Reviews - Mxthe

Liked the concept so much I joined the Dev team.

True story.

If Cry of Fear teaches us one thing, it's that it's not just about the story, but more about how it's delivered.

The game has a very retro and classic gameplay to it, with very limited inventory slots, solving strange puzzles to advance in a world that doesn't make sense, not because it was badly made, but on the contrary, because it was made to be confusing and ominous.

The Stamina bar is your worst enemy in this game, with very scarce ammunition for your fire arms, and with each of your movements (except regular walking) costing stamina, it becomes very clear that the stamina plays a major role in the game, and that is fine to accentuate the survival feeling of the combat, but during many nightmare sequences, or platforming sequences, the player is required to sprint and jump multiple times, and having to wait for your Stamina to recharge in a nightmare sequence can get tedious, but overall the addition of this gameplay mechanic adds a lot to the game.

On a technical point of view, this game is a marvel, I have found myself amazed multiple times at how good this looks for GoldSource, the ViewModels are amazing, and the enemies are not so bad themselves, I appreciated the fact that they move and behave differently than the regular Half Life NPCs, it did not feel like Half Life at all.

The weakest point of the game would be it's gameplay, many times the player is required to backtrack to very early stages of the game, to be able to move forward, and even if some plans placed around the game help, you really have to walk around and try to open every door and just try "Everything" you can think of to find the correct route.

Overall this is a good game for everyone who likes survival horror, I found myself wanting to stop playing multiple times, frustrated by annoying sequences, or just because I was lost, but the story kept me going, I just wanted answers, and answers I got.

This game isn't for everyone, but if you like this style, then you will love this one.

THE best Single Player Half Life 2 mod based in the Half Life 2 universe in my opinion.

Great level design, great concept, great ideas, interesting narrative elements.

And above all else, which is why I am bias with this mod...

It was made by one man, who later got hired by Valve.

An inspiration to us all and especially to me...

When Poetry meets great visual ambience.
When Art meets Design.
When Great Voice Acting meets Great Script.
When Strong Narrative Elements are implied ant not exposed.
When an entirely new "MOOD" arises.

You get Dear Esther.

Don't expect to "Have Fun" here, you won't be shooting anything, it is like going to the Museum while Reading poetry.

It is beautiful, it is interesting, it is deep and immersive.

Garry's mod is a Sandbox mod, it's very difficult to give a "rating" to a game where you just build and do what you want.

The criteria to judge it are, in my opinion the following:

-Tools at your disposal
-Amount of possibilities
-Flexibility of the engine
-Stability of the engine
-How often is the game updated

And by those criteria, I can say that Garry's Mod deserves a 10, with countless tools, that can even be downloaded, same as for maps and models, and even LUA scripts that was implemented into the Source Engine (one of the best ideas ever), Garry's Mod is not only a great Sandbox Mod, it is also one of the best Sandbox GAMES, right next to Minecraft.

In addition to that the Mod has been constantly updated, adding new tools, new features and fixing problems very often.

This is one of the most played mods for the Source Engine (if not THE most played mod)

Well deserved success.

The Hidden Source - Source Remake of the Original The Hidden for Half Life has one awesome concept, that it does not fail to deliver.

One team of "I.R.I.S", armed to the teeth with High-Tech equipment must chase down an escaped Test Subject whose only weapon is a knife.
Only issue to this situation, the Test Subject is invisible.

However he is not 100% invisible, he leaves a refraction aura, similar to Predator, and in addition to that he can leap great distances and stick to walls.

This recipe, makes the game very versatile, it is never clear who is the hunter and who is the prey, and everything can change in a split second, for the "Hidden" is quick.

The last version released was a Beta, which still contains minor bugs and glitches, unfortunately those bugs and glitches DO affect gameplay, and while I would not call them game breaking, they can still ruin some rounds.

Great concept, great mod, needs polishing but still very enjoyable.

Mod stands for Modification, either it is a Single Player Story modification a Multiplayer Modification or an improvement what so ever to the original game that fills more than one category (level design, texture, sound and models).

Other wise it would be call a texture pack, map pack, model pack ect...

But to actually re-imagine, re-make and re-mix elements to give a new fresh look and feel to an already existing game is no easy task.

The models in CINEMATIC MOD are simply the best models in terms of quality and realism that there are today, with the exception of the CRYSIS games.

That one person, is actually competing with a Video Game company in terms of overall graphic quality, is simply astonishing.

You might like, or not like the actual new feel and look of CINEMATIC MOD, but either way one thing cannot be criticized, the quality of work put into this mod.

From a designer's perspective, I give it an absolute 10 !

From a gamer's perspective, I also give it a 10, simply because I personally enjoy this new feel, look and sound for Half Life 2.

I do not think it is better or worse, but simply different and fresh, to me Half Life 2 remains one of the best games ever made, but this is Cinematic Mod for Half Life 2, and it's exactly what it feels like, a Cinematic Experience.

NightMare House 2 is simply one of the best Single Player Modifications for the Source Engine.

The narration is at it's best, the story is implied and not actually explained, the story is discovered through GAMEPLAY and actual SCENES, not through hours of explanations.

It is a well built, well driven Horror game, and will make you feel multiple emotions throughout.

From fear, to thrill, to anger, to sadness, to confusion and ultimately satisfaction and awe, this game is really a good example to follow in terms of narrative and story based experience.

As a horror fan I must admit it is a perfect blend between "clean" A.Hitchcock horror genre, and the "messy" bloody zombie killing horror genre.

It walks the thin line between absolute ambient horror with a few action sequences to mix the rythm and ultimately increase the overall enjoyment.

The Voice Acting is one of the best I have ever heard in a modification, the music can be Ambient, Action Packed and even inspiring at times, with a memorable Main Theme and really good audio quality.

Congratulations to the whole team, you have marked the Game Modifications history.

The concept is really good.

From what I understood, it is about living the time lapse between Half Life 1 and 2 through the eyes of a "normal guy".

Even though I am pretty sure this "normal guy" is in fact someone important to the story, the fact that we are an ordinary man facing extra ordinary circumstances makes this mod feel overwhelming in a similar way the movie Cloverfield might make you feel.

On the development's perspective I would say it is really good too, good weapons, level design, believable voice acting and good music.

The 3 points I have removed is not for one particular reason, but an addition of minor to medium details that could be polished and improved, as well as a general value of appreciation I have for this mod.

The different patches show that the team is really dedicated and have a passion for this project.

As far as I am concerned, this mod stands on the top 10 of Half Life 2 Story Line based Single Player mods.

Keep up the good work !