Sin Episodes – Emergence
Developer: Ritual
Year: 2006
Genre: First Person Shooter
Themes: Sci-fi / Mutants / Evil Organizations
Available on: PC
Original Sin
Sin Episodes is an interesting game. I write that because I can’t really put it any other way. There’s a lot of history behind both its predecessor and this brave sequel attempted eight years afterwards. The original game was an above average shooter which was quickly swept aside by Half-Life when it was released. Now, Sin Episodes utilizes the Half-Life 2 engine as a grand sense of irony. The developer, Ritual Entertainment has struggled to push games to shelves for reasons of poor sales amongst other things. Sin Episodes was essentially its last attempt at a cash grab with nine different episodes planned but only Emergence (Episode 1) released.
Meanwhile, Valve was releasing its own episodes for Half-Life 2, probably frightening all but a few dedicated Sin fans away. Finally, Ritual was acquired by a larger fish and Sin Episodes was seen as a sin for merger, bringing about its demise. That leaves us with one episode to fill a gaping void, however it’s still a worthwhile entry if you’re into shooters.
Story
Emergence doesn’t offer much in the way of plot. Obviously if eight other slices were added then you’d have something of significance. I’m not absolutely certain where it picks up although I’ve pinpointed it to somewhere after first game. Elexis Sinclaire is still alive and so too is John Blade. Unfortunately Elexis seems to have gained the upper hand on HardCORPS leader and has him strapped to an operating table at the start of the game. You don’t need any knowledge of the previous game although it might help in understanding the returning characters better. A couple of new faces also emerge early like Jessica Cannon, the latest addition to HardCORPS who rescues Blade after a peculiar vial of green stuff is injected into him. Another addition is Viktor Radek, the one jabbing syringes into Blade, while combing his oversized goatee. For the rest of the game you’re chasing down Radek for answers with the assistance of Jessica and everyone’s favorite tech-freak, JC also remerging.
The game is still set within Freeport city and does a wonderful job of illustrating its grandeur as you roam around the levels and note various pieces of technology and view the skyscrapers from across the bay. And of course there’s the mutant trend and their various labs although not much is explained.
Elexis is bouncing back after her defeat in more ways than one
Gameplay – Physics and Shooting
Working with the Half-Life 2 engine, Emergence also contains Havok physics and doesn’t work with it too often. There’s one part where you can place a box to boost yourself onto a higher platform and you can place health canisters into medical stations. That’s about it. Sometimes grenades can bounce off one another resulting in one sent hurtling towards your face but aside from that the only use of physics in gameplay is when a boss charges down on you and smashes fences. I thought the clever use of physics could have more of an impact. Watching enemies fall off buildings ragdoll style was still amusing.
The one time I wished walls didn’t break
The predominant gameplay is very standard for a shooter. Blade finishes wave after wave of soldiers and mutants with a massive arsenal of three weapons. That’s just unacceptable. Aside from the classic Magnum making a comeback there’s also a shotgun and an assault rifle. While each of these has a secondary fire mode, all of them seem equally effective. The shotgun rounds still travel a fair distance and a headshot or two spells doom for the oddly outfitted green defense force. The lack of weapons while being depressing isn’t all tragic. Blasting troops in half is very satisfying and in some ways feels like FEAR. This is squad clearing action which is entertaining and occasionally evokes that feeling of invincibility. Bouncing grenades off walls or the ricochet off the shotgun could also provide a giddy thrill although it’s exceptionally difficult in open areas.
The levels convey well implemented design. Only a small amount of backtracking required and different landmarks make them feel like they’re not running together. The problem is there’s not any variety in the gameplay. No vehicles to commandeer, no stupid seesaw puzzles to solve. You unlock doors on consoles, break crates and shoot endless waves of charging, thoughtless militia. Occasionally Jessica shows up to lend a hand.
This is about what you can expect from the AI in terms of intelligence
Graphics
Overall the graphics convey the same art direction as Half-Life 2 except with Freeport and HardCORPS logos replacing the Combine emblems. Until you traverse outside on the final level of the game you won’t see anything which separates it from the Source engine. This is when you manage your first glimpse of the city. It’s quite a spectacular view and was probably intended to be expanded on in the later episodes. This only left me wanting more. That feeling of unfulfillment is infuriating and disheartening. It’s definitely solid in the graphics department and moreover the bust physics section.
Clearly this is what advanced physics engines were designed for
The women in Sin Episodes have abnormally large breasts like Elexis Sinclaire originally had. This was used to Ritual’s advantage in the advertising campaign as the usual “sex sells” routine and it almost did until people realized the majority of bouncing occurred in the first five minutes and decided to stick to YouTube videos. It’s sexist for those five minutes and deviates to a few encounters with Jessica and her fabulous g-string on show. Looking at her posterior also warrants a few sexual lines. This probably locked women out as a potential audience.
Sound
Emergence brings back JC and Blade’s voice actors although Blade doesn’t deliver any of his witty one liners after annihilating a string of baddies. Blade is a very silent protagonist. He only utters the names of his squad members when answering their transmissions. Whether this is due to the lack of cutscenes is questionable but for now Blade retains a Gordon Freeman approach. Jen Taylor offers the majority of voice acting as Jessica although I too often thought it was just a physical version of Cortana because she literally has no other style of delivery.
This vehicle’s destination is south corner of Fuck and You
On the other hand the sound design is one of the more impressive accompaniments. A sizeable amount of ambient noises were added to build the atmosphere with alarms sounding, explosions booming and my favorite, enemies shouting. One of the best ways to identify soldiers ahead was by listening. You could hear those barking orders from across the field and the effects were altered to highlight that. For instance, an enemy yelling in a larger room prompted an echo-like distorted sound. It just works very well and mimics what was done in Half-Life 2 to great effect. The music in contrast is pretty standard orchestral stuff; don’t expect much except for a lovely song on the menu.
Verdict
I think Sin Episodes is a very reasonable shooter if you’re on a budget. In addition to the first episode you also receive the original Sin game and a number of arenas which are like survival maps against the AI for a couple of minutes. This package will more than likely last you an entire weekend although might leave you dissatisfied by the fact you can’t continue playing more. It only lasts a couple of hours but you could increase the difficulty for the replay as the game features many ways to adjust it. Not bad, maybe worthwhile for the cleavage too.
It’s on Steam for $10 with the first game as a bonus.
Now I wish episode 2 was out. Guess I’ll settle for Half-Life 2 episode 3.
Recommended level – High Rise
Pros
+Good weapon control and firing mechanics
+Decent graphics and enhanced “bouncing”
+Simple and effective challenge system
+Bundled with the original game
+Bouncing grenades off walls and ragdoll events which follow
+Arena survival modes
Cons
-Sometimes horrid animations
-AI just runs at you
-Limited enemy and weapon types
-Not much of a plot happening
-No variety in gameplay or use of advanced physics
-Not much to separate it from Half-Life 2 / other Source engine games in terms of look
-Blade doesn’t speak too often
-Very very short. Outlook on future episodes is extremely bleak
