Reviews - BrowningMG

This Remod is literally a downgrade of two good mods. Softlocking bugs, wacky and non-consistent visuals (some textures are upscaled, others are blurred), sometimes terrible sounds in ETC 1 Remod and missing enemies in ETC 2 Remod.

Play it only if you like HD-fied everything and custom weapon models. If not, try originals mods instead.

Let's start with curious detail. ESHQ uses minimalistic, boxy, utilitarian-looking, geometrically-minimalistic aesthetics. And its clearly not because you can't make a tube non-square - in fact, those circular textures on some of the machines (teleporters and other "beamy" devices) blended with the environment so well I sometimes mistook it for an actual circle. And some of script sequences as well as level layouts and just the silent spectacle of some places were impressive.

Author made some fire and flooding levels so well I can call it genius moves. You've made working smoke - that suffocates you! - and flood that looked like water coming under great pressure! And that bit where whole section of corridor sinks in lava and you use intact part as an elevator - that's truly something. Despite simple, utilitarian looks of this mod, I've yet to see equal amount of attention to details in any other HL1 mod. And I don't mean "details" as decoration - I mean putting parts of wall that collapsed into the cave in lower section of the cave where those bits would naturally land! Or placing scratch mark from big piece of ventilation pipe being thrown down the corridor - right where they should have naturally been!

If anyone would be fooled by squares on squares that are most of the levels - heck, shame on them! This level of detailing is beyond what most mods could dream of.

Of course, there are downsides as well. Sometimes there are almost hour-long sections without any fights - not what most HL players are used to. You just go around, explore, proceed forward, do some puzzle, gather some secrets. I loved these quiet moments, but not everyone will.

Oh, and often you must do puzzle to proceed. Find what to press or key, or what to shoot and how, etc. At no point it really halted my progress, but a few times I wasted 10-15 minutes trying to figure out what the heck am I supposed to do. But not once did I use the walkthrough! Every puzzle is perfectly doable with no external clues - just be a bit more tenacious and use your brain.

Also, author isn't English-speaking. More precisely, he is definitely Russian-speaking, because when you, like me, can use both of these languages, some typical Russian-to-English translation mistakes become obvious. So, while text is good enough, and is, BTW, voice-acted (or machine-voice-acted? no idea), there are some really silly mistakes here and there.

All in all, ESHQ is like good old games - perhaps, a homage? - its does not hold your hands and half-walk itself. ESHQ makes you think, not just shoot stuff. It makes you orient yourself on the level, look around, investigate minor details - think, think, think.

And this is brilliant. I certainly could do with more HL1 mods like this beauty.

All in all, solid 8-8.5/10. Recommended to anyone not too afraid of puzzles and long-*** levels.

P.S. If we would compare this mod with any other HL mod, then indeed Residual Life has some semblance. But even more so - that Call of Ctulhu mod. Basically has the same formula: some puzzles, some levels you mostly walk through, minimalistic design. Only its minimalism wasn't, I think, a choice of style - more likely that author couldn't do better. That mod was quite junky at times.

The OG everyone should respect. The only downside for some people would be all these oversized half-empty areas. But for me it was a cherry on top - I really dig the aesthetic.

Cool short mod, easily completable under 2 hours. Features compact and quite detailed maps (especially for 2004) with good and decently difficult firefights. Has its own take and vibe both on Black Mesa and Xen surroundings and do not feels like a small HL clone.

Probably the only few downsides besides small size are its small intro and some areas having inobvious exits.

All in all an instant recommendation. Short, simple and very fun. If you are HL fan sick of mega-projects like Echoes, Residual Life, Residual Point, Azure Sheep or They Hunger, this mod will provide a great relief.

Probably the only HL mod that requires a map and an instruction to fully explore. The sheer marvel of branching playthrough with multiple secret chapters and several ways to end it just awe-inspiring. It was probably the best HL mod I've ever played.

On of the best mods of C&C Generals: Zero Hour for following reasons:
1) relatively well-balanced while maintaining generals' distinct and clear specialization and features.
2) brings in twenty ton of new stuff (faction reworks, units, powers, features, etc), most of which are good.
3) looks beautiful with lots of special effects while not being too laggy - a miracle for ZH mod.
4) generally well-optimized, despite previous points.
5) this point is personal, but I like ZH mods with a lot of WMDs and this mod has them in numbers, while not making them too OP.

10/10, most enjoyed mod for ZH that I've played in recent years, thoroughly recommend it.

P.S. I fell in love with this mods' nukes. Even Contra ones didn't give me such pleasure. They are a treat both visually and gameplay-vise - finally I have nukes that looks play and feel POWERFUL. All the while not being total OP, which is quite something. Nothing beats the feeling you get when you glass entire enemy base with one powerful salvo.