SiN Episodes: Emergence Review

8.3

Format PC

Developer Ritual Entertainment

Publisher Electronic Arts

Genre First Person Shooter

6 Comments

What can you buy for 11 quid these days? A cinema ticket and a can of fizzy pop, maybe with enough left over for a bag of chips for the bus ride home? A pack of 12 condoms for 18 minutes of unbridled pleasure? Or how about the first chapter of an episodic first-person shooter, powered by Valve's stunning Source engine and packing somewhere between six and ten hours of non-stop, frenetic, gut-twisting, firefight-filled action. Sound tempting? Want to know more? Then don't go away.

If you read our preview of Emergence in April, you'll probably know that we were getting pretty excited about the game's release - unless of course you were reading the article backwards, in which case you'll have no idea whatsoever what we were talking about.

For the uninitiated, Emergence is the follow-up to 1998's SiN. It's also the first instalment of what's planned to be a three-chapter, episodic FPS adventure, which you can download via Steam. As maverick law enforcer John Blade, you must protect Freeport City from the heinous plans of villain/geneticist and head of the hugely powerful SinTEK corporation Elexis Sinclaire, while simultaneously uncovering the missing pieces of your own past.

Granted, as a premise for a plot, it's hardly Tolstoy, but the way that it's presented is done with some aplomb, melding subtle flashbacks with well-written and convincingly acted in-engine cut-scenes. So, we're off to a good start.

FUN, FUN, GUN
Despite the visual similarities to Half-Life 2, Emergence is a very different game. For starters, you won't find the fiendish physics-based mind-bending puzzles of Valve's masterpiece here; neither will you find a dynamic, bustling world filled with shuffling denizens and buzzing police probes. Emergence is far more basic than that, but then again, so is just about every other FPS on the market. SiN's true merits lie in its combat, powered by a dynamically scaleable difficulty monitor that tailors the action to your ability as you play.

Gun down ten enemies with headshots and you find yourself facing a legion of heavily-armed, thickly armoured enemies in the next room. Take a beating and the game will be far more forgiving once you move on to the next location.

It's a system that works surprisingly well and ensures that the game is always challenging. Make no mistake, this isn't a Doom 3 clone where you can simply charge around each level blazing away as enemies chase you down a corridor. Neither is it a fragfest of Quake-proportions. Emergence proves a far more considered affair, and as a result, it's way more challenging than the majority of shooters you've played. If you want to be a gung-ho hero, then you'd be better off looking somewhere else.

Of course, this extra level of challenge means you have to play smart. Finding cover, strafing, pulling off pinpoint headshots and intelligently using your surroundings are all essential skills to master if you want to stand a chance of making it through to Episode 2, as you'll soon find that Emergence's enemies are every bit as savvy as you are. Aim at their heads and they duck, hide and flush you out with grenades; charge at them and they retreat. Plus, if they aren't armed - like the clawed mutations you come across later on - they kick and hurl objects at you, before moving in close to rake out your eyes.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE
With action this challenging, it might come as a relief to know that you don't always have to work alone. Fighting by your side throughout the course of several levels is Jessica Cannon, a gun-loving tomboy who strangely, also seems to be indestructible.

Personally, I've never been a huge fan of the immortal sidekick mechanic, but given the episodic nature of the game, it's hard to see how else Ritual could have included her - other than taking her out of the equation altogether, which clearly wasn't an option.

Despite this, fighting by her side is still plenty of fun, and while you can sometimes allow yourself to sit back while she takes care of business, you still feel fairly challenged whenever she's backing you up.

BA-DA-BOOM!
Another criticism that we touched upon in our preview was the game's predominance of exploding barrels. It never ceases to amaze me that almost 15 years after the release of Doom, developers still insist on cramming their shooters with giant cans of gasoline that just happen to be sitting right next to pockets of enemy resistance. Emergence is by no means alone in this, and it's testament to just how little the genre has evolved that exploding canisters still inhabit the majority of FPS games.

Thankfully, not every barrel in Emergence is an exploding cliché. Dotted around each level are Mutagen-filled cylinders - giant cans of noxious gas that when shot, spew out green vapour that suffocates humans and, better still, places you into a form of bullet-time.

Here at last we have a barrel trick with a touch of imagination, an idea that expands the age-old staple of the genre and embellishes the gameplay with a novel twist. Diving into a cluster of gagging enemies then blasting them away in slowmotion is a joy to behold.

What's more, thanks to the Source engine's magnificent physics capabilities, you can even hurl these containers into rooms of enemies, then shoot them and watch as your foes charge around, gasping for breath, before asphyxiating. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that for some reason, this Mutagen doesn't kill you, but rather enhances your powers. Why? Well, that's something you're just going to have to find out for yourself.

BURNING UP, BABY
There are plenty of other strengths here, too. Wall-mounted medical machines that replenish your health and often require you to track down refills before you can bring yourself back to full health. Three weapons (pistol, shotgun and assault rifle) that feel like six thanks to some excellent secondary fire functions. What's more, there's the ability to move in close and hammer your opponents to death with melee attacks should your ammo supplies run dry.

Then there's the perfect lip-synching and convincing facial emotions conveyed by each character you meet. Plus, there are also some truly humongous bosses, who aren't just harder than a concrete covered gumball but hugely manoeuvrable too, relentlessly charging at you and throwing you around the level like a ragdoll as they butt you with their hideous bonces.

RISKY BUSINESS
Best of all though is the game's climactic finalé, which sees you and Jessica launching a daring skyscraper raid against Emergence's chief bad guy (one of Elexis's partners in crime called Radek), where the intensity of the firefights escalate with every floor you climb. It's also here that the game's physics truly come into their own as offices and electrical equipment are literally torn to shreds as you exchange volleys with ever greater numbers of enemies.

There's little doubt that Emergence is a game of genuine quality, a shooter that'll stretch your trigger skills to their limits while entertaining you with a tantalising plot that gives just about enough away to hook you and reel you into Episode 2. Had it been a full price game, then perhaps Emergence would have been a borderline Recommended, but given its minuscule price tag, it's a bit of a steal.

While it may not be the most groundbreaking of shooters, Emergence's merits far outweigh its smattering of faults, and with six to ten hours of entertainment to be had, you can't argue that it's not value for money, especially as it also comes bundled with a copy of the original SiN. Eleven quid you say? Bargain.

PC Zone Staff