Ive only played up to the beginning of forget about freeman (where the concrete should start falling). The beginning parts of this mod are stellar. They kept the original feel and added a ton of stuff on top of it that fits so well. Adding additional puzzles to complement the previous design was well thought out. Outside of a few things (such as the vent maze after you come back from top side and the electrical puzzle in the rocket engine section both missing) I have to say they did a hell of a job. Theres so much to say but its better left summarized as amazing.
But then after such a strong start the problems I had feared arise. The mod doesnt maintain its quality. The tram section is streamlined way too far and lacks all the great work the beginning levels had. So much has been removed or made very linear. Even the inside of the rocket launch room has been simplified too far. You know how in the earlier levels they added lots of little touches to make the game better? These things are not there anymore. Hell, things are outright missing. Very disappointing after such a strong start.
The toxic waste section leading to the blue labs has the game picking its quality back up and continuing what it had at the beginning: redesigned levels with additional detail that you would never expect. But then you go outside and the whole dam area is lacking. This is the level where the AI really starts to show how broken it is. I killed the chopper but the two marines on the damn just stood far away so I used my suit zoom and revolver to kill them. I did a reload and I could still exploit at far distances to kill AI that wouldn't react. This worked in some levels earlier on but here it was apparent. The quality the game had initially is long gone once again. The air strike with the giant alien also felt a little lackluster with how they handled him at the base of the tower and the whole scripting situation around it. It didnt feel right.
This mod sure has its ups and downs. You cant have a few great developers on a mod team carrying everyone else. This is what annoyed me in threads about this mod saying Valve should hire the entire team. Btw, the marine voices are kind of bad. Which is odd considering the rest of the voice work is pretty good. Does that make any sense?
But then after such a strong start the problems I had feared arise. The mod doesnt maintain its quality. The tram section is streamlined way too far and lacks all the great work the beginning levels had. So much has been removed or made very linear. Even the inside of the rocket launch room has been simplified too far. You know how in the earlier levels they added lots of little touches to make the game better? These things are not there anymore. Hell, things are outright missing. Very disappointing after such a strong start.
The toxic waste section leading to the blue labs has the game picking its quality back up and continuing what it had at the beginning: redesigned levels with additional detail that you would never expect. But then you go outside and the whole dam area is lacking. This is the level where the AI really starts to show how broken it is. I killed the chopper but the two marines on the damn just stood far away so I used my suit zoom and revolver to kill them. I did a reload and I could still exploit at far distances to kill AI that wouldn't react. This worked in some levels earlier on but here it was apparent. The quality the game had initially is long gone once again. The air strike with the giant alien also felt a little lackluster with how they handled him at the base of the tower and the whole scripting situation around it. It didnt feel right.
This mod sure has its ups and downs. You cant have a few great developers on a mod team carrying everyone else. This is what annoyed me in threads about this mod saying Valve should hire the entire team. Btw, the marine voices are kind of bad. Which is odd considering the rest of the voice work is pretty good. Does that make any sense?
They didnt improve the tram section at all. They just gave up and ignored a bunch of things.The game really shines on Half-Llife weakest levels like On a Rail and Questionable Ethics, the changes they made really improved the original and thats impressive.