After many years without hearing about the SiN franchise, the first episode of his theoretical second part comes to the market almost by surprise. We got into the skin of Colonel John Blade in search of new adventures ...
A very important memory exercise is necessary so that the name of SiN does not seem new to our ears. It is necessary to go back to 1998 to find the origins of the game and, although it was a title that responded moderately to the quality standards of the time, it had the bad luck to be contemporary to the one considered by many to be a masterpiece of videogames and that it came almost almost without making a sound: Half-Life.
While the original title of Valve tried to introduce an argument in a genre where the kill-kill was the bread of every day, SiN responded precisely to what was expected of him: action without commitment, shoot and then ask, eliminate everything that appeared on the screen. Despite the passage of time, and curiously simultaneously with the release of the first expansion of Half-Life 2, the philosophy of the now saga seems to have changed little.
There are some peculiarities that resemble Valve's new title: they use the same game engine, use the same distribution system (via Steam), use the same physics and, of course, both are action titles in the first person. But that's where the similarities end, and that's a clear sign that giving the same tools to two different development teams, the final result can be significantly different.
SiN Episodes: Emergence is a technically remarkable title, because not in vain it uses a good part of a technology that is not its own, but nevertheless it misses a lot of originality and shows a great lack of inspiration that in the long term affects the playable experience of the product. Emergence is correctly done, but it has absolutely nothing that makes it stand out from its competitors and that, in the end and in a market like the current one, is its biggest weakness.
Emergence is the first of the chapters that, in the style of what Valve is doing with Half-Life 2, will go on the market with predictable regularity; they try to provide a shorter but at the same time intense gaming experience, offering a product of shorter duration but at the same time also of a reduced price. As an extra, when downloading the game the first of the SiN deliveries is offered for those nostalgic players who want to enjoy an 'old' FPS or for the curious who wish to check the evolution of the saga.
Although the plot is not his forte, we interpret the role of tough guy John Blade; The action begins when we wake up on a stretcher while a Dr. Sinclair and with very convincing arguments just injected us with a dose of a drug that will cause very harmful effects in our body. Jessica comes to the rescue to get us out of the quagmire and from here begin our adventures to eliminate the right hand of Sinclaire and escape safe and sound.
Probably where the game stands out most is precisely in its technical section. Everything said about the Half-Life 2 engine can be applied to Emergence, although the latter does not provide the same freshness as when we enjoyed the Valve game. That does not necessarily mean anything bad, that is, almost better something good but unoriginal than something very new and that instead is a disaster. But the reality is that a good part of the kudos for the good performance of the engine can not be attributed to Ritual Entertainment.
The game is focused from the perspective of first person action and, as such, we will always see the game from the eyes of Blade. Our character will not appear at any time, not even in a cinematic or in some reflection. In fact, when we are up in a car we can turn our eyes until we are looking at our own seat and realize that we are not really there, as if we were invisible.
We have played Emergence from two different computers and with 1 GB of RAM and an X700 you can activate most of the options. The catches are taken at 1280 x 800 (16:10) and they already show a good part of the visual benefits of SiN; There is a generous level of detail in both the characters and the environments, with a remarkable quality and definition of most textures. The animations of enemies and our eventual partner of fatigue are equally convincing.
SiN is especially stable in a matter of frames per second, without having noticed any downtime or when larger enemies appear on the screen. That has its merit because on numerous occasions we will be fighting against 3 or more adversaries, with explosions and fire everywhere and the occasional particle effect that is worth noting. The physics is also quite convincing, so that as in Half-Life 2 we can raise and throw objects 'manually', activate taps and in general interact slightly with the stage.
The deaths of the rival soldiers leave a dent in the environment in the form of splashes of blood, members separated from their original body or pieces scorched on the ground. The panoramas we enjoyed during some outdoor phases are also worth mentioning and we have attached some screenshots for your verification. Graphically speaking, both static and moving, SiN complies more than competently.
The game comes dressed with a soundtrack more than acceptable, in our version with English voices and subtitles in Spanish, with good effects for weapons, explosions, steps, forced breathing, computerized noises of all kinds, warnings from enemies ?? and of course all the part of spoken dialogue through which we are occasionally tried to enter the argument. Again, above average.
It is probably here that SiN Episodes: Emergence is not up to its technical level and what makes it happen to be a good game instead of a very good title. Basically the problem is that after playing the main campaign (the game does not incorporate multiplayer), which can be finished quickly, the feeling that leaves us is frankly indifferent. Nor did we have that tingling that usually occurs at the end of a great title, mixed with some regret, nor are we too happy for having to stop playing it. Without pain or glory.
One of the reasons is that it never comes up with a convincing argument that pushes us to move forward. At the beginning we have some explanation why we are seeing what we see before our eyes but soon that is forgotten in order to deliberately go from A to B presenting an increasing number of enemies that cost more to kill and that take away more number of life points.
The level of difficulty that comes by default is also ridiculously low, although the game tries to compensate in some way by adjusting the amount of damage and healing that we receive, as well as the available ammunition. We had to adjust the bar to something more than half so it would not be a walk to progress between zones. After the first part of the game, however, the jump of difficulty is absurd and in addition to a way that seems strange to us. We'll see later.
To eliminate our enemies there are three weapons available throughout the game. The first consists of a classic-style pistol that fires a kind of blue bullets as an alternative shot that has the power to momentarily paralyze the mutants. The almighty ESCOPETA is undoubtedly the best weapon at close range and as usual is our favorite and probably the best in the game, with a secondary shot that launches a generous dose of blue balls capable of killing any enemy with a single touch.
However SiN rewards that during the last third of the game we use the assault rifle, which comes equipped with a telescopic sight of not too much range but that provides us with a precision that on the other hand would be impossible through its conventional use. In fact when using it you have to compensate with the mouse down to counteract the effect of the weapon. Shoot some impact grenades that blend well with the incendiary bombs that we can use with the 'G' key by default.
The design of the maps is quite varied but at the same time relatively seen in other titles, with the classic designs of interiors of offices, laboratories and others but with exteriors worthy of mention. It is a game in which there are many corridors, many openings in which to hide, a lot of area to go and to turn around fleeing from adversaries. And we assure you that finding the right coverage is, in SiN, the most important part of the game.
Another feature that takes variety away from the title is the low number of existing enemies; basically we can be fighting against some pseudo-aliens of greater or lesser size, a soldier 'satin' that will appear very often during the 6 hours of play and which we kill hundreds of times, a kind of enemy in jet-pack and finally , especially during the last third, an artilleryman with chaingun and very hard armor to peel. Also coincides, this phase, in the area that there are fewer areas of health supplies or are more separated.
SiN's way of increasing the difficulty is putting more and more enemies of the latter type on the screen, which only allow us a second of vision before starting to shoot; the correct use of the incendiary grenades, the gas bottles that are scattered around the stage and 20 shots of our rifle in telescopic sight finish efficiently with them. However, the best weapon to end all of which we will have is the F6 key.
Rapid saves not only prevent us from having to replay long areas of the stage (the distance between automatic save points is quite extensive) but there is also the possibility that if we are continually killed by two elite soldiers who create complications, reload the game these no longer appear, but instead leave two normal troops that we will eliminate without haste. This is absolutely random and can turn some areas of the game into very hard points to overcome or on walks in the park.
During part of the development we will be accompanied by Jessica who will help us in some important encerronas that the game poses, although the battles with the bosses will have to face alone. There are some vibrant moments, like the confinement in the elevators or a first combat against an alien - gorilla, but there are too many points in which one wonders why we are moving forward killing enemies.
Compared to Half-Life 2, the game loses in every way. At the level of argument, at the technical level, at the design level, at the level of variety ?? Compared to the recent expansion of Half-Life 2, of similar duration and price, SiN is much more direct and less complicated; there are no puzzles, it is always to kill the same enemies and go from A to B, trying to receive as little damage as possible.
SiN Episodes: Emergence (PC) Emergence is a correct game, without too many pretensions, in which it is clear that a high technical level does not guarantee a high quality title. Being honest the value for money is not too unfair, but the truth is that there are many games in the market with more balance, they are more original, with more variety of all kinds, more interesting argumentatively speaking and, above all, more fun. Recommended for those who want to own all the titles of the genre. - Its technical aspect- The exteriors- Direct playability
