SiN Gold

A classic FPS from 1998 running on modified Quake II engine that was greatly overshadowed by another FPS game that came out about 2 weeks after it. That shooter, was Half-Life. The plot of SiN is set in 2037 “megacity” where you play as John Blade, a special forces operative trying to stop SinTEK corporation from distributing a drug capable of turning people into mutants. Having played it recently for the first time, I get now why this game is often mentioned as one of the better shooters of the 90’s. Few tips to save you some time: You can change FoV in the console by pressing ~ and typing e.g. “FOV 110”. The game doesn’t clearly tell you that you can loot bodies (press E button), the more damage you deal to an enemy by e.g. destroying their armour the less loot you get from them. Save often, there are no autosaves or checkpoints and sometimes one failed jump will force you to restart entire level if you haven’t saved manually. I haven’t encountered any major glitches or crashes in my ~7h playthrough although I’ve noticed that AI sometimes would simply stop working if you engaged it from a longer distance, which you can unintentionally “cheese” in certain boss fight. A remaster is currently being made by Nightdive Studios called SiN Reloaded, although that game was supposed to come out in 2021 and there’s still no release almost 5 years later. I wouldn’t wait for that version and just buy this one if you’re interested in the game.

This game is an all time classic. Which is why you should buy it now BEFORE Slopgate and Nightdive Delist it, slap ugly A.I. Upscaled textures on it, and sell it back to you for $40.

[i]DISCLAIMER: Before playing, I recommend installing the [b]Dominatrix source port[/b] by Rohit and playing with that instead, since it fixes some bugs and resolution issues on modern hardware. ALSO TO NOTE: the Wages of Sin expansion might NOT WORK for you with Dominatrix!!! For me it keeps crashing on mission 5 and idk how to fix it (I suspect it is because I use the source port), so keep that in mind.[/i] [hr][/hr] Great game, an enjoyable classic! It's impressive what this game pulls off for its time, especially considering it released two months before the first half life, a decision that lead to people completely forgetting about this game, sadly. The level's architecture changes depending on your actions, which also affect what levels you'll be playing, along with maybe some cutscenes, which is quite ahead of it's time. The characters and story are the cheesiest thing I've ever seen, but Blade is actually rather memorable as a protagonist, JC too. And of course Elixis for her...big, generous heart. The guns are punchy, shooting enemies often sends them flying or blows them to pieces (the shotgun is GREAT stuff), so it gets an extra style point from me for this. Good soundtrack, sets the mood well enough. Now, as for the [i]Wages of Sin expansion[/i] made by the 2015 team....I would love to say I also enjoyed that, but the thing refuses to work correctly. It gives me a hard crash on mission 5 when I try to leave the club, and I can't find a way to fix it. What a bummer...I was liking it too. If you loved half-life, try this one out, totally worth it. Shame this franchise didn't get the continuation it deserved. For now, we'll have to wait for the remaster.

As much i love Half-Life, i’ll never forgive it for overshadowing the fawk out of SiN. One of the most underrated, under appreciated shooters from the 1990’s that could’ve and should’ve made waves but ended up making nothing but a lil splash. You’re basically a black rentacop Duke Nukem in a cyberpunk-esque dystopian world where security agencies overtake the role of obsolete police forces in the crime ridden city of Freeport which is slowly being poisoned and mutated by a sexy big bob’d psycho lady (named Elexis SiNclaire, get it?) in charge of an evil biotech pharma/paramiltary corporation who kidnapped her own father and turned him into a giant fugly monster and would like to do the same to every else in the world. And guess what, you’re the only dude competent enough to stop her and her spaghetti loving mobster friend! Like seriously how f’n cool is that? Location based damage, badass soundtrack, gore, boobs, one liners, annoying sidekick, early decision based outcomes, really bad vehicle sections. All so charming. SiN was ahead of its time, too much for it’s own good. I can’t wait for the remaster. Barney Miller is back!

Good grief. It's no wonder Half-Life showed SiN where its asshоle is. I really wanted to enjoy SiN, but there's so much going against it that I think the title of the game might have been a bit too accurate. I started off enjoying it, but now I'm nearing the end of the game, I'm finding it harder and harder to suspend my vitriol. I'll start off light: in 2026, the resolution settings are still borked in such a way that the menu doesn't scale properly at all. The actual game does, thankfully, but... Man. I would rather not have to hex edit the executable for a game I bought in the current decade so that I can read the menu without a scanning electron microscope. Another thing is that, at least on my end, I experienced a degree of input delay that made it feel like I'd joined a Russian lobby, which only compounded the frustration I'd later experience. The level design. Okay. I love the art direction, and I really admire what they were going for stylistically. But as someone who generally looks at overt signposting with a degree of disgust, I have to say that this game changed my perspective. Where you're supposed to go at a given time is made about as clear as a lead panel. Perhaps I'm just oxygen-starved, but I've played a good few games in my time, and rarely have I been so gоddamn confused. It doesn't help that many areas of the game are darker than American history, and you don't have a fսcking flashlight. The snipers in this game are worse than Halo 2's Jackal snipers. WORSE. HOW DID THEY DO IT?! Speaking of snipers, the sniper rifle itself, I wasn't able to equip at any point, despite having picked it up multiple times. I pressed every number key backwards and forwards, I sacrificed a goat, and I sung Orinoco Flow whilst doing a handstand. I was never able to switch to the sniper rifle. Which is great, because it means I was forced to deal with the aimbot snipers armed only with a selection of short-range weapons. Thanks Ritual, very cool! Ladders are worse than Half-Life, too. Which is an achievement that's up there with nuclear fusion. And the ATV steering mechanics... I would rather castrate myself with a rusty potato peeler than drive this fսcking thing ever, EVER again. Its only saving grace is that the game doesn't force you to use it for more than two minutes. And thank god for that. I understand that times were different back when SiN was developed, but it's not like they were hunting mammoths at the time. They could have made the call to cut this dreadful implement. Would've given The Cutting Room Floor something to write about at least. But to be charitable to SiN, I'll reiterate that I very-much favour the stylings of the game - I also think the soundtrack is great, and belongs on a standalone CD in full FLAC quality. I'd buy it. The mutant designs are very "nice" too - asymmetric, grim. SiN Episodes: Emergence could have taken notes here, especially in terms of enemy diversity. Nightdive's remaster is on the way of course, but I would welcome a complete remake, frankly. Few games that get them actually need them, but I feel that this one does stand to benefit from one. Its best ideas are let down by its deepest pitfalls. If the developers had spent less time gooning to the smutty artwork that they've graciously plastered across their game, perhaps this could have been the Half-Life killer. Or not - but it might at the very least have turned out a less frustrating experience.

I read that some people had trouble booting this game up and running it. It ran fine for me. No crashes, serious bugs, or things that prevented me from playing the game. Cheesy 90s FPS Game. Not much more to ask from it. A solid 90s shooter: Simple, cheesy, dumb, straight to the point. A little clunky in contrast to Quake or Duke Nukem. Overshadowed by infinitely better games from the era, but a small time-capsule into what once was. Cool gunplay. The "badass" 90s action protagonist constantly spewing one-liners and making corny jokes. The game isn't too long; I think most people could beat it within 3~6 hours. The Expansion pack "Wages Of SiN" is pretty solid. I think it's actually better than the original game to be honest. My complaint with the game is that it's very dark. I have trouble seeing what's going on in certain parts. The level design in certain areas is somewhat annoying, whereas other times it's intuitive. A mixed bag for me personally. Sometimes to progress through certain levels is confusing, and I had to look online for tips to complete a level. Also, the menu interface is pretty bad too.

This was my very first experience of playing SiN, and it was quite something. I liked the game a lot and definitely saw something I was missing before. It's quite unique among the other games, and you also get the expansion pack too. I'm still interested in what they are going to do with the remaster... maybe they will even get their hands on SiN: Episodes

[h3] Минусы: [/h3] - Ужасное подкачивание камеры, добавим к этому близкий fov, и голова начинает раскалываться. - Плохие ребусы, например, попробуй заметить ключ на столе в видео размазанной плоской текстуры. - На клавишу подбора персонаж вечно бубнит. К тому же озвучка ужасная, если сравнивать с каким-нибудь Калибом из BLOOD, где харизма таки прёт, а его фразочки давно разобраны на цитаты. - Дизайн пушек категорически не нравится. - Локации, ну такое, например, в Half-life, они тоже были серые, но там в каждой главе было разнообразие, плюс всегда было понятно, куда идти, даже с большим развилка, как, например, глава с вагонеткой. - Миссия Стелса, о Господи, не надо, меня еще не отпускают флешбэки стелса возвращение в замок Вольфенштейна. - За пару уровней добавился лишь какой-то мутант. Всё остальное время убиваем каких-то черных оперативников из халвы. [h3] Плюсы: [/h3] Отсутствуют. Ничего не понравилось. [h3] Итог: [/h3] Больновато, неприятно, слишком много раздражителей. Даже первый DOOM было комфортнее проходить в 30 фпс из сборника Doom 3 BFG Edition.

Не передать словами как мне обидно когда такие проекты остаются в тени у более слабого конкурента. При всей моей любви к Valve и Габену, их игры мне не особо нравятся, тем более что первая, что вторая Half Life можно сказать убили гораздо более стоящие проекты, так была с великолепной Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines, так произошло и с известной в достаточно небольшом кругу геймеров Sin. И даже небольшая фора по срокам (а Sin вышла на десять дней раньше первой халфы) не помогла творению разработчиков из студии Ritual Entertainment привлечь к себе внимание, и я честно не понимаю почему. Хотя ладно, отчасти конечно могло сыграть плохое техническое состояние игры на релизе, собственно как и в случае с VtMB. Первой Халфе очень часто любят приписывать звание родоначальника современных шутеров с уже имеющимся каким никаким сюжетом и постановкой, и вот тут хочется ткнуть таких людей носом в Sin. Эта игра вышла раньше, в ней намного больше сюжета, больше ключевых персонажей, есть даже пусть и редкая, но хоть какая то постановка в видеороликах. Главный герой, по имени Джон Блейд является владельцем подобия местной частной полиции, это типичный маскулинный герой боевиков из восьмидесятых - девяностых, он привык решать все проблемы исключительно грубой силой, попутно отпуская едкие словечки в адрес противников, этакая версия Дюка Нюкема на минималках. По радиосвязи с ним постоянно переругивается хакер, он же координатор из их организации Джей Си - достаточно свежее решение по меркам конца 90-х, позволившее заполнить пустоту между перестрелками, подобным ходом в дальнейшем стали пользоваться все подряд. Элексис Синклер - главная антагонистка, гениальный биохимик, желающая изменить ход человеческой эволюции, обладательница двух больших ... хм.. достоинств (кстати, на моей памяти это первая игра с физикой груди), постоянно меняющая наряды один откровеннее другого, в общем все то, что сейчас бы назвали сексуальной объективацией, ну, собственно, все как мы любим. Кончено все что я описал выше звучит достаточно примитивно, однако напоминаю, на дворе был 1998 год и тогда этого уже было достаточно что бы держать первенство в данном пункте. Один из главных плюсов Sin по сравнению с Half Life это разнообразие уровней. Если в Халфе первую половину игры мы исследовали однообразный научный комплекс, далее немного побегали снаружи этой самой лаборатории и в конце попали в мир Зен, то тут буквально каждые два уровня главный герой попадает на новые, совершенно непохожие друг на друга локации, так еще и геймплей на них предлагается разный - на одних предлагается просто рашить, на других опциональный стелс, на третьих есть пусть и редкая возможность управлять техникой по типу бульдозера, в четвертых предлагается в духе ранних иммерсивсимов детально исследовать локацию чтобы найти запрятанный выход. Благодаря выполнению некоторых опциональных заданий есть возможность сделать срезку или даже пропустить отдельные уровни. Ганплей в игре по меркам конца девяностых очень даже бодрый, мощные виды оружия рвут противников на части и звучат при этом достойно, хотя конечно не все образцы вооружения будут по настоящему полезны. Искусственный интеллект противников примитивен, но так было со всеми шутерами тех лет, та же халфа точно не лучше. Очень порадовал мувмент в игре, персонаж ощущается крайне мобильным, а благодаря движку от Quake 2 все так же можно делать фирменную распрыжку. Графически игра выглядит очень даже достойно, но это конечно по меркам конца 90-х, сейчас это уже настоящее пиксельное ретро. Насколько мне известно на релизе игра утопала в багах, но сейчас за прохождение я не встретил ничего критичного. Музыка в игре не могу сказать что получилась запоминающейся, но она разнообразна и неплохо подходит под атмосферу игры. Из явных минусов могу отметить отвратительное и неудобное основное меню, общую неудобность по современным меркам, когда кнопка перезарядки занимает одну клавишу с кнопкой действия и подобные косяки, ну и отсутствие перевода на русский язык, фанатский патч конечно исправляет последний пункт, но лишь частично, ибо перевод там мега кринжовый, особенно фейспалм вызывает то, как называют тут главного героя -"Чемодан", откуда они это взяли - непонятно. Sin это по настоящему прорывная игра для своего времени, и именно ей на мой взгляд должны были достаться лавры ушедшие Half Life. Хотя сейчас уже конечно она уже не способна удивить, но вот любителям ретро шутеров я ее однозначно рекомендую к ознакомлению. Ну и надеюсь что разработчикам из Nightdive Studios, специализирующихся на ремастерах старых игр все таки удастся довести обновленную версию до конца, дабы большая часть геймеров смогли поиграть в Sin с большим комфортом.

[h1] A Blast from the Past [/h1] I vividly remember reading an article about this game when it was still in production back in the late 90's, with the art of the dominatrix villain featured in the cover of the PC gamer magazine, and this art really made an impression in my raging hormones teenager mind. For some reason though, I've never got to actually play this game and totally forgot about it even when I was actively pc gaming at the time. Fast forward to almost 30 years later, 2026, and this game appeared out of nowhere in my Steam feed, with a huge discount. After all these years, as a middle aged man, I could finally check out that game I saw in the magazine as a teenager. What a pleasant surprise this game is. I'm in a retro gaming kick lately, getting to know old games I've never played, and SiN didn't disappoint. I felt transported to 1999 and greatly enjoyed my time with this game. Loved the fast and responsive, if basic, gunplay using the Quake 2 engine, the awesome 90's techno soundtrack, and the lightheartdness of the atmosphere with the Duke Nukem-like enthusiasm of the protagonist and the playful dialogue with the sidekick. Important to mention that the game has puzzles with computer terminals and alternate paths to levels which are really impressive for a FPS at the time, making it feel somewhat unique. I could not stop playing the main campaign and the expansion until the end, it was so fun. During those 20 hours with SiN I could feel myself back in time again when life was more simple, and I feel blessed for that. 8/10