SiN games are proof that games can become more interesting the older they get. Unlike wine, they may not have aged particularly well, but they can show us how strange, ambitious and sometimes downright crazy they were for their time. Ritual Entertainment released this bad boy in 1998. We played it five years later when we got our first PC, but we remember it being full of ideas like computers to hack, security cameras to use, elevators to operate, vehicles to drive, enemies to disarm, as well as localized damage, alternate routes and branching objectives. It really was unlike anything we’d ever seen.
SiN, however, came at a very unfortunate time, just ten days before Half-Life. To make matters worse, it had bugs and some problematic rough edges, even for a game from that time. This sadly stopped many people from appreciating how much ambition was packed into it. Nearly three decades later, Nightdive Studios has taken the original game, given it the KEX Engine treatment and served it to nostalgic gamers on a silver platter. Let us reintroduce Sin Reloaded after the trailer!
Same SiN, New Coat of Paint
The story hasn’t changed, and it still gives us genetically engineered mutants, corporate conspiracies, futuristic technology and enough late-90s action-movie cheese to make it both corny and ridiculous. The graphics, as you’ll find out, have been cleaned up, but the personality stays the same. The characters, dialogue and general attitude are still wonderfully over-the-top, and the unique sense of humour is just as we remember it. It doesn’t feel forced at all.
The KEX Engine makes sure that textures, models, lighting, shadows and environmental details have all received a substantial upgrade. In addition to that, modern resolutions and high frame rates make the game much more comfortable to play on current hardware. We can also switch between the new presentation and the SiN Gold look. It’s a nice addition, and in many scenes we loved checking just how much work went into Reloaded. The difference is pretty striking when we start jumping between the two versions.
That doesn’t mean that the remaster doesn’t look like SiN. The new assets don’t change its identity, and there was no attempt to make everything look like a different game. The environments are cleaner and more detailed, yes, but underneath all those improvements, the heart that beats is the same heart that Ritual created in 1998.
Changes, Changes
Aside from the most obvious things like new textures and controller support, Nightdive has restored previously unused dialogue and voice material. The devs also brought back sections and interactions that didn’t make it into the original release and, to top it all off, improved the maps throughout the game.
It’s the version we’d want to play if we really wanted to see everything the devs were trying to do back in the day. Coming back to the game, we had to properly adjust to the lack of hand-holding, the vagueness of the objectives and how switches can be tucked away in places we’d never think to look. It wasn’t hard to pay attention to what was happening around us because we easily ate up every single detail that was served to us, and we found it very satisfying to figure out what a level wanted from us.
We realized that most gamers may be spoiled by all the glowing pointers, but here we absolutely enjoyed being slapped by the old-school approach.
If It Moves, Shoot It
The basic combat formula hasn’t changed dramatically, and we don’t think it needed to. We have straightforward attacks, melee weapons, bows, artifacts and dodging. The combat is still very much about getting in there, hitting things, getting out of the way before something hits us back and then deciding which of our many toys we’re going to use when the situation gets a little too crowded.
The weapons have seen some interesting changes. We can dual-wield the Magnums during the main campaign, fire and reload them independently, use remotely controlled Spider Mines, detonate Crossbow bolts and make better use of the Pulse Gun’s chain lightning. The Speargun has been improved for underwater sections, while the Flamethrower packs considerably more punch. Trust us when we say that there’s plenty of reasons to experiment with the arsenal. SiN already had a ridiculous collection of weapons. Switching between them is more useful during combat in Reloaded.
Localized damage and enemy disarming are still among the game’s better ideas. Shooting different parts of an enemy can produce different reactions, while certain enemies can lose their weapons during combat. It’s not just emptying magazines into identical health bars. For a game from 1998, it’s satisfying to shoot your way out of a room.
Wages of SiN
As you surely know, Wages of SiN is also included in the package. Along with mechanics that give the original campaign a slightly different feel, the expansion also brought new missions, enemies and weapons. Speaking of which, dual-wielding is one such example. Having those Magnums available throughout the main game was a true blessing in disguise, although hardcore players can disable the option and use dual-wielding only in the expansion.
Just like the Gold Edition, everything is together here as well, but at a much more complete and improved level. Reloaded lets us bring some of those expansion-era gameplay enhancements into the original campaign while keeping them optional, which is a nice way of giving more freedom over how we want to experience the game.
The enemy AI remains quite predictable. In addition, some encounters can feel a bit rough around the edges, platforming can be awkward and the vehicles still have that unmistakable late-90s feel. As a remaster, the game still feels old, but we feel that’s a good thing. We wouldn’t want the devs to rebuild everything because that might cost the game its soul. Then this wouldn’t be SiN anymore.
Another Shot at SiN
SiN Reloaded gives Ritual’s ambitious shooter another chance to be appreciated for what it was trying to do. Despite its imperfections, it looks better, plays better and, most importantly for us, includes restored material.
It’s still SiN, and it still feels amazing to play.
Developer: Nightdive Studios / Ritual Entertainment
Publisher: Nightdive Studios / Atari
Release Date: September 24, 2026
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch / Switch 2
Engine: KEX Engine
Includes: SiN + Wages of SiN
Original Release: 1998
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