SiN Episodes: Emergence

TLDR: A must-play for anyone who loves Half-Likes and that particular indescribable but magic vibe all good Source Engine games seem to share. However, my recommendation is to buy on sale because this game is short - took me under 3 hours to complete it.
----
SiN Episodes is a huge improvement on the first SiN - it retains the same world and goofy Austin Powers style of humour, but the level design is vastly improved. You can see your final destination right from the start of the game and vice versa, but the route to get there is weaving and intricate. This kind of cohesive level design really adds to immersion as you get a sense of believable scale when you can see exactly how far you've climbed through the landscape.
Gameplay is much like Half Life 2 but with a heavier emphasis on combat and only some very basic environmental puzzles.
The really sad thing about SiN Episodes is (also much like HL2 in fact) - they never finished the story. The episodic format of game releases was a huge fad in the late 00s, but clearly failed as a business model for many developers. For this reason, you have to go into this game knowing in advance it never got finished. I would guess the one Episode we got is only a third, perhaps even a quarter or a fifth, of the "full" game the devs planned. It's such a shame as this was a really fun title and one of the best Source engine games you can play aside from HL2 itself.

Great game much better than half life I love the big tits of the antagonist just for her sake I complete this game.

This game is what Half-Life would have been if it was shorter, cheesier, had a B-rated movie story, jiggle physics and was still as action packed.
As I finished this short but fun experience, I raise a toast.. to the sequel that was teased, but never released!

"Save me the seat at the sequel, Blade" :(
The fate of SiN is really unfortunate. First game came out 2 weeks before Half-Life, which caused it flop and remain in obscurity. The fact that we even have a sequel to this game at all is in itself a miracle. It was one of the first games outside of Valve's portfolio to debut on Steam (just look at the SteamID in the store page's URL) and is an important part of this platform's history, even if very sad one.
Gameplay
The game took me just over 3.5h to finish, but not a second of it was wasted. It gave me a Ratatouille-style flashback to when I played Half-Life 2 for the first time, which is perhaps one of the greatest praises I can give to a video game. Because it is just one episode, the developers wanted to cram as many mechanics as possible, to show what's in store for the player. Shooting feels punchy and satisfying, with decent amount of variation, slow-mo gas absolutely slaps, puzzles are... they are there. The game also has a huge amount of secrets - 43 according to the stats screen (yes, the game tracks tons of different stats - one of the few boomer-shooter traits this game has), and some of them are much more than just some bonus items - just pay attention to your surroundings.
Graphics
The game is very pretty, and I'm not talking only about female character models. Source engine really shows its muscles and the game definitely holds up in that department. The later parts of the game really give a sense of scale. Enemy design is cool and can be further enhanced with a proper amount of lead - gore in this game is what was missing for me in HL2.
Sound "What's the world come to..."
SiN Episodes: Emergence, in my opinion, has the best main menu music in all of gaming. Zak Belica's opus magnum, with Sarah Revenscroft killing it on the vocals. Really can bring a tear to a man's eye. Rest of the music is competent, huge upgrade from the first game anyway. Voice acting is also really good, which took me by surprise after playing SiN: Gold for a dozen hours. Source engine's sound propagation is utilized even better than in Half-Life 2 - overall A+.
Story
SiN: Source is a much different game than the first installment and it is particularly apparent in its writing. The story is more serious and toned down. John Blade is an (almost) silent protagonist now, which means, most of the one-liners now come from redhead Alyx Vance - Jessica Canon, and those are still rather rare and more thought-out. The setting is more grounded and SiN: Gold's boom-shoot DNA is mostly gone. Although I would appreciate a sequel that stays true to the original's attitude, the direction that Episodes took is also good. Unfortunately, just like Half-Life 2, it ends with a cliffhanger, which has been unresolved for over 17 years :(.
All in all, I really enjoyed my time with Episodes, although I can see how not everyone may feel the same way, especially if they didn't play SiN: Gold. 8€ may also seem a bit much for a 3-hour game, but I think the secrets give it a good replay value (I found only a quarter of them and will be definitely coming back for more) and it sometimes goes on a reasonable discount (I managed to get it for just 2€). Worst thing about this game is definitely knowing there will never be more, but it makes me appreciate what we got even more.

A good Half-Like, and on Brutal difficulty, this gets super intense.

Sadly we wont be getting another Episode :(

SIN Emergence is a pretty odd game in a good sort of way; what suck's is that this game doesn't have enough content afterwards to an otherwise almost episodic franchise that never went through. The model's are great enough so the game doesn't age poorly (similar to half life 2), even the game story is rather interesting. Although... Really hard to make of the story when the IP never made other episodes, in the same way as Half-Life 2. Actually rather interesting for a game to not only be better than the first game, also one of those game's that carry the same sin's like Half-Life 2.
Sins Emergence is meant to lead the player more content & with Half-Life 2, you are still given 3 game's from the 2nd bit of a soon to be franchise (Half-Life 2, Episode 1-2).
So promising the player's for multiple episodes may have not been a great idea making this game more unplayable in more way's. Despite me feeling this way, I do hope to one day this game come's back with these idea in mind; I really really do love the idea toward's turning a game episodic instead of just making sequels, but rather leading up to a much bigger game for more room with ideas from the same engine. You don't see this often with video-game's, although it isn't impossible nor is it a bad idea. This IP just happened to come out in the wrong place in the right time if you looked at the development history before and after.
Beyond that the game play's like a Half-Life 2 source engine (because it was made from it.). My main complaint is that it come's with idea's I would like to see more refined. One where if you are around canisters filled with green mist, you have the advantage to attack enemies in slow motion. Pretty useless.
Reason why are a few reason's, one this ability is only activated if you sit in the green mist for almost a minute to fill it up. The other is the ability is already pre-activated once you enter the mist, you can't opt-it-out at all making it useless to even bother. If this game where to return to it's root's, my decision would make it where the character can in-hale a much more smaller canister to suck into. Another idea is have it where this ability can even opt-in & out without the green mist, with something Blade (Main Character) can later gain this ability. Being around green mist's only give's him more time to use it much longer than before.
Another issue this game seem's to miss is not given the player armor that can healed up like in Half-Life 2. Without that it has actually made sin's a much more harder game to play even in normal difficulty, since you are trying to keep your health alive from certain enemies. Like machine gunmen or mini gun turrets or lastly battle bot's. This game make's it much more harder without any shield armor, ended up making me appreciate Half-Life 2 mechanics more than I initially was before. The enemies would be much more balance out (even more fair) if you where given a shield armor in the same way Half-Life 2 treated it. Or have the character regenerate health for the sake of the plot. But I will still say an armor of sorts should be an option.
I got nothing much to say about Sin Emergence plot, it give's you vague explanations, a vague villain with a vague goal even that makes me feel indifferent. Even when you play the first game, you will start to see this game as an attempt to be a soft-reboot. It has the earlier character's (even villain) but it's hard to make-up what's going on. A fun game, I still recommend it; I will say, you are more out to get a better plot from the TimeSplitter's games with better humor, let alone better fan-service than with this game. Not bad for what it does and I still want more out of it. Everything is just... Too vague. Most what I got from it is the villain Elexis Sinclaire want's to take over the world by creating monster's with the possibility she trying to trap Blade into it. Where Blade (you the player) start having a vague memories of having a romantic relationship with Elexis, with the possibility (I assume) using eugenics research to create the perfect war soldier and how Blade (you) could possibly be the perfect test subject. I don't know. I won't make any high judgement from a story that never finish.
Would be nice to see Sins Emergence coming out with new episodes, I wouldn't even care if they use the same engine. The idea isn't broken nor the source engine, just need's more content with mechanic's to make the game play a tad more fair. Even having a better understanding from the story from newer episodes.
For 10 bucks worth the price, for almost 3 buck's it's a good deal to grab. I hope one day this game come's back. It may never come, but if TimeSplitter's having a comeback with a remaster. I do not see how Sin Emergence can't come out with more episodes. Boy can dream but some dream's are too good to be true.

A small glimpse of what could have been.
SiN Episodes: Emergence is the first episode of a canned episodic series of games as a sequel to SiN. Much in the likeness of the Half Life 2 Episodes, following John Blade at it once again trying to stop Elexis Sinclaire from her evil, mutant related, schemes. It's a incredible short experience that provides a simple but satisfying shooting experience while also having the novelty of being in Valve's Source Engine. It's not worth the price from a game perspective but more so as a time capsule of things that never happen as otherwise it's a fine 2 hours of game to kill some time with.
Gameplay of SiN Episodes takes some beats from Half Life 2 given it uses the same engine. Having somewhat linear levels that take place is a well detailed location with the occasional puzzle and/or spectacle to remind you about the power of the Source Engine. Blade's arsenal is incredible small but a well around supply of reliable and useful weapons. His pistol from the first game returns with a pretty accurate primary fire and a piercing railgun-like altfire. He also has access to a shotgun with hits hard and has a projectile altfire that is a bit more situational. Lastly is the SMG which is pretty self explanatory, it even has grenades as it's altfire much like it's HL2 counterpart. Blade can also throw individual grenades which aren't their own weapon but set to a button that can be launched at any time. Likely the most notable gameplay aspect of the game is it's wonky difficulty system. The difficulty is determined on the actions of the player. Basically If you're doing good the enemies get better, if the reverse than the opposite. While you can't completely disable this feature you can lower it as much as possible. As this is probably the lamest way to do difficulty in a game. You're doing too good? Well now it's headsplitting hard.
Style wise, for being in the Source Engine only 2 years after it officially debuted, SiN Episodes looks really good for the time and still now. The game has a very industrial and futuristic vibes that was carried over from the first game with all the bells and whistles that the new engine provides. There were times where I decided to stop in my track to appreciate my surroundings as while there ain't many locations, they sure are pretty. There's even a skybox near the end of the game that is absolutely incredible with the amount of detail and color for a skybox of that time. Likewise the character models are pretty solid and mirror their Quake 2-esque counterparters from SiN fairly well. Thought I would be lying if I didn't say that I kinda prefer Elexis' chunkier proportions from the previous game than she is now.
Overall, as a novelty. SiN Episodes: Emergence is a fun little bit of what could have been something more interesting at the very least. There's a reason why Valve's Half Life Episodes didn't really take off and it's likely why this project never went anywhere past the first episode. If you're curious about this piece of gaming history either from an interest of the various random games that use the Source Engine, Playing through the SiN games as the underrated franchise it is, or some mystery third reason. I would highly recommend picking it up on a sale as it's average sale price of $2.49 is a bit more easy to bite for how short this little game is.