force'
- ↑ Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Transcript - North Atlantic: Lorelei Salvage Rig - 'Mujari: Possible DPE orders'