Estranged, the story of a lone fisherman, stranded on a mysterious island during a violent storm. Explore rich environments and meet the curious inhabitants of the island as you find a way back to the mainland.
Estranged Act 1 is among the best Half Life mods around which does not feel like a HL mod! It felt similar to Underhell, being so different and story driven, but without the military aspect.
Atmosphere and sound are used to great effect, where some areas become scarier than they are because the music ramps up the tension along with the fear. However this is a very creepy game from the onset.
Puzzles are clever and not instantly obvious and require the protagonist to look around to solve any issue, except for a terminal on the 2nd floor – Marketing and Sales, where I got stuck in a terminal and had to re load a save to get past it!
Weapons and stores are handled nicely and are easy to find, but health in the cargo container warehouse is mean by comparison. Combat here is very clever and thinking is rewarded with life!
The crane had a glitch where the magnet dropped and would not come back up, but a full 360 of the crane somehow solved this and it worked normally.
A most impressive experience and I can’t wait to continue this fascinating story.
The zombies had the result of making me chuckle as I took them on. The assailant wearing mustard with black trousers reminded me of Kirk from Star Trek, the original series. (Showing one’s age)! So Kirk killing became a thing. May have got a Spock too, but a replay will tell.
Best mod ever? Maybe. Looking forward to Act 2…