SiN

The Good
id Software released Quake II a year after the original game, and turned out to be highly successful. So it wasn't surprising that other companies wanted to capitalize on its success. Activision was one of them, but did it produce a very good first-person shooter that could compete with Quake II Well, yes and no. This is SiN a first-person shooter that is set in the future where the police are useless, leaving private security companies to tackle crime. You play John Blade, a member of the Hardcorps.

Blade starts out in a chopper, dealing with thugs on the roof with the mounted gun while avoiding their projectiles. I found this first mission difficult, since the projectiles come at you at all directions. I was glad when I finally got onto the ground and started the second mission. From the second mission onwards, the game behaves like a normal first-person shooter where you can explore the surroundings and shoot as many enemies that get in your way.

Before you tackle the main game, you can go to Headquarters where there are plenty of skills you can practice. The great thing about HQ is that when you enable certain ones through a computer terminal, you can also pick any weapon you want to use, most of them are found in the actual game. During most of the training missions, your score is recorded and the top three scores (by difficulty) is posted on a LED board outside. You can top your previous score if you want, or just proceed to different training missions.

Like Duke Nukem 3D before it, you can interact with the environment. As well as accessing computer terminals, you can shoot everything you see and look at security monitors. There are also multiple routes you can take throughout some levels, meaning they deserve to be played more than once. These routes will depend on how the game play out. In the Biometric Labs, for instance, not letting a scientist bring up a map of the South Pacific means that you will be unable to get to the Missile Silo.

You will deal with various enemies in the game, and each have their own weapons they use to kill you, be it shotguns, rocket launchers, or grenades. AI is excellent, with them coming after you when you fire a weapon in their vicinity. I like the way you have the SinTek guards sounding the alarm the moment they see Blade, so you have to kill them before they do. If you don't, then this will change how the game is played.

The subtitles in the game look quote good, with white dialogue on a black background, which is surrounded by a blue border. To its left is a portrait of who is speaking, even when the character is visible on screen. Speaking of the dialogue, the script is well written, and there are a lot of humorous conversations between Blade and JC. The “blue theme” of the heads-up display looks excellent.

SiN introduced some features to the FPS genre, and one of them was locational damage. Shoot someone in the leg and they will be knocked back. Shoot them in the face and they get their heads blown off. You can also shoot the weapon off the enemy's hand, though this is really difficult to do. There are also some vehicles that you have to drive in the game.

From time to time, there are cut-scenes, mostly involving Elexis Sinclaire and her troops. All of the cut-scenes in the game are well scripted. They also add depth to the story and link the levels together.

The music in the game is excellent, and so are the sound effects. I really like how the music in the level changes as you are fighting a swarm of enemies at once. This “battle music” really reflects the intensity of the situations. As for the sound effects, the only ones I like are the screams of enemies as you kill them.

The Bad
In the same year SiN was released there was also a killer app called Half-Life, and the developers wanted to get their game out before Valve's. People who brought this game at the time of release will encounter a multitude of bugs, with the major one concerning the first boss who couldn't move at all. Although plenty of patches were released that fix bug after bug, but the damage was done and SiN wasn't as popular as it should have been.

The Bottom Line
SiN is an excellent first-person shooter with a captivating story and a great experience throughout. It also has great game mechanics and excellent sound. Unfortunately, it came out with some severe bugs that made the whole thing unplayable. Judging by its sales, I am surprised that only one expansion pack was released for the game. If you do decide to play the game, make sure you read the excellent backstory to the game first.