SiN is a 1998 FPS game using the Quake 2 engine created by Ritual Software and published by Activision. While it was overshadowed by Half-Life on release (still trudging through that, stuck on Gonarch's Lair where she's glitching), it was a bit revolutionary gameplay wise. It was the first game where you could fully interact with consoles that could alter things in the map (like open doors and turn off enemy turrets). Combat is kind of wonky to start out, but you get used to it as the game goes on as your arsenal increases. The plot of this game is absolutely ridiculous, straight out of a sci-fi/cop b-movie. The ending sequence literally had me burst out laughing because of how absurd it is. The difficulty curve in this game is absolutely ridiculous at some points, though. Snipers can eat away at your health in seconds if you don't have armor (luckily they are only in certain levels), and while stealth isn't really my strongsuit (see my review of Jedi Outcast) this game does it decently enough. Despite the flaws this game has, I can't help but enjoy it because of it's over-the-top cheesy plot.

On the surface, Sin seems to be another by the standards 90s first-person shooter with attitude and a lot of gore and violence. In reality, there is a lot of fun with high action levels, fun dialogue, and some surprising horror thrown in at the very end. The main downside is that the game falls into some of the trappings that come with early 3-D first-person shoots. There are a few confusing levels to navigate, some sequences seem unbalanced with it being impossible to beat if you don't have enough health or ammo, and the controls are clunky when it comes to driving vehicles. It won't blow you away with its story or plot but it's still worth checking out.

Even for something from the late '90s trying desperately to be 'badass' the tone of this is astonishingly juvenile. It is, at times, clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but that doesn't really stop the cringe. The core gameplay is fine but the level and objective design are not up to the task at all. Plays like a bumbling version of GOLDENEYE. But one big point in its favor is a high degree of frivolous optional interactivity with the environment, which is always great and got lost a bit in this era.

Stuff like this really makes you appreciate HALF-LIFE a lot more.