Enter the mind of Filip Valkas, who lost his parents in the Seven Hour War, and take your revenge on your Combine captors in a new story centred on the Half-Life Universe. Pick up your own crowbar and force your way out of Citizen Containment Zone 19, and lead in the uprising against the alien agressors.
I must say a ‘WOW!’ for the fantastic opening sequence. I know some people have moaned about its length and relevance to the mod, but I loved its depth of detail and the ability to look around on your journey into the bows of “The Citadel”. Here, captured and helpless Mr Valkas finds rescue of a sort in the job offer from the ‘Gman’ where we cut to a later point in his story.
The mod gets going with a wander off to church where the going gets darker. Textures are very good and the eerie sounds set a sombre mood in the dankness. Combat is straightforward and relatively easy, even with the wretched “antlions”, but medpacks seemed few. The two ‘Hunters’ I saw were no problemJ
Overall sound and visuals were ace and the gameplay interesting and enjoyable. Some light puzzle work also added to the fun.
The crane-house section stood out for me, as it was visually stunning. Great textures, water reflection and shadows made for great atmosphere. Watching the ‘poison antlions’ from behind the armoured glass of the crane control room was a hoot. They were going ballistic outside while the man I’d just freed kept telling me to duck! Then I fell off the crane three timesL
Ending at the ‘airboat’ station was a good way to end this chapter, with a snooze and a chat with the ‘Gman’.
I loved this first chapter and eagerly await the second so I reckon it gets a ‘personal favourite’ from me.