SiN might not have gotten quite the attention it deserved back in 1998. Mostly since it fell victim to a slightly better-known shooter known as Half-Life. As one of the casualties of Half-Life’s success, SiN did eventually become a bit of a cult hit. And it found an audience that still plays and mods the game to this day.
A remaster was announced recently together with the Steam release of SiN Gold. SiN Gold isn’t a full remaster, but rather a patch of the original game that fixes a lot of the issues with the original version. And it also included the Wages of SiN expansion that was previously missing from the Steam release.
The remaster, which has gotten the name SiN Reloaded, finally got a teaser at Realms Deep 2020. It opened up Day 2 of the event and showcased some of the reworked textures and lighting. So far the work done on the remastering seems great, with much greater detail on textures and models.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYjwgAu380A
Only A Taste Of SiN
So far the footage revealed only shows the first level, the bank. So it remains to be seen how the rest of the game will look. The original SiN was a real showcase back in the day, featuring some of the most diverse realistic locations in an FPS at the time. It took a lot of clues from Duke Nukem 3D and in many ways can be seen as a spiritual sequel to Duke Nukem.
One of the most groundbreaking features of SiN was its damage system, with weapons doing different damage depending on where on the enemy your shots hit. It was a precursor to the dismemberment system in Soldier of Fortune, which also used the Quake 2 engine.
It was also an incredibly interactive game for its time, featuring fully functional computer terminals. Some of them even allow you to browse their files using a simple command prompt. It had more in common with the then-upcoming Deus Ex than other shooters at the time.
Your actions would also influence how the game progressed. It could change small things from opening up areas in other maps by doing something on one map. Or even change what your next objective would be. With its choice-driven progression, SiN has a lot more replay value than most other shooters from the era. Especially Half-Life and Quake 2.
A Classic Given New Life
SiN Reloaded will have a ton of features that will make it the definitive version of SiN to play:
- It will include both the original SiN and its expansion Wages of SiN, all rebuilt from the ground up in the KEX engine.
- Remastered high definition models and textures by Slipgate Ironworks (Rise Of The Triad, Bombshell, Rad Rodgers).
- Support for Wide and Ultra-Wide resolutions.
- Original game assets restored/uncensored.
- Native controller support for couch gaming.
- Deathmatch and Capture The Flag multiplayer modes.
- Update enhancements and bug fixes from SiN Gold.
Go to Steam now if you want to wishlist SiN Reloaded and be notified when it becomes available. And don’t forget to also check out SiN Gold if you want a taste of the original experience.