harv_hark
Harvey joined
Currently experimenting with ambience as a story telling mechanic. If you are a beginner Level Designer looking for advice, feel free to shoot a message. Currently open to paid opportunities and projects. I was a semi-professional level designer for 9 years. My previous projects included: - Operation Black Mesa (Tripmine Studios) - Guard Duty (Tripmine Studios) - Hazard Team - Maps for Aerolite Gaming - RP_BMRF - GM_YorkshireMoors - International Airport Roleplay - Cube Zero - Living (Cancelled game)
Reviews
**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, READ AT OWN RISK!**
I'm going to do a completely honest review of this mod.
Right off the bat I want to say that it is obvious that a heck of a lot of thought and care has been put in to this mod. The aesthetics show this.
Quite frankly, this is some of the best mapping I have see quality-wise on the GoldSRC Engine. Albeit dated, it plays like a dream.
The scenes such as the alien arm breaking through an entire lab and through a door were simply spectacular!
But unfortunately, the mod is spoilt quite badly by a few flaws.
First of all, I feel some of the areas didn't really feel "Black Mesa'ey" such as the Laboratories made of rusty metal, and the entire sewer scene, including the areas made of brick.
These tunnels reminded me more of an SCP horror game as opposed to an underground research facility.
The other MAJOR issue I have with this mod is that it just really isn't fun to play...
I spent 90 percent of my time figuring out what I did wrong, where to find the keycards, and why I do a half an hour journey, just to find I have to re-assess all the things I did to find the right item.
The part that ****** me off the most has to be the sewers, I felt I was punished for not being smart enough for going in to the pipe where the note was with the numbers on. It was not made obvious enough; I accidentally missed it and ripped my hair out for half an hour trying to figure out why I couldn't progress forward.
Overall it is a damn nice looking MOD, but it just doesn't feel like Half-Life to me. It needs less ambiguous puzzles, and more shoot-em-up style scenes. I felt I wasn't really in a research complex any more.
I recommend you give it a play through, but don't expect it to be in the same style as other Half-Life 1 modifications.
That's my opinion on this mod.
