SiN

"A really long rant in defense of Sin"

It is a law of physics that any game that rushed to release must therefore suck. Many games have been victims of developers trying to meet deadlines and appease gamers whining about the latest delays. Even great games like Quake 2, which ID Software said would be released ''When It's Done'' was released before it was a solid product. So gamers are forced to wait and download a bunch of 10 MB+ patches to get the game running like it SHOULD'VE RUN the first time.

Such is the case with Sin. Apparently Ritual was pressured by the impending release of some title called ''Half Life''. Hm, wonder what happened to that game? Anyway, I remember full well when the demo came out. Heck, I even downloaded the demo. And just like everyone else I was impressed. The stunning graphics, gameplay and cinematic stylings were enough to make any gamer drool. Ritual even promised revolutionary features - like action based outcomes that make the game different every time you play it. Needless to say, I was on the game's bandwagon just like everybody else. Yet the Sunday release day, dubbed ''Sinday'' came and went. Cheapskate I was, I didn't buy a copy. Neither did a lot of people. Mixed (but mostly negative) reviews and little positive word of mouth took Sin off the shelves way faster than its ancestor Quake 2. The chief complaint? The bugs, which made the game virtually unplayable.

Of course, most game problems were remedied when Ritual released a huge 19 MB patch, which upgrade the game to version 1.01. Subsequent patches added CTF and GameSpy support, as well bug fixes for most of the game's problems. Now, years later, the version I bought from the bargain rack is fully playable. And I must say, it's really too bad that people passed up on this game.

Sin casts you as John R. Blade, former vigilante and founder of the elite police unit ''Hardcorps'' in the year 2037. With his buddy, computer hacker JC maintaining constand communications with him, Blade must wage war against the popular drug U4 and find out its connection to the chemical conglomerate SinTek.

GRAPHICS: If you looked at Sin without knowing which engine it ran on, chances are you wouldn't know it was based on the Quake 2 engine. The engine has been heavily modified -- various elements have been added like external views, closed circuit TV monitors (aka Duke 3D) and high quality player/enemy models. Everything is beautifully rendered in colorly, anime-style graphics, including skyscrapers, construction equipment and hostages. The animation is nothing to write home about, but it's way better than anything in Quake 2. The weapon models have an uncanny sense of detail to them. Even with all the fancy dynamic lighting and particles turned off, it's still quite a visual experience.

SOUND: Sound is a mixed bag. The background sounds tend to drown out the music, which is nicely scored but nothing out of the ordinary. Music is more ambient than anything; each level has several tunes, one for walking around and one when you're in battle. Weapon sounds are EXTREMELY weak; one of the game's biggest down points. Still, this can be remedied by downloading some replacement sound paks from SinPost. The sometimes funny chatter between JC and Blade is a welcome feature.

GAMEPLAY: Where Sin differs from other first person shooters is its gameplay. Each level requires you to execute certain objectives There are also secondary objectives which are optional to perform, but may help your mission some. If you're the kind of person who likes to leave no stone unturned in a game, Sin will have huge replay value to you. While most of the missions do involve some pretty crazy gun battles, there's a bunch of covert and underwater missions to break the monotony. None of the puzzles are especially hard, but you'll need a good while to get through the game's many levels.

Environments are extremely interactive; drawers can be opened, closet doors can be opened, switches toggled and computers can be used. Blade's arsenal is pretty cool. He starts out with a magnum, but upgrades to an assault rifle, shotgun, energy cannon, grenades, rocket launcher, chaingun/grenade launcher and the infamous quantum destabilizer. The multifaceted gameplay sets the game apart from other shooters. Noticeably missing are some of the much-lauded ''action-based outcomes''; performing or not performing mission objectives does little more than result in a restart of the mission; it's possibly another casualty of a rushed release.

MULTIPLAYER: Despite the game's single player problems, multiplayer has always been stable. I played games with little lag with the demo version, although I have yet to log time with the full version. The addition of CTF with a patch is welcome; although I don't play it. Some of the DM maps are really great, there's one bizzarre one that has you defying every single law of physics by walking on walls and ceilings.

STABILITY: Playing the post-patches versions of Sin, the game seems pretty stable. While the sound is STILL buggy on my sound card (a byproduct from the Quake 2 engine), the problems, including music stopping and that annoying sound loop while saving the game are tolerable. The game is still terribly slow though. I mean, my Voodoo 1 is low-tech, but Unreal, a much more graphically advanced game, runs faster than Sin. Even with all the effects turned off, slowdown is evident.

BOTTOM LINE: Though Sin isn't the game everyone was excited about after playing the demo, it's not half as bad as it reviewers found it to be. The patches make for a very playable and competent shooter. And while it's supposedly not on par with the game it tried to beat to release, Half-Life (which by the way, I have NEVER played, thank you very much), it's definitely worth a go.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/18/01, Updated 02/18/01