Reviews - Uzvara mod for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Oh MAN love the one-hit boxes. So satisfying.

Great intro and world-building with the resonating music. Good atmosphere. Kinda lame zombie combat, though. Too open and slow-paced.

Ambushes were brutal. I did enjoy the details, though, like exploring the room the soldiers came out of and seeing where I walked in on the security camera screen. Enemy placement felt more believable than the usual cramped, dark closets packed with soldiers.

God damn the SMG sux. Such a frustratingly ineffective weapon for this type of spongy enemy at range type of combat.

Combat was tense and chaotic with confusing elements tossed into the mix like obscuring enemies behind forcefields. I consider myself a seasoned Half-Life player and even a few of these encounters caught me off guard.

However, combat was best enjoyed on a second attempt after seeing what you're supposed to be looking for. Perhaps a little too difficult. The player should feel challenged but still able to finish the encounter without feeling like you need to reload a save. Fortunately, health was plentiful which limits save-scumming but leaves the player feeling unsatisfied that they were able to so sloppily escape that clearly unfair ambush.

Doors were confusing. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they lead, sometimes they mislead. Inconsistent design that only serves to confuse the player. Making the forcefield plugs so inconspicuous leads to lots of wandering around looking for a path forward.

All in all, not a bad mod that definitely deserves a play. It has some frustrating elements, but they don't last long and the mapping has you constantly grinding forward. You could easily bump this up a point or two by swapping in the AR2 and wayyy more shotgun ammo. In fact, I might just go try an impulse 101 run of Uzvara...

Pretty good for first map, but need a lot of improvement in the level design.

sehr gut Valdemar, sehr gut