An expansion for SiN
After Elexis Sinclaire disappeared at the end of Sin, Wages of Sin continues the storyline by introducing the new villain Gianni Manero, a mob boss who seeks to gain power from the leftovers of Elexis' former company SinTEK. Manero produces new genetically engineered creatures (mutants) under secret supervision, but when some of these mutants break out and run into the city, the elite security force group HARDCORPS becomes aware of them and it's up to HARDCORPS leader John Blade, who starred as the hero and the player's character in Sin, to set things right.
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Pretty much just more Sin but with new good and bad things added. The good is that the new weapons and gadgets introduced are pretty fun to use. The inclusion of thermal goggles and a backpack rocket launcher are the particular highlights. There are also some neat levels such as one where you have to rob a casino and raid a penthouse.
The bad comes in the form of the new mutant enemy types which I found were either annoying to deal with or just uninspired. All the new enemy types also don't have the fun gore effects that the normal enemies have. There are also some annoying levels such as a shipping yard that was just plain confusing to navigate, I swear there's not one good shipping yard level in video games.
It doesn't add a whole lot that wasn't already there in the base game but it has its moments and continues the story if you are one of the few people that desperately cares about the story of Sin.
The bad comes in the form of the new mutant enemy types which I found were either annoying to deal with or just uninspired. All the new enemy types also don't have the fun gore effects that the normal enemies have. There are also some annoying levels such as a shipping yard that was just plain confusing to navigate, I swear there's not one good shipping yard level in video games.
It doesn't add a whole lot that wasn't already there in the base game but it has its moments and continues the story if you are one of the few people that desperately cares about the story of Sin.
SiN: Wages of Sin, is the first and only expansion pack to Ritual Entertainment's 1998 FPS game SiN. As was the style of the time, any successful PC FPS title would receive an expansion pack from a different development studio. In SiN's case, Wages of Sin was outsourced to 2015 Inc., a studio made up of modders and hobbyists from the gaming community, who got the job by mailing Activision a Quake mod they made. Now, 2015 had no professional work prior, so I went into Wages of Sin with tempered expectations. I'm happy to report back that it's a worthwhile if noticeably flawed expansion on the original game.
Wages of Sin picks up a little while after the base game. Elexis Sinclaire is still missing, with no trails left behind for protagonist Corporal Blade and his partner J.C. to follow. However, they pick up a trail of brand new mutants who managed to weasel their way into Freeport City. They later find out these mutants were created in secret by Italian mob boss Gianni Manero (voiced by Mike Shapiro of Half-Life fame), who intends to take over the remnants of SinTEK that Blade dismantled months prior. The story is fairly interesting and allows you to explore more of Freeport than the original game. I do feel like it runs out of steam near the end though and ends on a bit of an anti-climax. Not to mention, I feel like Manero isn't as cool or memorable of a villain as Sinclaire was. The original cast returns alongside some new actors and they all do a pretty good job with each of their roles. The humor in Wages of Sin is still just as delightful as the original game and overall the dialogue writing is amusing.
Gameplay-wise, they included both new enemies and weapons. I feel like the new enemies are generally fine but nothing utterly game-changing. The new weapons on the other hand are all very fun and have their uses. I especially loved the flamethrower and the handheld missile launcher. The levels are mostly pretty good and fall in line with the base game, but it's clear to me that 2015 lacked the experience that Ritual did, especially in regards to player railroading. There are a few levels near the end of the game where I was stuck and couldn't figure out how to progress at all, resulting in me swallowing my pride and looking up a walkthrough. I never had this problem in the original game and perhaps that's due to Ritual cutting their design teeth on Quake prior. Dual-wielding the pistol is fucking awesome though.
Visually, it's pretty much on the same level as the base game, as expected. A lot of areas have some great atmosphere to them, such as Manero's penthouse and it seems like they're really pushing the Quake 2 engine to its limits, especially since Quake 3 Arena would release later that year. The soundtrack has some new songs, all of which are good, but disappointingly reuses a lot of songs from the original. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing as the base game's OST was great, but it kinda feels a little lazy, especially when Half-Life: Opposing Force had a full original score and released the same year.
Overall, Wages of Sin is a good if somewhat flawed expansion pack. If you didn't like SiN, it's not going to convince you. However, if you're like me and really enjoyed the base game, Wages of Sin is definitely worth your time with some caveats.
Wages of Sin picks up a little while after the base game. Elexis Sinclaire is still missing, with no trails left behind for protagonist Corporal Blade and his partner J.C. to follow. However, they pick up a trail of brand new mutants who managed to weasel their way into Freeport City. They later find out these mutants were created in secret by Italian mob boss Gianni Manero (voiced by Mike Shapiro of Half-Life fame), who intends to take over the remnants of SinTEK that Blade dismantled months prior. The story is fairly interesting and allows you to explore more of Freeport than the original game. I do feel like it runs out of steam near the end though and ends on a bit of an anti-climax. Not to mention, I feel like Manero isn't as cool or memorable of a villain as Sinclaire was. The original cast returns alongside some new actors and they all do a pretty good job with each of their roles. The humor in Wages of Sin is still just as delightful as the original game and overall the dialogue writing is amusing.
Gameplay-wise, they included both new enemies and weapons. I feel like the new enemies are generally fine but nothing utterly game-changing. The new weapons on the other hand are all very fun and have their uses. I especially loved the flamethrower and the handheld missile launcher. The levels are mostly pretty good and fall in line with the base game, but it's clear to me that 2015 lacked the experience that Ritual did, especially in regards to player railroading. There are a few levels near the end of the game where I was stuck and couldn't figure out how to progress at all, resulting in me swallowing my pride and looking up a walkthrough. I never had this problem in the original game and perhaps that's due to Ritual cutting their design teeth on Quake prior. Dual-wielding the pistol is fucking awesome though.
Visually, it's pretty much on the same level as the base game, as expected. A lot of areas have some great atmosphere to them, such as Manero's penthouse and it seems like they're really pushing the Quake 2 engine to its limits, especially since Quake 3 Arena would release later that year. The soundtrack has some new songs, all of which are good, but disappointingly reuses a lot of songs from the original. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing as the base game's OST was great, but it kinda feels a little lazy, especially when Half-Life: Opposing Force had a full original score and released the same year.
Overall, Wages of Sin is a good if somewhat flawed expansion pack. If you didn't like SiN, it's not going to convince you. However, if you're like me and really enjoyed the base game, Wages of Sin is definitely worth your time with some caveats.