Reviews - zonbie

Not what I expected. Worth dying for.

This mod is without a doubt the single greatest achievement by a Source game development team. This project raises the bar on Valve in the exact same ways that Valve raised the bar on the whole gaming industry.

This mod is a masterpiece that will be discussed, studied, lauded, and replayed for many years to come.

There is much to explore and discover in this mod. A very Half-Life-2-centric mod with plenty of combat and storytelling. Beautiful vistas throughout, epic brushwork, and plenty of custom content. Especially impressive final chapter.

I think Aberration has great potential but is currently lacking in a few key areas.

PRO: Good brushwork and aesthetics. Nice lighting in later levels.

CON: Schizophrenic atmosphere (ie, horror theme in one map and alien shooter in another, etc). There are no story elements, which makes the mod lack cohesion (ie, horror elements and shooter elements seem to exist solely for gameplay purposes and reveal nothing about the character, etc). Too difficult on Hard Mode (ie, fighting 16+ soldiers and two hunters in one vast but poorly lit arena - with very limited health kits for assistance). Borrows horror elements heavily from Nightmare House 2 (ie, using shadow people, sounds, and encounters ripped right out of NH2, and even using the same "automated scare" entity system). Most models in the game appear to be glitching, including player view models (ie, it seems that some triangles are missing from certain models while others seem to stretch into some infinitely distant point). No autosave points (ie, I played through the first 15 minutes of the game and then died in a battle, just to reload at the very beginning of the map).

The map's author should consider this first release to be a playtest and just continue to improve his maps. Like I said, they have potential to really be fun.

Not for everybody, but pretty thoughtful...and reading the accompanying articles makes this even better. Chapter One's final puzzle can be pretty damn difficult, which I found refreshing. Chapter Two was the experimental collaboration, and it shows. Chapter Three was really interesting and wrapped things up nicely. I say, give it a shot!!

This short but sweet map packs a lot into a little.

PRO:
-Excellent indoor areas!! The apartments feel cramped but not frustrating. There is very little to "trip on" in terms of loose props and/or furniture. Awesome multi-level exploration with amazing attention to details.
-Fun with rebel squads!! Combat with rebels is always fun.
-Cool puzzle!!

CON:
-Weak beginning and ending!! I disliked the opening location from a technical aspect. The artificial fog generated frame rate problems for me and it clipped into brushes. I think the ending was too sudden. I should have been permitted to walk all the way up the final route before the fade to black.
-Unsatisfactory lighting throughout!! I really disliked the bloom I experienced throughout the mod. The outdoor sunny areas were very bright and took away from the art of the scenes. The indoor light entities were creating "blobs" of light on the walls, also reducing the experience.
-Too easy!! I played on hard mode and did go below 50% health, nor did I ever run out of ammo. Let's just say there was very little to fear in this mod.

OVERALL, AN AWESOME LITTLE RUN. WAS WORTH THE DOWNLOAD.

This is one of those rare mods that captures the essence of Valve's games. However, it is somewhat inconsistent. The brushwork is all solid but the locations feel uninspired. The combat is difficult but sometimes feels tedious. I am also disappointed that the custom weapon was removed.

Still, this is probably going to be on Top Ten lists for a while.

The architecture hearkens back to the days of the original Quake. However, this is offset by including a great deal of dynamic lighting, awesome sound and music, and some tough action sequences. The whole thing feels inspired by Bioshock or (to a lesser degree) Dead Space. I truly enjoyed the horror elements and the unique new enemy to fight (not spoiled here). I think the horror elements could have been greatly expanded upon; if only the mapping had been more unique and expansive, the mod team could have built some breathtaking horror-inducing set pieces.

The mod is very difficult because citizens are naturally more aggressive than Combine soldiers, so play this one on Easy mode, even if you are used to playing on Hard mode. I was very thankful that the shotgun is fully automatic.

I think the mapping was excellent. The stylish rooms and colors were top-notch. I think the gameplay was probably great for people who enjoy pixel hunting. I am not one of those people. I enjoyed the combat at the ending. The author should make combat a more important role in future mods. I don't mind playing the pixel hunt as long as I can enjoy some action in between. The bleeding mechanic and the vertigo-inducing camera shakes were also awesome.