 |
|
||||
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
How Metascores Are Calculated
xx
Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games. |
SiN Episodes features the highly anticipated return of Elexis Sinclaire, the world’s most dangerous and seductive biochemist, and the only man who stands in her way, John R. Blade. The sworn enemies face off in Freeport City, a near-future mixture of San Francisco, Tokyo and New York, all set inside the unrestricted SiN universe. SiN Episodes expands on the role of Colonel John R. Blade, a battle worn hero in charge of HardCorps, an elite strike force with a long history of conflict with SinTEK, a powerful multibillion dollar empire headed up by Elexis Sinclaire, a beautiful, brilliant, and ruthless scientist who is out to remake humanity according to her own twisted vision. Joining Blade on his mission are JC, a HardCorps hacker with a secret to keep, and Jessica Cannon, a fiery rookie who can find her way into any secure facility. SiN Episodes: Emergence features never before seen weapons, characters and environments along with a host of interactive options, paying homage to its predecessors, SiN and its expansion pack, Wages of SiN, which set a new bar for interactivity. [Ritual Entertainment]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 90
AtomicGamer
Not many games in this genre are released with a $20 price tag, so some gamers out there might not really know how to deal with a game that is a little light on the content but much lighter on the price.
 88
2404.org
Movement and controls seem so crisp and fluid that it just makes for an extremely enjoyable experience.
85
PC Gamer UK
SiN is actually something of a guilty pleasure. It's over far too quickly and feels rather unsophisticated, but I enjoyed it anyway, a bit like I enjoy...eating hotdog. [June 2006, p.62]
85
GameBiz
Sin Episodes: Emergence is bland and repetitive yet frequently funny and sometimes entertaining game. The game remains start to finish a very standard first-person shooter albeit one with ragdoll physics and shiny explosions.
84
GamingTrend
Sin Episodes: Emergence feels and plays like theater food. It’s a quick rush once you chow down, but as soon as the sugar starts digesting you start noticing things you’ve seen before.
83
Game Over Online
Emergence should serve as a great launching point for Ritual’s experiment. It’s a solid game that knows its audience, and while it is pared down, that’s only as far as needed for a game half the length and cost of an average one.
83
PC Zone UK
While it may not be the most groundbreaking of shooters, Emergence's merits far outweigh its smattering of faults, and with six to ten hours of entertainment to be had, you can't argue that it's not value for money, especially as it also comes bundled with a copy of the original SiN. Eleven quid you say? Bargain.
80
Games Radar (in-house)
Our only real gripe is that the weapon selection is meager; a pistol, a shotgun and a submachine gun fill out your arsenal.
80
Game Chronicles
I wasn’t much a fan of episodic content before this game. I didn’t think they could include enough to warrant a $20 price tag but SiN Episodes: Emergence has gone a long way towards disproving that assumption.
80
Yahoo! Games
While it has its flaws, it's paced well, full of action, and managed to keep us smiling all the way to the end. With a tweak here and a polish there, Ritual could really be onto something good. Bring on part two.
80
IGN
While more than a few games leave me wondering what the developer could have done if they'd had more time and resources, SiN Episodes feels like a complete and polished experience that's been mulled over and considered for quite some time.
80
GamerFeed
There's not much in the way of weapon or enemy variety, and the game is pretty short, but just about every minute of it is action packed. The dynamic difficulty system works very well.
80
Cheat Code Central
SiN Episodes: Emergence is a good looking game. It's got some really nice visuals and a really good sense of depth. The audio is a little sparse but at least we're not forced to sit through boring cutscenes just for the sake of forcing a storyline on us every few minutes.
80
Boomtown
Should you buy it? Only if you’re willing to buy another 8 more somewhere down the line.
80
Computer Games Online RO
Nine episodes times around six months is a really long love relationship (and expensive), but it may very well prove to be the next best thing in mature gaming.
80
AceGamez
SiN Episode 1: Emergence is action packed from start to finish and doesn't relent until the final bullet is fired.
80
Thunderbolt
Fortunately, Sin Episodes: Emergence does a better job at closing the first episode than "Half-Life 2: Episode One."
79
ActionTrip
Downsides do not outweigh the game's good sides, which are plenty: Solid gameplay design, nice voice overs, and a story that though clichéd, is presented in a way that intrigues you enough to keep going.
78
Gaming Nexus
A good first step into the world of episodic content, the game is not perfect but Emergence is a decent way to re-start this franchise and kick off this new type of gameplay.
78
Game Informer
It's not going to win any literature awards, but damned if I can find anything about it that's not fun. [July 2006, p.109]
78
PC Gamer
SiN Episodes: Emergence is a fun, if somewhat derivative, blast from the near past. [Aug 2006, p.33]
78
Games Master UK
Ticks all the boxes without ever once truly capturing the imagination. Cheap, though. [Aug 2006, p.78]
77
Strategy Informer
It has some nice features which make it better than an average FPS, but the things that are missing mean it’s never going to be great.
77
Da Gameboyz
Sin Episodes is a great way to start off the episodic content experiment but, more importantly, it is a great game that is marred only by clipping errors and an invasive copy protection scheme. If Steam or the concept of episodic content does not hinder your enjoyment of a game, I would encourage all FPS fans to look into this.
77
FiringSquad
If Ritual can improve the plotting of future chapters, add more variety to the enemies and weapons and maybe make the game a tad longer per episode (we would have preferred six to eight hours for the price) we could see this becoming a successful new way to present PC games.
75
eToychest
SiN Emergence is a decent game. It's just uninspired, relying too much on the technology upon which it is built, and as such brings little new to the table.
75
GameZone
SiN Episodes: Emergence starts out great, with intense action and awesome physics. Unfortunately, the game grows very repetitive before too long, and will leave many players bored and wanting more diversity.
75
GameShark
Anybody who was a major fan of the original Sin should pick this up unquestionably, as while the lack of the usable computer terminals (another beef of mine) is disappointing, everything else that made the original Sin feel like a cool and unique title for it’s time is still present in Emergence.
73
GameSpot
This is a pretty-looking, short, budget-priced, by-the-numbers futuristic shooter that's most notable for its episodic nature and its old heritage.
72
GamerNode
The first installment to SiN Episodes is really a tossup between wanting to know what happens next or completely quitting right away, because the gameplay is getting too old.
71
Jolt Online Gaming UK
You’d expect the first of a trilogy to be the most novel and at least as good as future instalments, but in this case we’re really hoping for a greater effort for the next outing. It’s worth noting that there’s no multiplayer and little replayability, but a Steam version of the original SiN has been bundled with it as a sort of bribe.
70
Armchair Empire
While the game clocks in at about 5 - 6 hours from start to finish, I don't know anyone masochistic enough to undertake such a challenge.
70
Eurogamer
It's a bland taste to a cultured palette. But it's fun, too, and self-aware.
70
1UP
For the moment, the single-player game is all we can base this review on. In that respect, SiN Episodes only flirts with greatness.
64
PC Format
A bad trip down memory lane - this is the FPS circa 1996 incarnate. [July 2006, p.95]
60
Loaded Inc
A fairly bland and generic first person shooter experience that proves repetitive even in a single episode. It gives little reason to look forward to further installments of the series.
60
GameSpy
Sadly, with ultra-generic gameplay and a muddled story, there's very little in Emergence to hook gamers into future installments.
60
G4 TV
Gamers are now faced with the prospect of realistically committing a generous chunk of change to a series over a period of time if they have any hope of experiencing the “complete story.” In our minds, the quality of SiN: Emergence in no way warrants a 20-dollar price tag.
60
Edge Magazine
Sin Episodes promised us one part of an epic, but we’re in danger of getting a generic formula over several iterations, ageing technologically each time. [July 2006, p.85]
60
Four Fat Chicks
Digital distribution may never replace retail sales, and episodic content may never become the standard for all games, but the future of both is startlingly bright. Sin Episodes is among the first to fling itself into that future. Though common in its gameplay, it is also enjoyable: had it been ten bucks instead of twenty, I'd be raving.
60
VideoGamer
SiN Episodes: Emergence has a number of shortcomings, but its weak storyline is the most noticeable. The success of the series as a whole is riding on this first episode, but other than being a fun shooter, it does nothing to hook the player.
50
Computer Games Magazine
Even with the negatives described here, SiN Episodes 1:Emergence is a hard game to critique because it isn't complete. [Sept. 2006, p.59]
Jason G. gave it a9: Scree gave it a7: Brady S. gave it a6: Oliver D gave it a10: bokfu1 gave it a10: John M. gave it a9: Brent M. gave it a9: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
