SiN Episodes: Emergence

[The_Pope]

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2006/..._review/1.html

[The_Pope]

Anybody else played it? What did you think? We're also keen to hear your thoughts on episodic content. If SiN goes the full 9 episodes at $20, that's US$180 in total. Then again, even if they are as frequent as 3-monthly (Ritual has said 3-6 months between episodes) it will be 2 years before we see the end of it. One the one hand, that spreads the cost a bit but on the other, that's more suspense than 24!

[Darkedge]

It plays like a mod.
they have reused sound effects and textures even menus from HL2.
The on screen interface is ugly and doesn't fit.
Your player seems to have grease on his shoes as he slides around so precision movement is a nightmare.
It seems unfinished and very unpolished.

It's fun, but nothing special - just a silly storyline and 'cheesecake' for teenagers.

If it was 3-4 times as log £30 would be a ripoff. As it is the next episode must be much better or it won't be getting 11 quid of my money.

[felix the cat]

just a quick thought...you said that you would have needed a socket A or socket 478 system to check the "Recommended Specs", well at least the first part of a 2400mHz processor, but then you use and A64 at 2200mHz...is that to take into account for the fact that it was running a pci-e board, or is there something about the reccomended specs that you didnt print, or just a typo??

[Tim S]

The recommended specs are for a Pentium 4 2.4GHz and/or Athlon XP 2400+. A64 at 2200MHz is a trifle faster than a 2.4GHz Pentium 4.

[Veles]

For a tenner, 5 hours of gameplay is fantastic for the money, seeing as some full £30 games come with not much more. 9 episodes would be 45 hours of gameplay coming in at £90, which is the cost of 2 or 3 games, an for an FPS, is about 3 or 4 games worth. Not too bad I think. (However if you buy this from a UK shop and not off steam the RRP is £20, that would make it a rip off).

I think I might get this one as it's only £11 off steam, if I like it I may buy the rest. I've also heard that there will be multiplayer added in a later episode (possibly the next one), which would be nice if they manage to make it decent (and not an afterthought like in FEAR).

Another positive point for Eposidic games, you can pay a fraction of the price for a full game, get almost a full game compared to some, and if you find you don't like it, you've lost alot less money than you would've for the full game.

[Bindibadgi]

Once it's all released and I can buy it on CD/DVD or whatever Valve do to drop the price then I'll buy it. I'm not shelling out $20 a time for a couple of hours. I don't trust Valve not to jack it in, or cut the dev team if something happens internally (or externally to the game industry) within 2 years.

[Hamish]

Originally Posted by Veles

I think I might get this one as it's only £11 off steam, if I like it I may buy the rest.

me too
tenner is nothing really, hell it often costs more than that to go to the cinema here :\

bindi wtf does it matter if valve jack it in after a couple of episodes? is that not better than them jacking it in after a full length game is only half finished and you getting nothing?

i like the idea of episodic games for single player like sin episodes an the half life episodes but i cant see it working too well for multiplayer tbh
it'll end up being like BF2, 12 different variations that you can only play certain combinations of depending on which ones you bought etc

[bloodcar]

I'm with Bindi on this one. I'll wait til all the episodes are released until I pick it up. I'd really hate to get into the story to find out that the rest won't be released due to poor sales or what not. That'd be like reading a book and really getting into it only for the last half to be blank pages.

[Darkedge]

valve are just distributing it - it is written and developed using Source engine by Ritual entertainment.
Not a question of Valve canning it ever or dumping the dev team.

The main issue from playing i've found is that it's just not presented well enough to be a true commerical title even at 11 quid. I think they spent too much on hiring the porn star for their E3 stand and couldn't afford a decent UI design.

[felix the cat]

Originally Posted by bigz

The recommended specs are for a Pentium 4 2.4GHz and/or Athlon XP 2400+. A64 at 2200MHz is a trifle faster than a 2.4GHz Pentium 4.

ta biggie...whats about reccomended gfx card? dx 9 at least right?

[Tim S]

yes, DirectX9 graphics is recommended.

[Meanmotion]

Originally Posted by bloodcar

I'm with Bindi on this one. I'll wait til all the episodes are released until I pick it up. I'd really hate to get into the story to find out that the rest won't be released due to poor sales or what not. That'd be like reading a book and really getting into it only for the last half to be blank pages.

So you want to wait two years for them to release this as an all-in-one package?! It'll be archaic by then.

Admittedly, there sums don't seem quite right. £11 a time is a bit cheeky, especially as the subsequent episodes will, to a large extent, be more of the same.

Maybe i'll wait til the second episode's released, at least then we'll have more idea how this whole idea is going to pan out.

[bloodcar]

Originally Posted by Meanmotion

So you want to wait two years for them to release this as an all-in-one package?! It'll be archaic by then.

Just because a game is old doesn't mean it's not worth picking up. I still have yet to play Far Cry but when I eventually get around to building a new rig, it'll be one of the first titles I play through. I would rather play an old game with a complete story then play a new game that's only part of a story.

Hell, if I had known before launch that Half-Life 2 ended the way it did, I would have waited for the true ending to come out before I played it. I never even finished playing Half-Life all the way through until a month before HL2 was released.

[Ramble]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who only read at the mention of boobies...

[Hamish]

Originally Posted by Hamish

me too
tenner is nothing really, hell it often costs more than that to go to the cinema here :\

at least i would if steam wasnt so ****ing anal about credit card details :@

[Veles]

Grabbed this game off steam, managed to walk around a bit after the opening scene but then had to catch a train home

My precious game will ahve to wait till sunday it seems

Oh and another thing, I can see why the villain's breasts are bouncy (since they are gigantic) but why does your more average sized team-mate, clad in what looks like biking leathers (which are rather stiff) jiggle at the slightest movement? Kind of the DoA unnescecary bouncin' boobies all over again.

I apologise for my spelling, the keyboard at home (and the puter) is bloody awful. Don't know what the hell my parents did to my old puter.

[specofdust]

Once it's all released and I can buy it on CD/DVD or whatever Valve do to drop the price then I'll buy it. I'm not shelling out $20 a time for a couple of hours.

Same here, it doesn't sound that good, otherwise I might be tempted. But "episodic" content really doesn't seem like great value for money to me, not that full games for £30 generally are either, but full games for £10-20 6 months down the line aren't bad often.

edit: Also is it just the screens, or does it look like the graphics are about 18 months old?

[Da Dego]

Originally Posted by specofdust

edit: Also is it just the screens, or does it look like the graphics are about 18 months old?

Spec, spec, spec...did you not read? It's the HL2 engine, with no HDR. So yes, the graphics are....well, about 18 months old!

[LoneArchon]

the version on steam come with the old game also so for your $20 you get 2 games I load it now so have got to play it yet