SiN like you've never SiNed before

It's time to get ready for the return of SiN, Ritual Entertainment's resplendent first-person shooter.

In 1999, Ritual had a dream. It involved taking id's Quake 2 engine and, making use of its graphics prowess, design a game that the company could call its own. Along the way, Ritual added the industry's first FPS hit detection system that would pave the way for mods like Counter-Strike, and a female protagonist who was as bodacious as she was buxom.

The game was called SiN, and it promised a hell of a lot.

Unfortunately, for all the work Ritual put into making it, SiN did not fare well with critics. While the multiplayer received rave reviews, the single-player displeased many and a buggy out-of-the-box experience saw its scores plummet.

Six years later and Ritual is seeking to make up for the mistakes it made with SiN; to take all that was good and make it better. With the help of Valve and its Source engine, Ritual is bringing SiN back -- in episodes of all things.

According to the official website: 'SiN Episodes expands on the role of Colonel John R. Blade, a battle worn hero in charge of HardCorps, an elite strike force with a long history of conflict with SinTEK, a powerful multibillion dollar empire headed up by Elexis Sinclaire, a beautiful, brilliant, and ruthless scientist who is out to remake humanity according to her own twisted vision. Joining Blade on his mission are JC, a HardCorps hacker with a secret to keep, and Jessica Cannon, a fiery rookie who can find her way into any secure facility.' The game promises up to six hours of gameplay through a 'living, breathing world'.

On August 31, Shawn Ketcherside, lead designer of SiN Episodes updated his (developer blog with the message '...as of a couple days ago, all the levels for Episode 1 are gameplay complete'. While he goes on to explain that there's still a bit to be done, we're expecting to see the first episode within the next two months.

The first chapter, entitled 'Emergence' will be released via Valve's online distribution system Steam -- the same system it used to deliver Half-Life 2 around the world.

Along with SiN Episodes, Valve is on the eve of distributing its own next episode for HL2. You can read all about it here.