Congratulations, soldier: you survived another week. It's Friday afternoon, and instead of going out partying with your friends, you're anxious to get home, sit down at your computer, and play some new games. Sounds fun! Too bad you're broke. Lucky for you, PC gaming has an impressive library of classic games that are available online for cheap. Hang out with us every Friday so we can take you on a guided tour of some of the greatest bargains available throughout the many tubes of the Internet.
Welcome Big Download's Virtual Bargain Bin, the cure for your weekend gaming woes. This week's classics: SiN and SiN Episodes: Emergence.
SiN Episodes: Emergence
Includes: SiN; SiN Episodes: Emergence
Price: $9.99
Availability: Steam
Like your favorite television show that didn't get off the ground after its pilot, SiN Episodes: Emergence was the first and only installment of a planned nine-episode run. Serving as a follow-up to developer Ritual Entertainment's SiN, the SiN Episodes: Emergence pack on Valve's Steam digital distribution service actually includes Ritual's 1998 release. Although no future episodes are planned, ten bucks isn't much to ask for two stellar games that should keep you entertained for around 15 or 20 hours.
Originally released in May 2006, Emergence was taking bold steps as an episodic release when many developers were only considering venturing into such territory. Clocking in at approximately four to six hours -- near the same length as Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode One, which was released mere weeks after SiN Episodes -- Emergence was built using Valve's Source engine, and was therefore able to be enjoyed by many users on a wide variety of hardware.
Ritual added additional technology on Valve's firm foundation, most notably a dynamic difficulty system that adapts itself to each player's skill level. Greater diversity was applied to models via support for multiple-material sources. Traditionally, models are only programmed to simulate one substance: glass is glass, metal is metal, flesh is flesh, and so on. Ritual's modifications allowed for materials to be stacked, which provided a more realistic playground for gamers.
SiN's user community was always at the forefront of SiN Episodes' development. According to an interview posted on Ritualistic, Ritual gave heavy consideration to implementing and expanding features that were well-received by gamers. Aspects that weren't liked might be cut completely. Such an innovative promise could only be achieved using the iterative development cycle that is synonymous with episodic games, where features can be tweaked before the next installment is released.
Two games for ten dollars? Take the plunge. SiN Episodes isn't likely to see any future releases due to many key developers leaving for greener pastures, but that doesn't mean SiN and Emergence can't be enjoyed.
Includes: SiN; SiN Episodes: Emergence
Price: $9.99
Availability: Steam
Like your favorite television show that didn't get off the ground after its pilot, SiN Episodes: Emergence was the first and only installment of a planned nine-episode run. Serving as a follow-up to developer Ritual Entertainment's SiN, the SiN Episodes: Emergence pack on Valve's Steam digital distribution service actually includes Ritual's 1998 release. Although no future episodes are planned, ten bucks isn't much to ask for two stellar games that should keep you entertained for around 15 or 20 hours.
Originally released in May 2006, Emergence was taking bold steps as an episodic release when many developers were only considering venturing into such territory. Clocking in at approximately four to six hours -- near the same length as Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode One, which was released mere weeks after SiN Episodes -- Emergence was built using Valve's Source engine, and was therefore able to be enjoyed by many users on a wide variety of hardware.
Ritual added additional technology on Valve's firm foundation, most notably a dynamic difficulty system that adapts itself to each player's skill level. Greater diversity was applied to models via support for multiple-material sources. Traditionally, models are only programmed to simulate one substance: glass is glass, metal is metal, flesh is flesh, and so on. Ritual's modifications allowed for materials to be stacked, which provided a more realistic playground for gamers.
SiN's user community was always at the forefront of SiN Episodes' development. According to an interview posted on Ritualistic, Ritual gave heavy consideration to implementing and expanding features that were well-received by gamers. Aspects that weren't liked might be cut completely. Such an innovative promise could only be achieved using the iterative development cycle that is synonymous with episodic games, where features can be tweaked before the next installment is released.
Two games for ten dollars? Take the plunge. SiN Episodes isn't likely to see any future releases due to many key developers leaving for greener pastures, but that doesn't mean SiN and Emergence can't be enjoyed.
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SiN Episodes was actually a pretty decent game. It was very short, but those three or so hours the game took me to beat were fun. It's unfortunate that the series was canceled, though. I thought it had potential.Posted at 11:20PM on Jan 9th 2009 by Einhanderkiller