SiN Reloaded Review – FPS Boomer ‘Tude

SiN Reloaded Review

SiN Reloaded is the second remaster of SiN, a cult FPS from 1998. The original SiN was created on the Quake II engine, and separated itself from other shooters of the day because of its emphasis on narrative. It’s one of those weird games that I played once, when it originally came out, and every now and then it creeps into my thoughts as a fond memory. SiN was remastered in 2020, by boomer shooter saviors Nightdive Studios, as SiN Gold. Six years later, they’ve decided to go back and re-remaster it. Read on to find out if this unique boomer shooter holds up today, and if its double dip remaster was worth doing.

SiN Reloaded’s story takes place in a dystopian near future. It’s about Colonel John Blade, who’s battling against a corporation called SinTEK Industries. They’ve created a DNA-altering drug that may or may not be connected to the mutants Blade comes across in the city’s streets. SiN Reloaded’s story is told through fantastic cinematic cutscenes and gameplay sequences. It’s hard to believe that it predates Half-Life by two weeks, because most would probably assume Half-Life was a major influence. One of SiN Reloaded’s main draws is also its art style. John Blade has such a unique character design. The game’s entire world build is extremely appealing and really compliments the story.

Modernized Controls

SiN Reloaded has modernized controls. On PS5 it works like any twin stick FPS. The game begins with gyroscopic aiming turned on to assist with joystick aiming. R2 fires, square performs actions, X jumps, and triangle brings up mission objectives. Holding R1 brings up a wheel to cycle through weapons, and L1 brings up a wheel to cycle through items. The item wheel is unique to this remaster. Shooting feels great. There’s a weight to the weapons, and impact felt when enemies blow to bits. The game requires precise headshots, and relies on Blade being a bit of a tank. Ammo needs to be conserved.

Sin Reloaded has some unique gameplay features that make it stand out from its contemporaries. Blade can take damage to different sections of his body. The game has lots of sequences where the gameplay turns into vehicle sections, which really help to break things up. The physics in the driving sections have been greatly improved in SiN Reloaded over SiN Gold. There are branching story paths, and puzzle-like hacking sections where Blade has to use DOS-like computers. I really appreciate the gameplay variety, but at its core, SiN Reloaded is still a very basic FPS by modern standards. It would be hard to recommend the game to anyone who doesn’t already love the original.

Wages of SiN

SiN Reloaded contains the Wages of SiN mission pack that acts as a story sequel to the original game. It can be played right away, even if the main game hasn’t been finished. When starting the main game, there’s also an option to use some Wages of SiN features, such as dual wielding weapons, and enemy AI adjustments. SiN Reloaded also has a competitive online multiplayer mode. This is a great addition, but the game’s main draw is its campaign.

SiN Reloaded’s graphics look incredibly crisp on modern hardware. I was shocked by the quality of the videos. The visuals can be switched between SiN Reloaded’s updated version, or SiN Gold’s closer to the original. I love this feature and loved switching between the two, although admittedly there’s not a significant stylistic difference. This can be done by pressing the controller pad on PS5. Nightdive included the now unnecessary loading screens, which was a nice touch. They breeze by quickly, but feature 3D rendered art that would’ve been a shame to miss out on.

Memorable Score

The game has a memorable score that mixes a wide variety of genres, including industrial, alt rock, and opera. The sound mix is a little strange though. I appreciate wanting to use the original voice recordings, but they sound muffled and unmixed compared to the remastered score. I experienced small bits of menu lag, but nothing that ruined my experience.

SiN Reloaded has an incredible Vault of extras. Included is promotional artwork, including screenshots and 3D image renders. There’s also a ton of development content that includes text design documents, sketches, footage, storyboards, and texture samples. The entire instruction booklet has been scanned. This was a real treat for me, as I had seen it in 1998, but forgot how interesting it was until the memories came back. And, finally, there is an article from PCGames from the time of release. Nightdive Studios really outdid themselves with the depth of content.

In Conclusion

SiN Reloaded was awesome for its time. It has solid shooting, unique gameplay sections, and a fantastic story presentation. It’s a very basic boomer shooter by modern standards though. It’s not going to impress anyone who isn’t a fan of the original game or the genre. I’m so happy Nightdive went back and remastered the game again though, because it looks and plays fantastic on modern consoles. The Vault is an extensive treat. This is the best version of cult classic FPS.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***