Reviews - PlayMann

The fact that this was made for the Enhanced version plus with new weapons and all other neat stuff, I like this mod. I hope there will be soon more mods in the future like this one.

First, I will say that this mod is for sure a hell of a (second-hand) nostalgia drive with the quite cool (albeit almost Counter-Strike: Source copied) world-building that you'll see right the first time you start playing this mod. I don't know what else screams the '2005-2010s' vibe more than this mod, and that's one big plus from me if you play this mod as of now in the 2020 times and so forth.

You can tell that lot of ideas went into this mod, with new redesigned weapons (that yet again pay somewhat of an homage not only to CS:S once again but also to DOOM 3 and other games that were released on similar release dates), 'new' enemies and a new sick soundtrack that unfortunately plays quite rarely if I recall my past memories correctly with this mod. (IIRC, I finished this mod in 2018, and only in 2019 did I decide to write a review about it; rewriting this as of 2022.) You can maybe say that small spiders instead of beloved headcrabs seem lame, but once you'll play this mod, you will fear them just as much as you feared headcrabs. There are other new-looking (or just reskinned) abomination enemies that will give you some goosebumps, but other than that, it still makes sure that the HL2 vibe and feeling are still in place.

What fails though in my opinion is the story (actually its plot) and the level design (actually the pacing, how you 'solve' some of the levels). I also forgot to mention that instead of just being a (nameless) hero in the dark corners of City 17, you're in an entirely new modern normie world with an inevitable apocalypse coming right at ya and the rest of the humans. You're Alexander Zemlinksky, and apparently, you suffer from leukemia, which pretty much means cancer. And as you live for the rest of your uncertain life as a subway technician, something 'uncertain' happens one day as well: you're kidnapped by god knows who, then you find out that suddenly streets are roamed by your exact zombie clones (that infect others so it's not just you), and all you gotta do now is drift on, in this brand new world, and survive above all. This would be quite a cool premise too, if there was just some more to the established exposition that you can already read here on the mod's page, to begin with.

You will only scratch the surface, but once you decide to open the hatch and jump down into the black nothingness, you won't learn anything new or see something that supports the plot and Alex's reason to keep on going; darkness is all there is, and it will persist to the very end. Characters that should tell you something important don't, and if there is someone with promising information for you, they either get killed or they're ushered into the silent chaos (your sister for example that left you a phone call regarding a "mistake she made about you"). And that is everything to keep things short, you will have to play it for yourself because I am starting to run out of remaining characters lol.

Regarding design, there are instances where some level--instead of having a puzzle despite the indication of a lot of props around, machinery, and what not--is completed in quick, and linear way (ie. killing a miniboss instead or/and taking an exit nearby). It won't make sense, it maybe won't feel good too, and neither will the tutorial levels (which are surely tied to the plot once again, but I can't tell). But that is just Get a Life, and you will have to get used to its ways if you want to play through it for real.

I could mention as well that the flashlight being in its own weapon slot(!) is quite annoying, but I bet you surely got through DOOM 3 with the flashlight as a weapon that you had to eventually holster to dispatch some monsters, so good luck on your crusade here. If you expect to be engaged in the plot (which sure you will be, you will certainly try to make sense of the things that'll happen in this mod by progressing and learning more about the world, plot-wise), you might be disappointed at the end. BUT...but, that is Get a Life. I recommend this mod for nostalgia and some new cool things you might not see nowadays. Regarding plot and well-thought levels, developers either forgot or it was intentional, so don't let your guard down.

To quickly summarize this, it's a shitpost mod parodying the whole beta/alpha-recreation scene. (at least the end product.) And because of that, there isn't much to say really. Lots of innuendos, 'minimalist' I think points to the apparent 'difficulty' of actually recreating a mod based on older concepts; it is indeed hard alright with all the references you have for free, so better keep it minimalistic.

The only 'interesting' part in my opinion was the hazard course. If you'll manage to find the video of a Russian guy (from Hl2-beta.ru) who happened to stream this mod feat the developers from this mod and get to the part where he is a little bit bewildered as to why he has to kill a sobbing child for some reason, meanwhile the dev guys giggle and know the joke, you will quickly figure out the dev's game.

I like the overall vibe though (that might be accidental and/or parodical), not gonna lie.