"It's kind of like trying to explain Final Fantasy VIII to a lemon."

So, I took the bate and decided to pre-order SiN Episodes: Emergence off of Steam. I've been kind of weary about it because A) I never finished the orignal SiN, and I don't really remember it's story or merrits, and B) I'm still sort of undecided about Episodic Content.

It's mostly the Episodic Content thing. I mean, it's not exactly a new concept. In fact some might consider the numerous Half-Life expansions to be more like Episodes then anything else, each one telling a different part of the same story. Some people relate it to add-ons for MMO's and online adventure games, but I don't really think they are the same thing. What worries me the most is that, especially in a genre like First Person Shooters, you're going to come across a lot of people who don't want to pay $20 for a six hour game, when they can pay $40 for 15-20 hours. Part of what made Half-Life 2 my favorite FPS is that it was long. Sure, the story didn't get any clearer--though ironically still a better conclusion than Halo 2--but you still got more out of the story then you would in one episode. Not to say that I have anything against having a story-arch over time, but games aren't made the same way TV shows are.

In a TV show, there are at least three or four episodes in a given season that touch on the main story-arch. Say each episode SiN Episodes--which is reportedly going to have each episode at least six months apart--has a piece of the story. Do you really want to wait at least six months for just one episode? Six months for six-to-eight hours doesn't really sound all that appealing.

Now I could be very wrong. I may play SiN Episodes and like it so much that six months from now I'll be pre-ordering on Steam from day one. I'm not going to say it's unlikely in anyway. The main difference here is that, much like a movie franchise, if one episode is good, but the next sucks, the third probably won't get as many viewers--or players, for those keeping track. In a regular game that is enjoyable, if one level is particularly frustrating or bad, you still have plenty of game left to make up for that crappy section. In an Episodic game, if one episode is great, and you wait six months just for a crappy level, you're going to be sorely dissapointed, especially since you won't have the rest of the game to tide you over.

These are all concerns mind you. That's not to say it can't work, and god knows I'm intrigued by it. If it does work, it could be a very interesting direction for the gaming market to go in. It would mean cheaper games, but also decidedly less content. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Peace,
Ram