A Half-Life 2 mod set in a semi-open world seaside town with "metroidvania" elements - explore the town to find upgrades for your HEV suit and unlock new areas. Estimated playthrough time: 1-2 hours.
A decent and pretty fun mod to play in a day-off.
I did really enjoy how the mod 'forces' you to explore and go back to those previous places you've been. It makes the gameplay more dynamic and on track. It doesn't get too repetitive since the spawns and enemies types changes every time you go back to those areas.
Good mod, extra details and sound design could be improved in the future if the creator wishes to. Worth playing!
Wow, this mod surprised me.
I started playing thinking that this is low-quality mappack that help me spend this boring evening.
But when i started playing - i couldn't stop, mod immersed me in itself.
Maybe it looks not very attractive, but level design, game design, gameplay innovations gave me wonderful hl2-mod expierence.
Though Panopticon isn't a ground breaking mod from a technical or visual stand point, it did exhibit some sweet level design and delivered on the "metroidvania" type of gameplay. Explore, Kill, Power-up, Explore again. I played 1-2 hours in one sitting and only encountered one bug: Crashed on a level transition, but autosave saved the day. The boss was kinda lame but the other fights were sufficent.
Some rad trivia: A Panopticon is a single structure used in prisons to allow a guard to watch all prisoners from one location at all times. It comes from the Greek word Panoptes which means all-seeing, not unlike the the titular watchtower you spend the whole game trying to take down. Cool stuff.
Maps feel a bit dead due to the lack of ambient sounds. Otherwise a nice map pack and well worth a try.
Its initially fun, a 8/10
however it starts to get bogged down by pixel hunting for upgrades (which are necessary, but the game never tells you how much you need) and not to mention the first tunnel transition will freeze your computer.
I finally got the wall break upgrade and then lost interest.
Its a fascinating experiment but I find it hard to recommend this to anyone but the extraordinarily patient.
Many players described it perfectly, the author too. So far I haven't seen such a mod. Nothing more to add. Definitely it should be played!
I like how the metroidvania style has implemented into the mod. I've enjoyed it overall.
One of the best and most unique hl2 mods i've ever played.
In it, you'll have to collect orange modules scattered around the map to upgrade your suit so that it can pass certain obstacles. The mod does a great job of scattering these modules around in a fun and balanced way and there is a great feel of progression.
A must try mod for sure.
Very nice mod. But hurts me the tunnel load failure