SiN: Wages of Sin
Encyclopedia
- For the source of the quotation, see Book of Romans. For the album by Arch Enemy, see Wages of SinWages of SinWages of Sin is the fourth studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It is the first Arch Enemy album to feature the vocals of Angela Gossow...
Wages of Sin is an expansion pack
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
(a mission pack) for the computer game SiN
SiN
SiN is a computer game first-person shooter based on a modified version of the Quake II engine developed by Ritual Entertainment and published by Activision in late 1998...
from late 1998. Wages of Sin was released in late February 1999 by a then relatively unknown game production studio known as 2015
2015, Inc.
2015 is a video game development studio founded in 1997 by its President and CEO, Tom Kudirka. Currently, 2015 is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. 2015 is perhaps most famous for the development of the highly successful PC game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault...
, who later became famous for their critically acclaimed game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 2015, Inc. and created by Steven Spielberg. It is the 3rd installment of the Medal of Honor series...
. The add-on begins its story after the events pictured in Sin, replacing the villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
Elexis Sinclaire (who went missing due to mysterious circumstances) with Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss Gianni Manero, and once again letting players enter Freeport City in John R. Blade's shoes.
Story Overview
After Elexis Sinclaire disappeared at the end of Sin, Wages of Sin continues the storyline by introducing the new villain Gianni Manero, a mobMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
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. Blade's hunt for Manero leads him to new locations of Freeport City that were not included in the original game, features new enemies and weapons, and has such interesting story/gameplay elements as the kidnapping of a scientist's daughter and day/night scenarios of the same levels, depending on the player's choice.
Although Elexis Sinclaire never appears in Wages of Sin, there are lots of references to her (in serious and humorous ways) throughout the game and the ending leaves a big hint towards her return (which happens in Sin's official sequel, SiN Episodes
SiN Episodes
SiN Episodes is the title of a series of episodic games for the PC that would have expanded upon the 1998 computer game SiN. A total of nine episodes were planned with only the first one released...
).
Gameplay
While keeping the interactivity level and the real-world level design of the original game, Wages of Sin adds a few extra elements beyond the standard weapons and enemies upgrade.The more remarkable features in Wages of Sin include:
- 10 new enemies
- 7 new weapons
- 17 new locations to visit
- New items: a flashlight, nightvision goggles, usable ropes and Half-Life-style "usable characters" where appropriate
- Day and night alternatives of several locations which are triggered based on a decision the player makes in the beginning; these alternatives include such things as enemies and alarm systems.
- Easter eggEaster egg (media)Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
bonus: collecting bikini calendars will change the ending sequence - Hoverbike deathmatchDeathmatch (gaming)Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
: a new deathmatch multiplayer game type where players ride around specific maps on armed hoverbikes - 2 boss battles before the end of the game
Audio/Video
The graphics are very similar to Sin as Wages of Sin is simply an add-on utilizing the same technology the original game is based on. However, great attention to detail and interactivity was kept when 2015 designed Wages of Sin, resulting in even more options and visual treats than Sin could offer. Also, the locations the player character visits greatly expand the Freeport City experience started in Sin, and because Sin moves out of Freeport at about halfway through the story, the add-on bases the whole adventure in the city and lets the player visit such locales as a cargo ship, a vacant building, a nightclub and Manero's casino and penthouse complex.Weapons and enemies look quite spectacular in Wages of Sin although the artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
of the new opponents is average. Many special effects are impressive even today, such as a spider emerging from the body of a shot mutant or the earthshaking fireball explosion of the IP36 nuclear rocket launcher.
On the audio side there is some new music, new sound effects and brand new voice acting from the same actors who voiced Sin, plus some new voices (like Manero's) specifically for this add-on.