SiN Episodes - Emergence Review 198
Along with pale imitations, it seems the destiny of genre-defining games to provoke a reversal in design decisions. The success of 3D platformers has lead to a renaissance in 2D gaming, World of Warcraft has pushed online game designers away from the fantasy genre, and Half-Life 2 has prompted a lot of story-light brainless shooters. It's this last genre that houses SiN Episodes: Emergence. A traditional run and gun First Person Shooter (FPS), SiN is a blood-soaked five hour jaunt you can download from Steam for about twenty bucks. At that price and that length, this Aeon Fluxian gorefest may just be a happy start for the age of episodic content. Read on for my impressions of a good-looking throwback that proves you don't need millions of dollars to make a fun title.
- Title: SiN Episodes: Emergence
- Developer: Ritual Entertainment
- Publisher: Valve
- System: PC
Calling SiN story-light might not be fair. It would be more accurate to say that this first episode of the 'season' isn't heavy on plot elements. Ritual plans on making these 5-8 hour gameplay releases a regular event. A 'season' will be a complete story made up of three episodes: a beginning, a middle, and an end. You're awakened at the start of this episode staring into the um, eyes of an attractive woman and a well-dressed guy. You're strapped onto a table, and have apparently been injected with something. Before you can really understand what's going on, another attractive woman comes to your aid, spiriting you away in her auto.
What follows is a textbook-standard FPS. You make your way through the grubby urban environments, a secret underground lair, and moist crawlspaces, shooting the faceless bad guys that get in your way. Weapons are fairly limited in this first episode; For most of the game you have a pistol, a shotgun, and grenades. Really, though, what else do you need? Enemy models and map creation are fairly generic, though they are competently executed. There's a couple of nice action set-pieces, such as a fight against jet-pack wearing baddies from inside a cargo crate being lifted over a body of water. The few explanatory plot moments are used with the in-game engine, as in cousin Half-Life.
If there is a differentiating element to SiN, it is the adaptive AI and stat-tracking that haunts you throughout the game. Every bullet you fire, which gun you use, whether it hits or not, all are tracked as you move through the title. The enemies will start off fairly dumb, but if you find yourself having an easy time of it you'll start to notice the enemies beginning to adopt new tactics. If you pwn the bad guys hard enough in the first few levels, you may even find yourself outclassed when the action gets fast and furious later in the episode. This intelligent adaptation to your gameplay is a little spooky once you start noticing it. The first time you find yourself in the middle of a well-executed pincer maneuver, with soldiers on all sides closing in, you'll know you've gotten the AI's attention.
Visually, SiN looks a lot like cousin Half-Life, which only makes sense; Emergence was created with Valve's Source engine. All the 'fun with physics' moments you can have in Half-Life 2 are here in SiN, with some extra surprises. Despite what the Mythbusters had to say on the subject, compressed air tanks make surprisingly good weapons here. The polish on the game's look is less pronounced than it was with Half-Life 2, the result of a smaller budget and shorter development time. The audio is run and gun standard, but the weapon sounds are surprisingly satisfying. They have a lot of heft, which partially makes up for the very few weapons you'll have access to in the game.
If Emergence was $15, this would be a sure thing; At $20 I'm not sure this particular ride is worth the price of admission. Just the same, if you've got the money lying around and are a fan of the FPS genre, you're probably going to enjoy SiN There's nothing particularly wrong here, just a general sense of 'been there, done that'. At only five or six hours play time, you probably won't even have time to get bored before the episode is over. Future episodes will elaborate on the plot, give us more enemies to fight, and more weapons to fight with. As such, the pricetag may be more justified for future episodes. For right now, though, here's hoping they drop the price to make this bite-sized FPS morsel taste just right.
Ummm... Air tanks do make great weapons (Score:3, Informative)
Ummmm... They didn't say that compressed air tanks don't make good weapons. They said that they don't make good IEDs. They make great missles.
Re:Ummm... Air tanks do make great weapons (Score:2)
can someone explain the second sentence? (Score:5, Interesting)
I guess I don't follow games that closely anymore. What 3d platformers have I missed, and what games defined the 2d renaissance that followed?
Re:can someone explain the second sentence? (Score:2)
The 3D ones I can think of offhand are Super Mario 64 (and Sunshine) and Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime is more an adventure than a platformer, but it does have a ton of platformer-type puzzles.
I don't know what games were involved in the 2D renaissance either.
Re:can someone explain the second sentence? (Score:2)
As for the 2D renaissance, there was a rather critically acclaimed game called Viewtiful Joe out a couple years ago, although I didn't personally play it. Also one called Alien Hominid.
the new Super Mario Brothers counts as a 2D game (Score:2)
br> Same goes for SSB, Viewtiful Joe (as mentioned earlier), and others.
Re:can someone explain the second sentence? (Score:2, Informative)
Now, you could argue that there has been a 2D rennaissance, on portables. This is because portables have finally caught up to (or surpassed) the graphical abilities of the Atari Lynx. So, both the Nin
Re:can someone explain the second sentence? (Score:3, Interesting)
Polygons aren't that bad, when used appropriately [planetgamecube.com]
BTW, all the character models in the New SMB were 3D models.
Worst sentance ever (Score:3, Funny)
But on a side note, did you know the success of Pong relates to the success of unicorns in modern games?
Why? Just 'cause.
I'm also interested in the budget assumptions made (Score:2)
Rachet & Clank, Jax & Daxter (Score:2)
If you want to confine the choices to PC games, Rayman 3 may have been out for the PC, I forget... but 3D platformers have been very popular on consoles.
Re:can someone explain the second sentence? (Score:2)
Really? (Score:3, Insightful)
Half-Life 2 has prompted a lot of story-light brainless shooters
IMHO, HL2 wasn't about being a immersive story-telling game. It was about showing off the new engine until mods that made the first HL (Counter Strike, Day of Defeat, etc) so popular were released under source.
That being said, I did enjoy HL2, but I didn't buy it for the story line. From what I've seen, most FPS shooters aren't built for the story line. They're built for action. And guess what, we got action with HL2 and the various mods.
Re:Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
For instance, at the beginning when Gordon's teleportation goes wrong he winds up in the office of the nefarious Dr. Breen who is talking to SOMETHING on a video display.
In one level you find an evolutionary poster showing the transparent skeletal heads of an ape, a human, and a strange human\alien "combine".
In the opening sequence the G-man tells you "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world," and he goes on to make repeated and illogical appearances all over the game, talking to unexpected people, strolling through areas you've infiltrated while barely outrunning death itself, having just done who knows what.
Even the graphical textures and level designs hint at a personal history of inanimate objects. The meticulous totalitarian dystopia of City 17 is complemented by the spotless streets and gleaming buildings in perfect repair. You can only speculate how much work Civil Protection, or likely the citizens themselves, put forth to keep the city clean - especially in contrast to how filthy the rest of the game is, by in large. HL2 has story all over the place in little chunks. Whether the story is cohesive is irrelevant to me, personally.
SiN, on the other hand, is a brainless blast-a-thon that wasn't worth the effort pirating. I deleted it in 20 minutes. Nice boob physics though.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Interesting)
At the end, the player is left with a very important question: "Who is Gordon Freeman?".
I wish there were more games with stories like these.
Re:Really? (Score:2)
Piercing the 4th wall in HL2 (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that Gordon doesn't speak for two reasons- one plot related and the other game-related. Plot-wise,
Re:Really? (Score:2)
I prefer my story Halo 2-style, with cut-scenes that almost bring you to tears, and when it ends you jump off the couch and run around the room because it's so, just... great. And of course it's from the company that brought you Marathon, perh
Re:Really? (Score:3, Interesting)
For instance, in Half Life 2 when you arrive at Eli Vance's laboratory you're taken through a pretty thorough spiel bringing y
Re:Really? (Score:2)
1) have dynamic visuals and editing, so they're not dull to watch
2) are skippable.
The first-person-cut-scenes in HL2 were just dull, IMO. Especially the seemingly hour-long one in that lab. Of course, opinions vary.
Re:Really? (Score:2)
1) have dynamic visuals and editing, so they're not dull to watch
2) are skippable.
Perfectly valid points, and this model definitely represents what people expect from video games. However, traditional cut scenes have their flaws as well:
Re:Really? (Score:2)
1) There's no difference between everybody in the game calling you Gordon, or everybody in the game calling you Arbiter/Master Chief. Additionally, I don't think there's a difference between everybody calling you Gordon or the camera pulling back to show that you are controlling Arbiter/Master Chief... either way immersion is busted, because you're reminded that it's not YOU in the game, but just a character you control.
If you really wa
Re:Really? (Score:3, Interesting)
HL2 actually surprised me by how sophisticated its narrative style was. You were thrown into its world without any init
Re:Really? (Score:2)
For better or worse (more likely the latter), I think Valve left about 50% of the character development up to their snazzy new facial expressions engine. A lot can be said about a character (like Alyx) who not only says something, but does so with a knowing smirk or with a furrowed brow indicating tr
Re:Really? (Score:2)
That alone shoots down your own argument and underlines the problem with HL2's storytelling. At the very least in HL1 you told the very bare bones of what was going on (experiment gone bad, need to get out) but in HL2 all you know is that aliens invaded Earth and for some unknown reason after several years of
Re:Really? (Score:3, Informative)
Play the game to completion - the Gman put him in an alternate dimension (or something of the like) for all eternity to prevent him from letting the world know about Black Mesa.
Where has Barney been?
He escaped at the end of Blue Shift. More than likely he blended in with the crowd - so to speak - after escaping the BMRF.
Shouldn't the Combine have known that he was at Black Mesa in HL1?
Don't forget, the BMRF turned into a smoldering crater after th
Re:Really? (Score:2)
Either an earth or alien species. They run amok outside but are kept out of cities by border checkpoints and snipers.
What happened to the Earth's military forces?
Conquered by the aliens thanks to the treachery of Dr. Breen. He is granted some semblance of control by the aliens because he has agreed to hand them the Earth on a platter.
Why hasn't Earth turned into an oversized model of Iraq?
Uh... because Saddam was administered a headcrab? Because the combine do
Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:2)
This is the fourth comment I've seen unfairly modded down in this story in the same timeframe. Whoever's doing this needs his moderator privileges revoked.
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:2)
http://www.hlcomic.com/index.php?date=2005-06-22 [hlcomic.com]
(sorry, my html is awful here...)
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:2)
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:2)
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:2)
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:2, Funny)
So right! (Score:4, Insightful)
It doesn't matter that the HL2 takes place in a future society where teleportation devices are becoming reality, self guided robots follow you around in order to either take your picture or slice you into ribbons, and we see a variety of directed energy weapons including a "gravity gun" (not to mention personal force fields!). Why? Because apparently, in this reality, nobody can figure out how to build a fucking flashlight with as much candlepower and battery life as the headlamp I bought at EMS in real life for about thirty bucks.
Game designers, get the hint. Limiting the battery life of the flashlight is stupid.
Re:So right! (Score:2)
The only reason flashlights are a staple is because whiny gamers want the 'easy' way, for the most part.
I love how HL handles this, lighting is a HUGE gameplay element. Sure, they COULD give you a permanent high discharge spotlight, but where's the CHALLENGE and FUN in that?
Maybe this would be a good standard cheat for you pussies that just can't help the ole ~
Re:So right! (Score:2)
Perhaps a better question would be, how fragile is the game balance if it can be upset by w flashlight battery which will hold a charge for longer than one minute of continuous use?
I mean, I'm willing to accept that an enemy soldier in HL2 can take five rounds from a submachine gun dir
Re:Where's the damn flashlight... (Score:2)
Far too slippery (Score:4, Insightful)
It's also pretty buggy, with the game actually stopping at one point because the AI had "forgotten" to blow a wall that I needed to pass - thankfully there was a workaround, but I suspect that the short turnaround planned for this series will result in more bugs that usual.
That said, aside from the length (under 4 hours playtime) it was an enjoyable FPS - although I did find myself getting by almost entirely with my pistol until the ammo started to become scarce in the later levels. One headshot will happily take out 90% of the enemies you face.
Re:Far too slippery (Score:2, Informative)
I have to say that I didn't notice this at all. I've jumped across the gaps no problem and never had to use the 'walk' key.
That sai
I bought it.. Not worth it.. (Score:2, Informative)
As for the game, it felt like a poor-man's half-life 2, and I can't think of anything remarkable about it.
I definitely won't be buying any future episodes.
plots in FPS (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:plots in FPS (Score:2)
Re:plots in FPS (Score:2)
Don't forget the Marathon series, perhaps one of the best FPS stories ever. And Bungie's previous game, Pathways Into Darkness.
Re:plots in FPS (Score:2)
This sounds a little fishy to me (Score:3, Interesting)
Attention Moderators (Score:2)
What makes this paragraph-less rant "Interesting?"
Not only is it pretty much utterly off-topic, but we've all seen it before here on Slashdot about a billion times. Yes, a lot of Slashdot Games posters have tons of nostalgia for 2D games, we get it already. Stop posting it.
Re:This sounds a little fishy to me (Score:2)
Look, Contra and Lifeforce were both totally rad, using the parlance of the times, when they came out. Both are pretty lame games. They are very much games that you just memorize and play through. The only reason you think they're cool now is the nostalgia factor. I mean, I played the living SHIT out of both of 'em and enjoyed them tremendously, but the fact is that the game mechanic is too simplistic to hold my attention today.
If you had gone for Ninja Gaiden, I might have bought it, although it's pret
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:4, Informative)
However, a few points to make:
- You have to have an Internet connection all of once. If you only play SiN:Ep then you never have to have Steam online again. Like HL2, it can be played offline. Actually until the multiplayer addon is released, it's offline-only. It's not like CSS where Valve can reserve the right to ban you for cheating.
- The main logic of having it done through Steam is to unify future updates. This way when they release new contents or patches, they do it through Steam and everyone gets it, no matter how they bought it. Ask anyone whose Direct2Drive copy of Oblivion is impossible to update how much this notion is convenient.
Their use of Steam is less devious than you give them credit for. I think you may be confusing software licensing and episodic content.
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
NO one is forcing you to do ANYTHING against your will. Who put the damned gun to your head and asked for any info at all?
Don't like it? Then tell them to fuck off by NOT PARTICIPATING.
Want to have your cake and eat it too? Too fucking bad.
However, if the game interests you, and you're not a paranoid FUD spewing attention seeking tool, then please, shut it and go play the game.
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
You know, I shouldn't feed trolls like you, but maybe you're not a troll, and you're just a fucking idiot. As a consumer I reserve the right to complain and spread the word in an effort to influence others to not purchase it because I do not approve of the business model. You, of course, have the right to attempt to be a total asshat, which you are exercising, but you can not and will not shut me up.
I was explaining why I would absolutely not pay for this game. It is a feeling shared by thousands of oth
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
But you don't, which is your right. However, it's my right to call you on that. Interesting how it works both ways isn't it?
How many names did you call me there? And yet you label me a troll? Righto, carry on then dickweed.
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Offline mode works fine, and the reason some people don't get it to work is because they turned off Offline Mode or one of the features associated with it (you may want to do this if you have a shared computer and don't want to share your account information with other people). If you don't do that, and leave it the way it is when you get it, offline mode works fine.
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Oh, wait, that wasn't me. That was the other guy that didn't listen to you. No? Didn't happen to him either?
That's right! I downloaded it effortlessly, patched it effortless
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2, Informative)
To be fair to the manufacturers, the Steam method is an "interesting" business method. It's a
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
I think the idea goes like this
I go buy an Xbox. I open it up and take it apart. I take the DVD-ROM drive out of it. I put the DVD-ROM drive in another computer. I sell that computer. Have I done anything wrong? Unless MS has some whack-ass EULA, no. Since I own the Xbox, I can take it apart, take a component from it, put it in something I made, and sell that. Microsoft may be scratching their heads as to
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Shrink-wrap EULAs have not been shown to hold up in court. Unless someone has a document sig
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
In the U.S., at least, shrink-wrap EULA's have been tested, and are largely enforceable. See, for example, http://www.fenwick.com/docstore/Publications/Litig ation/Litigation_Alert_04-21-06.pdf [fenwick.com]
"Either way, you're wrong. We have rights guaranteed to us by law that cannot be superseded by any EULA, especially one which I haven't signed."
There are all kinds of rights "guaranteed by law" that can be "superseded" by contract. Unless a contract would b
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Re:EULA nastiness (Score:2)
Delicious AI Pie (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Delicious AI Pie (Score:2)
It's still a plain old FPS like any other where your aim as as perfect as lining up the mouse dot, even while running flat out, since your gait is about as even as a hovercraft and you never ever slip or stumble. Yippee, it's Hogans Alley except you move a little more.
Re:Delicious AI Pie (Score:2)
But you know that, you just like listening to the sound of your own voice don't you?
Re:Delicious AI Pie (Score:2)
Aww you're so cute. Yes I do. So do you, apparently.
Re:Delicious AI Pie (Score:2)
Unfortunately, look at the flak that Oblivion is getting for just that. For me, it's one of the single best features of the game, and not once have I heard a cohesive reasonable argument against it, but yet a staggering number of people can't stand it. One of the hottest mods for Oblivion does nothing more than completely remove that feature from the game.
Even better, in a linear FPS, the a
Re:Delicious AI Pie (Score:2)
I have to agree. Up until now, when I played an RPG, random battles would go up or down in difficulty and loot / experience as a function of geography. If you went through previous areas, it was largely boring, beause the enimes were predictably easy.
In Obli
It was odd to hear Cortana swearing (Score:2)
8/10 (Score:5, Interesting)
I wanted to post some screenshots (see last paragraph), but instead I'll write a few sentences about the game to make this post at least somewhat useful.
Boobies! Here's the attractive woman [imageshack.us] from the first scene. They have realistic shake physics, that's probably what Zonk meant by "fun with physics". There are some other fun aspects, like the warning signs which say "When all else fails, use crate" or com-stations (basically phone booths) where you can dial a number you see on ads.
Shooting stuff is, I'd say, quite satisfying, although there are only 3 weapons. A very accurate and powerful piston, a shotgun, and an assault rifle. They all have alternative fire which you often have to use to kill off tougher enemies. The ones at the beginning go down with a headshot, or a shotgun blast from a close distance will send body parts flying, so that's always fun to watch. Some heavily armored fuckers at the end require a good portion of the AR mag.
To the whole episodic concept, well I didn't find it too unreasonable. Not unlike HL2, it leaves the story hanging, but it's not much (if at all) shorter than Max Payne. Considering it's not full price, that's not very bad, although of course cheaper would be even better.
I have a screenshot gallery with over 60 shots in it, but I decided not to post it here for two reasons: 1) I host it on my DSL line 2) I wrote the gallery perl script myself, so it's probably quite dangerous. I'll try to get a static version online, though.
Multiplayer. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Multiplayer. (Score:2)
That would be pretty cool actually. The original sin, and the expansion pack were a great deal of fun if you played multiplayer. There was a good varity of guns that made for some unique gameplay. I still haven't found any other fps with something as cool as the original SiN's spider mines for laying traps that other players could fall into.
So far as I can tell, all multiplayer FPS mods are merely visual themes ontop of the engine with t
Sin-tillating (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Sin-tillating (Score:2)
As has already been mentioned, the whole "album" is available via iTunes.
Re:Sin-tillating (Score:2)
Am I the only one who thinks that "The Comedy Breasts" would be a great name for a band?
Secrets (Score:2)
Personally (Score:2)
Re:Personally (Score:2)
Trust me, companies aren't doing this for the consumer, they're doing it to make more money without you noticing as easily.
I think you misunderstood about the $5. If I am to buy a finished game, I will gladly pay $50 even if it falls shy of 50 hours of gamep
My Impressions (Score:3, Informative)
Big PASS from me!
Re:For 20 bucks (Score:4, Insightful)
My point is that yes, you can find other ways to spend your time for more or less money. But it isn't the same experience you'll get playing this. The real question is whether or not this game is worth the money, not what else you could do with that money.
I agree with the reviewer that at 20 bucks, it's probably slightly overpriced. If it were a little longer or a little cheaper, it'd be a great deal. But, having played the entire game, if I could get in a time machine and go back and advise myself on whether or not to buy the game, I'd tell myself to go ahead. I'd probably grumble about it, but I'd give it a nod.
Re:For 20 bucks (Score:2)
Then again, the last liesure suit larry was just as long, and probably cost twice as much at release. That was a real rip for those foolish enough to have paid for it.
I guess for those of us who are hesitant to pay $4/hour for a game can always wait til they relase the "SiN episodes 1-5 megapack" for $30 in a year.
Re:For 20 bucks (Score:2)
What the heck?
Re:For 20 bucks (Score:2)
Your counter-examples of cheaper games aren't even in the same genre or platform!
Ladies and Gentleman.... (Score:2)
Re:WoW is genre-defining? (Score:2)
Re:But in comparison... (Score:2)
I'm not really much of a gamer these days, but Half Life 2 was absolutely brilliant in my eyes. I think I've played it through about 10 times now, and still enjoy going for a bit of a rampa
Re:But in comparison... (Score:2)
I agree, the price is key. I will probably pre-order the first episode of theHalf-Life 2 episodes and pay $17.95 (though I'd rather pay $15), but I can't really justify $20 for such a short game. Sure, I've spent way more than $20 for 5-7 hours of entertainment before (theme parks, sp
Pre-Ordering HL2: Ep1 (Score:2)
Better hurry. The game comes out tomorrow. I expect that the pre-order download traffic is pretty high right now.
I wonder what time zone they're releasing it from? If it's the one I'm in (EDT), then I could be in for a late night tonight.
Re:Pre-Ordering HL2: Ep1 (Score:2)
Re:Pre-Ordering HL2: Ep1 (Score:2)
Re:But in comparison... (Score:2)
Still good value for money. A lot cheaper than Tomb Raider: Legends for the 360 which doesn't last much longer and not and a complete rip off at any price like Horse Armour for Oblivion.
Re:Gameplay time & price way too unproportiona (Score:2)
Re:light on plot? (Score:2)
Re:light on plot? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:light on plot? (Score:2)
I'll be playing HL2, Ep 1 instead (Score:2)
Episode One comes out tomorrow (6/1), but if you pre-load it today it's 10% off.