head to head
vs
Half-Life 2vsSiN Episodes: Emergence
Half-Life 2 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); SiN Episodes: Emergence leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Half-Life 2SiN Episodes: Emergence
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 6
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 2
SiN Episodes: Emergence leans harder on variance: Difficulty system shuffles spawns slightly between runs
Optimization3 vs 4
SiN Episodes: Emergence leans harder on optimization: Weapon choice and encounter knowledge smooth the campaign
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.