As you might surmise from the title, SiN Episodes: Emergence, developed by Ritual Entertainment, is the PC-gaming equivalent of a series premier of a new TV show, which, of course, is likely to be followed by a season's worth of episodes... if it's good. Maybe the analogy works better with a mid-season replacement/pilot episode that was picked up for a song with the ol' corporate Hollywood throw-at-wall, see-what-sticks kind of thinking. At any rate, SiN Episodes 1: Emergence is clearly an experiment in episodic gaming, a business model that sees small chunks of sci-fi shootery sold for the low, low price of $20 per episode rather than the usual $40 - $60 for the whole ball of wax. At worst, it's a cheap quickie shooter.

It's a pretty nifty idea. Many people never finish full-length games, so cutting the cost by cutting the length and placing the product within "why not?" pricing reach makes sense. It’s just too bad that Ritual didn’t focus on game design as much as the marketing angle, because Emergence is a tired shooter, crammed with so many clichés--shotguns and sewers! Yippee!--that it’s most suitable for nostalgia buffs who want to relive the 1990s, having played every single shooter released in that overwrought decade of shooterdom.

Mind you, some of that old-school atmosphere seems intentional. It's a follow-up to 1998’s original SiN, itself a simplistic shooter from the pre-Half-Life days that didn’t have much going for it other than a marvelously cheesy, marvelously busty femme fatale named Elexis Sinclair and some cool sci-fi cops, which became something of a cult classic (the original game is included here, if you want to check it out for yourself).

In fact, Emergence goes so far as to assume you have a working knowledge of the original game, like the rivalry between uber-lawman John R. Blade and the boobalicious baddie Elexis. Fortunately, if you lack such knowledge, it doesn't really matter. Quick recap: Elexis hates Blade so much that she’s injected him with some kind of pathogen. The villainous SinTek company is making mutants for some sinister purpose... well, presumably sinister--but is there ever a benign reason to make mutants? And that’s about it. Start shooting. Don't stop. Oh sure, there's a plot, an "investigation" even, which is the scant premise for running through industrial complexes, sewers, some labs, and an office tower, and killing everybody you see.

Sadly, while other shooters have made a lot of this classic “shoot first and, uh, what was the second part again?” formula, SiN doesn’t, largely because of the dull and repetitive settings. It's awfully hard to get excited about any shooter that immediately plunges you into a sewer and keeps you there for two hours. Enough with the sewers already. Know why Lost, Survivor and Far Cry are such hits? Hint: it's not the sewers. It's not the boss battles in a yard full of wooden crates. It's not the enemy ranks filled out with identical thugs in identical black balaclavas...

And though it could have looked great--being based on Half-Life 2's Source engine and all--it doesn't. While some rooms are filled out with furniture, pop machines, etc., to make them look like lived-in locations, a lot have that unfinished look common to quickie PC shooters and older console shooters designed for PCs that didn't have the power to put a lot of random junk and decorations on screen. Ritual didn't spend a lot of time filling things out. Great character models, mind you, but there are really just a few of those and then way too many repeats and cookie-cutter masked dudes as enemies.

Still, there is an addictive charm to the mind-numbingness of it all, the numbness of mind being a nice place to visit first and foremost. There is something to be said for arcade-fast action and a game style where constant shooting isn’t just everything, it’s the only thing, after all.

Too, Elexis is one of the best villainesses in computer gaming, and Ritual didn’t hesitate to go over the top with her sexpot portrayal, the hubba-hubba cleavage and a dream sequence in a bikini too racy for Frederick’s of Hollywood. She’s certainly easier on the eyes than the alien despot or megalomaniacal terrorist usually filling the bad-guy boots.

All told, it’s also a good thing that Emergence abruptly stops after four hours with a “Next time on SiN Episodes!” teaser trailer, as by that point you're glad to wrap things up and thaw your mind.

This is just the first installment in a planned series, of course, so there's still hope that Ritual will build on some of the game's good points and produce a more impressive second episode. If not, there won't be a third. Or, if there is, no one will notice.