Reviews - Hezus

I wrote a lenghty review but MODDB didn't save it... X_x

Just completed the Early Access version of Signal Lost and I must say I was blown away by the looks and feel of the MOD! The stunning map design mixed with the alpha assets ggives it a unique look that sets it apart from Half-Life but still very much breaths the same as Half-life. Immaculate attention to detail. Very impressive.

I have much love for Uplink (as some of you might expect) and I've really enjoyed this rendition of that episode. You've kept a few key scenes and expanded and improved on it so much. Once again, awesome job.

So, why not 10/10? I do like the pacing between action and exploring but I'm missing my favourite part: puzzles! There hardly are any other than find the keycard. A few puzzles would make it more enjoyable.

Lastly would be AI. Monsters often stand around idle when you shoot them from a distance and do not run for cover. And the Panthereye was very disappointing.. it looks so menancing but isn't much of a threat at all. Make it stronger and faster!

So much for my critism! Love to see more :)

This MOD was made by me and taken without any permission by TheTank20.

Review of the DEMO version (Part one):

Maps are really well done and visually briliant. There's so much detail in there and very well made lighting, pushing Source to the limits. This sometimes also lead to some annoyance where you get stuck on props.

Gameplay is a bit stale at the start. Walk into a room, 2 headcrabs spawn in front of you, walk into another room, headcrab spawns, etc. It gets better later on where soldiers ambush you from multiple sides and even the aliens can sometimes suprise you. So, some combat encounters could use another look, imho. Also, ammo was quite low at times.

The weapons look nice and feel good, with exception of the assault rifle. It could use some better animations. I like how the pistol fires quite slow, just like the NPC Barney would.

While the maps look great, they sometimes feel quite empty, especially at the start. The facility doesn't always feel alive. NPC's just stand around and don't talk to you. You are often traveling around alone, without any sign of friendly or enemy life. Luckely, there are more fun and interesting sequences later on.

So, all in all, visuals are near perfect but there's still some room for improvement in the gameplay department.

Just had the pleasure of playing Abeyance. It was a short experience and I'm applauding the creator for the visual presentation. All areas are nicely detailed, lighting is great and the usage of models gives the Goldsrc engine a different appeal.

The mod only consists out of 1 map, which is fine by me because (being a mapper myself) it can take a long long time to create a full blown single player MOD by yourself. The recently released Echoes MOD took nearly 5 years! So I'm certainly not going to give the creator any flak because of this.

However, the way the levels are designed and the intended gameplay do not lengthen the experience at all. Every part of the map can be won by simply running straightforward into the next teleporter. It doesn't help that each part more or less has the same ending (black room with jumping puzzle). The only thing holding you back from speedrunning this within 2 minutes, are the cutscenes. At first it was a suprise to end up back in my bed, but I really didn't have to watch my character wake up for a third time.

So, while it all looks great, there isn't really much to actually play in this MOD. Imho, if your mod is only 1 map, then really try to sqeeze as much out of it as possible. Make the fights hard, put in more puzzles, make players circle around and reuse rooms for different purposes. Now it feels like it's just parts being loosly stitched together without a clear goal.

I really love your detailing and lighting, but since it's an old engine, the visuals will never be as important as the actual gameplay and that's what really falls short in Abeyance. Therefor my rating of 6/10.

Echoes is a visually stunning and very well done MOD. It'll give you a new outlook on the events of Black Mesa, although the creator takes some liberties with the canon of Half-Life. Some enemies that were cut from HL's development are reintroduced and play a part in the story, such as Mr. Friendly and the Kingpin. There is also a lot of foreshadowing to the events of HL2. Sometimes these events strike me as a bit odd but it doesn't ruin the gameplay.

As said, the brushwork and texture usage is excellent. It mostly uses textures from the never released Nightwatch mod, but throws in a few old HL textures in there as well. Sometimes this is quite noticable (like the vending machine) and it would have been better to also use new textures for those.

The maps are very spacious and even in the distance there are lots of details to find. Lighting and other effects are also very well done, although coloured lights were overused in my opinion. They can be very effective to create a certain atmosphere or visual effect but in some places they were used so much that it started to look unrealistic. Especially the parts where the pink fleshy stuff shows up.

The authors' take on Black Mesa is a bit different from the original. It's darker and grittier and so is the gameplay. Sometimes it's closer to a horror than an action, but there is enough variation in gameplay to enjoy this mod, if horror isn't your thing.

What really stands out for me is are the sequences with the Garg. Especially when it's wrecking or using the environment to throw stuff at you. I've made maps for HL for years and I know how hard it is to get effects right and look realistic in this engine.

I've played this on the hard mode and I sure got what I asked for. It's quite a bit more difficult than HL's hard mode and you'll face far more enemies at a time. Also at the start, supplies are hard to come by, so sometimes it's better to run and avoid combat, which I thought was quite nice.

The use of NPCs is really good. Black Mesa looks very lively and there is tons of stuff going on. Even after the accident, you can see groups of employees trying to make their way out. Here's a little personal disappointment: when I saw those groups, I was really looking forward to join up with such a group, since I've never seen that in any HL mod before. Sadly, most of the time you venture through the facilities by yourself.

So, this is definatly a must-play for HL fans and if you played it, do another round later on, because there are lots of little fun things and secrets to discover when you look for them!

As a huge Half-life fan I always love to see projects like these: bringing old content to life! Dark Interval gives you a peek into 'what could have been' if Valve continued on the path of the earlier drafts of the HL2 scripts. I own the book 'Raising the Bar' and recognised quite a bit of the artwork in this MOD.

Let's cover the artwork first: many of the outside areas are really well done. I enjoy that gloomy industrial feeling the authors have created here. There is quite a lot of space around you (which is very unlike HL). A few of the highlights can also be found inside, but some of the inside areas could use some visual improvements. Pretty often corridors and rooms you pass through are just empty boxes with props in it and I've even encountered rooms with just 1 texture all around. Quite the eyesore on an otherwise well done job.

While I'm allowed to complain: It's DARK! I've set my screen to the optimal gamma settings but still I have to resort to the flashlight a LOT! The mod could really benefit from some extra light.

Then the gameplay.. or rather the lack thereof. Dark Interval feels more like a scenic tour than an actual game to me. There is hardly any action and storywise it's quite bland. A few vital NPC's (lacking proper choreographed scenes) tell you where to go but all other characters are mute and inactive. I did enjoy touring around for a while but once Barney told me the metropolice were on to me, I imagined the game would pick up the pace. Yet, the combine still stare at me as if I was a regular person. A few good chase scenes (like HL2 did in the residential areas) would be good.

As I said, areas often look nice, but lack the dynamics to be really convincing. I hoped to see more life (such as the combine military parade or the dementors going around burning stuff) in these maps! Add more puzzles, add more action!

One last thing you should REALLY adress are the transitions between areas. In 1998 Half-Life was one of the first 3D shooters to adapt a seamless game experience. Valve would never resort to 'fade to black' travel which you used frequently. In some cases I looked behind me and I couldn't even see where I originaly came from. It's really a sign of lazy design and doesn't do justice to an otherwise pretty well done MOD.

Great experience for a small team MOD! It's quite lenghty compared to other mods and will keep you busy for a few hours, especially played on HARD mode. Hard difficulty in this MOD is quite harder than you remember from HL2.

Many HL2 features and puzzles can be found in this game and often with a new twist. The MOD's strongest point is the enemy placement. Monsters will often pop up behind you or flank you. Often the rooms are designed to bring out the best in combat. The walking flashlight was quite cool, but maybe a bit too long. Depending quite a lot on AI can cause problems, which it did in a few cases during my playthrough.

Storywise it's a nice twist as well, playing on the Combine end of the story. Many cutscenes and information on screen (or written on walls) mix this chapter into the HL2 storyline.

Where this MOD could use some improvement is in it's visuals. Some areas are really well done, while others are quite bland. Overall, I would recommend an overhaul of the lighting for all areas. Often lights are overbright and areas are so dark you are forced to use the nightvision 95% of the time. The nightvision creates a grainy overlay which makes the game look less good and it gives me headaches after longer periods of time.

In the start the item placement could be better too. I kept getting stuck in or behind props. This was less of an issue later on.

I encoutered a few small bugs during the game and some bigger ones towards the end which made me noclip to the next area one or two times.

All in all, really fun MOD to play. Could be ever better with new lighting and gameplay tweaks, but really recommend this one if you are looking for a challenge!

Very well done MOD, both visually and gameplay wise! It's pretty unique to start off right in the vehicle and there is also a lot of open space to explore (compared to the original HL2 campaign). The creator really gives players enough freedom to engage problems in several ways or visit certain locations in different orders. Very non-linear, and thus good!

I expected it to be short, but I hoped it would at least last till the end of the story line. Now it feels more like a preview than an actual release. But surely a lot of work has gone into making these maps, so I don't blame the author for this. Let's hope there will be more chapters in the future!

Little design critism:
Some doors are boarded up and can be broken by crowbar and some can't. It's best to chose one way to handle this mechanic, not to confuse players if they are doing anything wrong.