Summary
SiN Episodes: Emergence offers a brief but engaging foray into the world of Freeport City, combining solid shooter mechanics with the unrealized promise of episodic storytelling.
- Genres: Shooter
- Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
- Developers: Ritual Entertainment
- Publishers: Electronic Arts, Ritual Entertainment
Introduction
SiN Episodes: Emergence is a first-person shooter that aimed to innovate with its episodic format, offering players a serialized narrative experience. Developed by Ritual Entertainment and powered by the Source engine, it combined intense action with a dynamic difficulty system.
Synopsis
The game’s plot revolves around Colonel John Blade, the commander of HardCorps, an elite security force in a near-future dystopia. Blade is pitted against Elexis Sinclaire, a corrupt corporate executive and chairwoman of SinTEK Enterprises3, who seeks to convert all humanity into mutants and take over the world.
The game begins with Blade being captured and injected with an unknown substance. In an attempt to discover the cure, Blade follows both Viktor Radek and Elexis Sinclaire to destroy one of the U4 labs and recover the antidote for the mutagen.
The gameplay of “SiN Episodes” features a dynamic difficulty engine called Personal Challenge System, which gradually makes various aspects of the game harder or easier depending on the player’s performance statistics. When starting a new game, the player can choose how much the difficulty is allowed to increase and how quickly it is allowed to decrease. Additionally, the player can enable the HardCORPS mode where all game saving is disabled, so that dying or quitting resets all progress.
The game also features an Arena Mode, a single-player mode designed to run a contest at E3 2006 as part of a promotion alongside Vigor Gaming. In this high score mode, the objective is to survive as long as possible among the steadily spawning and increasing enemies. The scoring system is also tied to the Personal Challenge System which runs at a much higher rate than in the main game.
Despite its innovative episodic format and the use of Valve’s Steam content delivery system, the future of the series became uncertain after Ritual was acquired by casual game developer MumboJumbo in 2007. With the sale of Ritual to MumboJumbo and departure of several employees, all future development of Sin Episodes appears to be delayed indefinitely, if not entirely canceled.
Characters
Colonel John R. Blade is the main protagonist, a determined police officer. Elexis Sinclaire, the main antagonist, is the head of SinTEK, and Jessica, Blade’s new partner, aids him in his quest.
Gameplay
Featuring first-person shooter mechanics, Emergence utilizes the Source engine for its physics and interactive environments. Players navigate through diverse settings, engaging in gunfights and solving environmental puzzles.
Conclusion
SiN Episodes: Emergence remains a notable experiment in episodic gaming. Despite its innovative approach and solid gameplay, the series’ potential remains unfulfilled, serving as a reminder of the challenges facing episodic content in gaming.
Review Score
7/10
Art
Fan Art
Fan Art Style: Normal
Fan Art Style: Retro
Fan Art Style: Modern
