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You will play this HL2 single-player expansion.

  • Thrik
  • September 4, 2005 at 11:45 AM
  • Thrik
    • September 4, 2005 at 11:45 AM
    • #1

    It's unofficial, it's only the first (map) in a series of episodic releases, but it's fucking good. Well mapped, well entity'd, well written, well presented, challenging, fun, and seems to slot into the HL2 storyline/events fairly neatly in that it takes you to an alternate part of it, similarly to Opposing Force.

    You play as a combine soldier -- kind of. I wrote some more about it and took some screenshots here and really must stress that it's at least worth trying out.

  • -Stratesiz-
    • September 4, 2005 at 11:49 AM
    • #2

    He worked on Nightwatch. He's brilliant!

  • jimius
    • September 4, 2005 at 12:30 PM
    • #3

    Sorry I didn't post this last night

    It's really well done yeah, can't remember having this much fun with regular HL2.

  • JynxDaddy
    • September 4, 2005 at 12:41 PM
    • #4

    Awesome.

    Some of the level is really horrific, but I like it :D

    The music was awsome too~

  • skdr
    • September 4, 2005 at 12:43 PM
    • #5

    I played it, it was boring.

  • Defrag
    • September 4, 2005 at 12:48 PM
    • #6

    Nicely built, but I thought it wasn't exactly riveting. The biggest disappointment, for me, was the narrative style. Something about it just doesn't really fit. There were some nice scripted sequences (seeing the combine all sprinting across the walkway was cool) and stuff, but overall I found the inside of the combine area quite boring. I really don't have much fun running around several corridors and stairwells that all look exactly the same. I didn't find it difficult, either. There was too much health and armour everywhere. The beach area was nice though. It's a solid start and it's obvious the guy has a lot of talent, but I don't really understand why everyone is so impressed.

    IMO if he works on the narrative and gets some good voice actors it'd be so much better. Getting some text every now and then (which I didn't feel was particularly well written and was trying too hard to be enigmatic / puzzling) doesn't really inspire me to keep playing.

  • Thrik
    • September 4, 2005 at 12:57 PM
    • #7

    I personally liked the narrative style, although it would have been far better if it came through with static-ridden speech rather than just text. It has the potential to be a great device if only it were better executed. Perhaps that's just a matter of opinion, though.

    As for the gameplay itself, I found the general way that it all fit together appealing. For example, going down into the dodgy prison-like area to open up the door which you'd passed earlier on the surface, then finding another way down further on. I also liked how the whole thing was just one island, and it actually felt like a fully dimensional island to me. Not just a bunch of disjointed coastal stretches like HL2. I mean, it's nothing particularly amazing or innovative don't get me wrong, but it was solid.

    That said, it obviously does have some flaws. That last bit with all the corridors was considerably less engaging than the surface tension, and it obviously would benefit from being more than level since it's only given us a mild taste of what's to come. Overall though, the positives far outweigh the negatives for me and I enjoyed it.

    PS: I actually found it quite challenging on even medium, and died a whole bunch of times. Maybe I just suck at games.

  • jayrabbit
    • September 4, 2005 at 1:02 PM
    • #8

    It kinda reminds me of Far Cry... island, WW2 bunker and stuff

    Leveldesign was quite good but not overwhelming. Gameplay was great though, even better than most parts of the original HL2.

    The text message thing was is definintly a bad way to tell the story. I mean, who has enough time to read this cryptic stuff while being surrounded by a whole bunch of enemies.

    Anyway I'm looking forward to play the next episode.

  • FrieChamp
    • September 4, 2005 at 1:05 PM
    • #9

    Who is the creator?

  • Thrik
    • September 4, 2005 at 1:34 PM
    • #10

    Yeah, the narrative text itself was an interesting concept but the fact that it's just text completely demolishes the impact it could have. If you had a good voice actor behind that who could play the part of some anonymous, cocky oddo then it would probably work, and possibly even be a bit creepy. Perhaps this should be put forward to the author, who is Adam Foster by the way.

  • Captain P
    • September 4, 2005 at 3:15 PM
    • #11

    Those who have played Adam's first map will probably like the text and it's modem sound better. He used it before in a map and I liked it that he kept using it for this map. It's sort of consistent.

    As for the map, besides some little flaws, I liked the design, the gameplay and the athmosphere. I think he did a good job to keep the player going. Enemies weren't put in static but reacted quite dynamic, chasing him into the bunkers when the narrator told there were dropships coming in. After so many custom HLSP maps you get to like such things more...

  • Zacker
    • September 4, 2005 at 4:09 PM
    • #12

    Of course it's quality when the creator is Adam Foster:) I have yet to try it myself, but the screens look fine enough.

  • ginsengavenger
    • September 4, 2005 at 9:49 PM
    • #13

    Pretty good I thought. Again, the text was a poor device, or at least it could have been better implemented. I missed one or two of them because I was busy with enemies, they should have been on-screen longer and there was no way to go back and review.

    I liked the outdoors of the island much more than the interior. Which gives me much less to look forward to if the next chapter is also indoors. We'll see though.

  • spacer
    • September 4, 2005 at 9:54 PM
    • #14

    I fucking heart Adam Foster.

  • Tequila
    • September 4, 2005 at 9:59 PM
    • #15
    Quote from spacer

    I fucking heart Adam Foster.

    It's hard not to when he pulls out goods such as this and Someplace Else.

  • Algor
    • September 4, 2005 at 11:19 PM
    • #16

    Awesome stuff, great level design in terms of visuals, atmosphere, and item placement.

    It really was a treat to play this one. And the new music track was really cool.

    One thing that bothered me was the sense of direction was often absent, I didn't really know where to go at all times,

    which turned into a wander-fest until I found something had changed. Maybe some objective in the text that had a

    corresponding sign on the wall or unique object near that area would help a lot. Sort of the same happened when I got

    underground and the combine were attacking... their waves were so sparse I was just wandering around thinking I was

    supposed to find something. It has been brought up about the text being a bad presentation method, I agree half way.

    Maybe if there was a voiceover to go along with it... because I don't always want to read when pretty things are in front of me

    Great work though, can't wait for more.

  • D3ads
    • September 4, 2005 at 11:22 PM
    • #17

    Screenshots look snazzy, I'll have to try it out sometime if I can be arsed to deal with Steam's gayness again..

  • Campaignjunkie
    • September 4, 2005 at 11:27 PM
    • #18

    Thrik: What makes you think the player is (kind of) a Combine soldier? I know the messages refer to you as a human and a traitor, but a traitor to what exactly?

    I think Adam said he wanted to add voice-over, but he didn't have the resources to do so. I bet lots of people are going to offer themselves over, now that the first map is released.

  • Mr.Ben
    • September 4, 2005 at 11:48 PM
    • #19

    His NW work was the shit

  • Thrik
    • September 5, 2005 at 7:33 AM
    • #20

    My perception was that you are playing a human intended to become a stalker, and most likely a Combine soldier later down the road. I recall "you would have become one of them" also being in there somewhere, which makes me assume that you were a citizen possibly voluntarily on the road to combine..ness.

    My perception, anyway! ;

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