It's been a while but Ritual's SiN franchise is soon set to return with the release of Emergence, the first SiN Episodes installment. You've read our preview, now check out our interview. The people at Ritual answered questions about returning characters, weapons, music, Action Based Outcomes, use of the Source Engine and much more. We also have two new screenshots.

In the first SiN, the environmental interactivity (such as useable payphones and being able to destroy pretty much everything) was mostly there for the player's enjoyment, but it didn't have any effect on the actual gameplay.
With that in mind, we've added another layer in SiN Episodes. A lot of the items scattered around the environments can actually be used to take out enemies. We've got oxygen tanks that fly around wildly when shot, taking out anything in their path. Then there are containers filled with mutagen, which, when punctured, release a deadly cloud that will heal mutants and hurt human enemies. Similarly, the canisters used in health terminals can be carried around and used to devolve mutants while at the same time healing yourself, so that opens up a slew of possibilities for the player when it comes to approaching combat situations. ...

Meanwhile, a new gameplay video is now available from FileShack. We have it in all kinds of resolutions including 1280x720. SiN Episodes: Emergence will be available in stores and through Steam May 10.

Ritual's SiN 1 Steam page notes that a new patch for the game is now available upon restarting Valve's content delivery program. The update fixes several problems and adds the Spool multiplayer map.

Game Overdrive has the latest SiN Episodes Q&A, asking Ritual's Levelord, Robert Atkins, Tom Mustaine about the upcoming Emergence episode. On the possibility of plans to support co-op in the future, Levelord remarks "Yes, along with multiplayer. Coop gets ignored too often these days and so many people like it.".

Computer & Video Games has the newest SiN Episodes: Emergence preview. The article offers hands-on impressions and a couple of new images.

Valve sends along a press release announcing that the first SiN Episodes episode, Emergence, will be heading to retail stores courtesy of Electronic Arts. Ritual Entertainment's Source engine powered project (which will also be available through Steam), will cost $19.99 when it ships May 9 in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Update: Valve sent out another email, announcing that the game is now also pre-loading on Steam. People who pre-order will receive a 10% discount, and will be able to play SiN 1 (single & multiplayer) right away. Meanwhile the game's official site has relaunched with new screenshots, an intel page with weapon/character/item info and more.

Over at Next Generation you can find the latest SiN Episodes Q&A with Ritual CEO Steve Nix. Being Next-Gen.biz, the interview focuses a bit more on the business side than the game's features and content.

GameSpot has a new SiN Episodes: Emergence preview, going hands-on with the build on display at GDC. IGN also has impressions.

MTV.com has an article on episodic gaming, talking to peopel at with Ritual, Valve and Telltale Games about this way of releasing games that is quickly becoming more popular.

Total Video Games has the latest SiN Episodes: Emergence Q&A, asking Ritual's Levelord about the game. Questions are about the time between the release of the first SiN game and this revival of the franchise, the process of creating episodic content, the dynamic difficulty system, characters and storyline, and interactivity among other things.

GameTrailer has a six and a half minute long SiN Episodes video interview up, talking to various people at Ritual about their episodic shooter.

Voodoo Extreme has a brief SiN Episodes status update, with lead designer Shawn Ketcherside talking about what Ritual is currently working on. A single new screenshot is included. Meanwhile, GameDaily has a new Q&A on the game.

The Electronic Gaming Live Network has posted a new G Spot show, which features a SiN Episodes interview. Ritual's Levelord, Shawn Ketcherside and Tom Mustaine were on to talk about the episodic project.

New at Computer & Video Games is this SiN Episodes Q&A. Lead designer Shawn Ketcherside talks about Blade, writing a good game script, world interactivity, he dynamic difficulty system and future episode plans.

The blog on the official SiN Episodes website has been updated, this time covering the game's Context Look system. Throughout Emergence and future episodes the system allows you to interact with all kinds of world objects for additional information, while also allowing a character like Jessica Cannon to comment if your staring starts to be a little creepy.

The developer blog on the SiN Episodes website has been updated, mentioning that the first installment Emergence is now in beta testing. That means the next few weeks will be about polishing and bug fixing and a release isn't all that far away. Lead designer Shawn Ketcherside also offers his thoughts on episodic gaming.

Mod-HQ is the latest site to post a SiN Episodes Q&A, asking Ritual's Levelord and Steve Hessel about the project. Questions are about use of the Source Engine, the reasons for making an episodic game, community input, the lack of multiplayer in Emergence, people saying the game looks like Half-Life 2, the Jessica character, AI and future episodes.

German site Extreme Player has an English language SiN Episodes Q&A, asking the Ritual tribe about their episodic shooter. Topics include the impending release of the Emergence episode, the reasons for making this an episodic series, fan influence on the project, multiplayer, and Source Engine use.

Ritual Entertainment has released the first SiN Episodes trailer for the first episode Emergence, and we have have it in various flavors on FileShack. The trailer runs for nearly three minutes showing all kinds of in-game action.

The trailer release is accompanied by a new blog update on the official website. In the blog lead game designer Shawn Ketcherside mentions that Emergence is a few days away from being content complete, after which bug fixing and balancing will begin. SiN Episodes: Emergence is due out soon on Steam.

The developer blog over at the SiN Episodes website has been updated again, going over the creation of the mercenary army grunts you'll be fighting.

Yahoo! Video Games is the latest site with a SiN Episodes preview, checking out the first chapter of Ritual's episodic shooter. There is also a Q&A with Ritual's Tom Mustaine about the game.