SiN Episodes: Emergence (Mod for HL2 via Steam)

[Hatalles]

Anyone else keeping an eye on this... er, episode?

The title is an episodic game that serves as the sequel to SiN, an FPS which was released around the same time as Half-Life, I believe, to mixed reviews... apparently, sales weren't great but they weren't lackluster either -- this was primarily due to the competition (Half-Life).

The futuristic world was created by the Texas-based developer for the first game, which cast you as Colonel John Blade, owner of the private security force named HARDCORPS, which clashed with brilliant but malevolent biochemist Elexis Sinclaire. The game featured a unique spin on the first-person-shooter genre by offering a high level of interactivity with the environment, satisfying gunplay, over-the-top animation and strong multiplayer. SiN Episodes will revisit the world roughly five years after the end of the first SiN and will send you on a new adventure that will be broken up into nine episodes, which will amount to approximately four to six hours of gameplay. The first of these, SiN Episodes: Emergence, will be released in the first three months of this year. We had a look at the promising first game, which is set to be distributed via Valve's Steam delivery service and retail for less than $20.

I do remember the ads for the original game in PC Gamer, PC Games, etc. The trailer for SiN Episodes was recently released... you can find it on the Gamespot site... it looks pretty damn good. I've read that they've attempted to stay true to the original game (though I've never played it)... and have stressed some of the little touches that made the original stand out (I thought the HL games were interactive for FPS, but apparently, SiN takes it to another level), and there are plans to include DRIVING in one of the future episodes (seems like you're only on the passenger side in the first episode).

Just thought I'd mention this since I was bemoaning over the lack of FPS with a good storyline and engaging characters, etc. etc. Who knows? Maybe this'll be it. I like the idea of an episodic game (as long as it doesn't get to pricey, that is!) and I've grown comfortable with Steam, so this should be fun...

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/sinepisodes1/index.html?q=sin%20episodes

A couple screens:

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

1. I've been somewhat interested in this one.

Then again, I've been interested in any game that's being developed with the Source engine.
Funny thing is, Ritual apparently struck a deal with Nvidia "The Way It's Meant to be Played" to sponsor Sin Episodes.
The Source engine was designed for the ATI Radeon cards. Oops.

I'm probably the only person who looked at the redhead in the second picture above, (I think her name is Jessica Cannon,) and rolled my eyes
thinking "ooh...look! Another super-hot woman in completely impractical, skin-tight clothing who can handle guns for fanboys to drool
over!"

[YOY]

2. You forget the first one...

The original Sin actually created quite a stir for the main Villianess Alexis Sinclair masturbating in a hot-tub. Back in the day it was pretty funny...but some peopel took it to the next level of perversion.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

3. I remember the "controversy" that scene caused...

...of course, the game didn't exactly do very well, and the scene was mostly forgotten.

But still, every one of these damn games seems to have super-hot idealisticlly-shaped (for a gaming nerd) woman in clothing that's too skimpy
for them, wielding huge weapons that would bring Rambo to his knees. I know these developers "know their audience": pre-pubescent
boys who drool over their dad's Playboy magazines, but hell, I think I'm just getting fuckin' tired of it.

At least Alyx Vance from Half-Life 2 was somewhat moderately dressed, and seemed more like a real character (someone who's *gasp intellegent!), than this redheaded woman
with the visible underwear and the huge guns in her car in the screenshot above.

I think I'm just getting tired of being insulted by my games anymore.

[YOY]

4. Then again don't jump to conclusions about the gamers who play them...

I remember going to buy one of the Tomb Raider games and the snarky girl at EB gave me some line about buying it because Laura Croft is a babe.

Sorry hun, I bought it cause it had good reviews and was really fun. As for pixcelated babes, maybe that works for some guys, but I rather like the real thing (and Mrs. YOY can testify to that!)

I agree that most games portray women in this tired fashion. They also portray men in an equally ridiculous (albeit non-sexual) fashion.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

5. I agree with you about Tomb Raider

I bought Tomb Raider becuase it sooooo reminded me of one of my favorite games of all time: Prince of Persia.
Not becuase of Lara Croft. (Although I'm a sucker for women with British accents like hers.)

But the advertising that goes on for these games, the "Gaming Girl Fashion Shows" that G4 has, the "Girlz of Gaming" magazines
that pop up all over the place...the gaming companies just pander to their potential audience.

I can't help but jump to conclusions based on the following: when I saw the first advertisement for Dead or Alive 3, with a bunch of teenage boys
sitting around, discussing their favorite character, and they all settled on "she kicks high", complete with a still image
of said character kicking so high their outfit reveals just a tad too much for primetime tv?
Or when G4 decided to have a "faceoff" show where guests would vote on the "hottest game babe" of the week?
Complete with such stellar intellecutals like Carmen Electra.

I think we're the exception for the gaming audience. We may prefer real games that are fun, but there's a lot of people out there who love these
games because "the girls are hot".

[YOY]

6. Beyond me man...absolutely

Hey, I loved Prince of Persia too! I'm glad they have been bringing it back around with several platformers. It's nice to see it alive and well.

I find most of the immaturty coming from the Platform market. I own a PS2 myself and find that they really do use the 'sex sells' angle a bit too much. However, that is the market they cater to" Adolescent and 20 something males. There is some on the PC market too, but PC gamers seem to be a dying breed hunkering over a smaller and smaller creative pool of releases. Sad really.

On the aspect of 'hot chicks in games' I really have to wonder about games like No One Lives Forever 1 and 2. They both have an attractive female as the main character, but the game is so much more than that! The humor and gameplay is really what won me over! I wonder if it is the same for others?

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

7. It's gotta be the consoles.

And I suppose we can blame Tecmo for this. (Mostly tongue-in-cheek) Their Dead or Alive series seemed to be the epitoime of the
"girls in gaming" stuff.

As for Cate Archer...she's intelligent, witty, and a dead aim. But on top of that, the creators of NOLF actually addressed the
issue of our wonderful Ms. Archer being the first female spy in a man's world. I really enjoyed that. Cate Archer seemed like a
real person becuase they created her entire backstory, and the gameplay brought it out. You know that she was called "The Fox" when she was
a cat burglar. And that she was an orphan. And this is because the game developers bothered to write more than just a quick paragraph about her
life and her bloodtype (for some reason, Japanese console games always list the bloodtype.

But it's gotta be the PC games that have the more intelligent women protagonists: Cate Archer. Alyx Vance. Jan Ors (From the Jedi Knight series)
to name a few... And none of them wear super-skimpy clothing. Well, Cate, maybe...but it was the 60's. And NOLF was a spy arody on par with Austin Powers
(or I daresay even greater than AP)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. Agreed.. NOLF is a great game, and Cate Archer a great heroine.

[YOY]

9. Yeah, but C.O.N.T.R.A.C.T Jack...what a dog!

Why the HORRIBLE part 3 with all of the action and none of the humor and fantastic characters?

I don't think there will be an actual N.O.L.F. 3 anytime soon. Sad, but most of the VG producers want simple platforms that they can develop quickly and release even quicker.

[YOY]

10. Actually none of Cate's outfits were incredibly skimpy

and although she did have an attractive figure it was never blatantly sexual at any point...although some jokes were slightly raunchy, they were never over the top...both were better than AP2 but not AP 1 or 3! The line "Who Does Number 2 work for!" is still a surefire potty humor riot in my little immature book.

Console games (with a few blatant exceptions) are mostly a disappointment to me. I own a PS2 and mostly use it to play DVDs although I do own a few tactical games and a couple of really good releases! Most games can be won within 8-12 hours and have a few minute 'easter eggs' that some might consider redeeming qualities. Primarily platform gamers seem to take that as the norm and still go out an purchase the latest releases in mass. The age factor is also significant here.

Keep in mind most PC gamers tend to be older and platform gamers tend to be between the ages of 12 to 27 (sliding one way or the other depending on the system.) PC gamers tend to know video games and know what they like and know what is true crap. Most platform gamers don't know that a Final Fantasy (while it does have redeeming qualities) is NOT a real RPG compared to Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Morrowind, or KOTOR. There is also a deciding lack of good strategy games on platforms: like the Total War Series or most of Sid Meier's games (Firaxis) or even Jagged Alliance (If you even know what I'm talking about.)

Meh, I don't want to get into bashing platform gamers. There are some who are knowledgeable, but most seem to substitute graphics and branding (IT'S MARIO BUKKAKE PARTY!...I GOTTA BUY IT REGARDLESS OF CONTENT! IT HAS MARIO!!!) for true strategy, re-playability, and innovation.

Yes, Japanese games always do list the blood types. Wassupwidat? Is there some odd hentai fetish for knowing a girl's blood-type? Is it something cultural in Japanese society?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

11. Yeah, my wife and I are PC gamers, she used to play consoles, we got

a PS2... I tried to play GTA3, and rented Half Life... controls were so horrible compared to mouse/keyboard that I never have attempted to play a shooter on console again, and will not unless they incorporate a mouse.

We used to have a good time playing Madden on the original PS.

It is sad that a current pattern seems to be: Gifted original development team makes an awesome game on PC's (since they have PCs and can develop for it for free, unlike developing for consoles which probably requires a deal with the platform and considerable infrastructure), game is a big hit on PC's, then development team works on dumbed down sequels to the original great game aimed exclusively at the bigger money console market, with ports to the PC an afterthought, if at all.

Far Cry, one of my favorite shooters ever, fits this profile to a T.

Thing is, I don't blame the developers one bit. If I wrote a game like Far Cry, made money, and could sign an XBOX 360 deal that could net me 10 or 100 times what I could make developing for the PC, I'd do that too. Sad, sad.

[YOY]

12. It's a business and not a small one like it was 10 years ago.

and they know what makes money. Developers can make a great game but producers won't touch it unless there is a specific profit margin.

I mourn Farcry, but hell. It could be worse...take a look at how they RAPED Baldur's Gate and Fallout! These used to be great games, but they made some seriously dumbed down shit for platformers. LucasArts made some AWESOME GAMES before and now it's just Mediocre Star Wars game after Mediocre Star Wars game for platforms mostly. It sells...to hell with innovation.

Then again remember small companies that produce PC games exclusively like Strategy First and JoeWood. I root for the underdog in this scenario every time!

Yes, FPS blow monkey turds on platforms. You can't aim worth spit. Strafing is an afterthought and most FPSs on platforms are decidedly linear.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

13. The sad thing is that even once PC/console platforms converge, some

of the same problems will still exist, because the market for simple minded games will be a lot bigger than for complex ones.

Same reason why a "Con Air" will make more money than a "Syriana" at the movies, LOL.

[YOY]

17. Only a matter of time...

n/t

[Hatalles]

14. LOL. I've been wondering about the whole blood type thing too...

:)

[jayfish]

15. Haaaaa...

:spray:. Mario Bukkake Party. Nice.

Jay

[YOY]

16. I got a million of them...

Unfortunately most come out when I should be trying to be serious...I suppose talking about video games in such a manner is more than the time for it...

[Guy Fawkes]

18. SiN... what an appropriat name..

the waiting times in that game would kill methuselah. See the FIRST Penny Arcade comic, from 1998, about SiN here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/18

[YOY]

19. That's a classic

How the artists have evolved...