SiN: Reloaded Review: The 1998 Shooter Finally Gets Its Due

SiN had the worst possible timing. Ritual Entertainment's shooter came out in 1998, right next to Half-Life, and shipped in a state that needed a hefty patch. It got buried. Twenty-eight years later, SiN: Reloaded from Nightdive Studios and Atari launched on September 24, 2026 on PC (Steam and GOG), PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch and Switch 2 - and it finally gives Colonel John R. Blade a fair shot.

What it is

A remaster, not a remake. You're Blade, a security chief in a dystopian city fighting a corporation and its genetically engineered army. The package bundles the original campaign with the Wages of SiN expansion, runs on Nightdive's KEX Engine with support up to 4K and 144 fps, and lets you flip between the remastered and classic visuals whenever you like. There's multiplayer too, online and in local split-screen, which is a lovely throwback.

How it plays

This is where SiN always tried to be smarter than its peers. Levels are big and full of things to poke: terminals you can hack, machinery you can operate, alternate routes, and choices that change how later missions unfold. Enemies react to where you shoot them, and the whole thing has a physical, interactive feel that was ahead of its time.

Nightdive's modernised controls and UI do a lot of heavy lifting. Movement is quick, aiming is clean, weapons have punch, and it plays like a proper modern-feeling boomer shooter rather than a museum piece. On a decent PC it's basically instant - the requirements are tiny.

The tone is pure late-90s: cheesy one-liners, a villain who's all camp and cleavage, and humour that would make an HR department faint. It's PEGI 18 for a reason. I found it more charming than cringe, but your mileage will vary.

The lows

Nightdive polished the surface, not the bones. Level design is uneven - some maps are brilliant little sandboxes, others have you hunting for one switch in a maze of grey corridors with no idea where to go. A few of the original's quirks and bugs survive too. And unlike, say, Quake or Doom, SiN was never a flawless classic, so this remaster can't magically become one. Next to modern retro shooters like the ones that have filled Steam lately, it sometimes struggles to stand out beyond its ideas.

Price

At EUR 29.99 on Steam with the expansion included, it's fairly priced, and Switch owners get the Switch 2 Edition upgrade free. For players in our region, where a new AAA game costs seventy euros, this is an easy weekend purchase - even easier on the first sale.

Who it's for

Anyone who remembers the original, fans of Nightdive's work, and retro-FPS players who want something with more interactivity than a pure run-and-gun. If you hate getting lost in 90s level layouts, keep a guide handy.

Verdict

SiN: Reloaded is exactly what a remaster should be: respectful, feature-rich and fairly priced. The game underneath is ambitious and flawed in equal measure, and that's the honest ceiling here.

Score: 7/10

Image: The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:E3_2011_-_Atari_booth_(5830553339).jpg