SiN Episodes: Emergence Critic Reviews

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.

Movement and controls seem so crisp and fluid that it just makes for an extremely enjoyable experience.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Should you buy it? Only if you’re willing to buy another 8 more somewhere down the line.

Our only real gripe is that the weapon selection is meager; a pistol, a shotgun and a submachine gun fill out your arsenal.

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.

SiN Episode 1: Emergence is action packed from start to finish and doesn't relent until the final bullet is fired.

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.

Fortunately, Sin Episodes: Emergence does a better job at closing the first episode than "Half-Life 2: Episode One."

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.

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.

It's not going to win any literature awards, but damned if I can find anything about it that's not fun.