Reviews - Samuj

Now i like the idea of this mod, where you play as Gordon like a year before the Resonance Cascade. And it does live up to that, by having you meet Kleiner, Eli Vance and Calhoun, and you attending your first ever Hazard Course training session. And also doing an experiment with Rosenberg as a plus.
But my main problem (which i can't really fault the modders on) was the voice acting for Eli, Kleiner, Calhoun and Rosenberg along with a few minor characters.

Another reviewer said that the use of both Russian and English voices for the Hazard Course sign up, kind of makes it hard for it to feel like an actual prequel to HL1 events.
And i do agree it stops it from feeling that way which is my main problem with it. But again i can't really fault the modders on it but it's still a problem i have nonetheless.

I also found the stuff like the Rosenberg lab scene really boring since it reminded of stuff in Half-Life 2. All you do in this lab scene is that you sit around listening to dialogue(primarily through the text if you're 100% English like me) and you push buttons, they do make you go down to the generator to fix the experiment when it malfunctions a bit. But that's about it.

The only really puzzle i enjoyed was the part where you race Barney to get Kleiner's lab keys i think. And you crawl around in vents and you even get a Crowbar with a labcoat viewmodel hand to boot. And also what i liked about the mod was the use of custom made HD props and models along with an HD model for Doctor Green's crimson red HEV Suit in Anomalous Materials.

And while i don't really love the mod a bunch and i probably won't play a whole lot of it in the future. I do recommend this mod as long as you can get past the couple of boring parts and also see it as an unofficial mod rather than an actual prequel to HL1, as of which is obvious.

Residual Point is not the worst mod but it's also not the best, i personally think it's enjoyable with the constant action of gunplay throughout. Heavily reminding me of games like Quake and Doom, but that is also it's least enjoyable part.
Since there is constant action throughout, this doesn't leave much room for fun and interesting puzzles and detailed rooms. And speaking of the rooms, there was many points where i was thinking "Hey is this an area from Blue Shift?" or "Hey is this an area from Opposing Force?"

The only time you actually get to a familiar area is Lambda Core Level A, moments after the arrival of Freeman and Shephard. And personally i wouldn't mind this being the only point in the game where you go to a familiar area.
However since every other area before that felt uninspired, unoriginal and way too familiar despite the fact that it's supposed to be something completely new.
It in turn didn't feel surprising.

The new enemies are okay. The only one that stood out the most were the Zombie Grunts. The rest are pretty generic, one of them is the Alien Worker.

And it's basically a beefier Vort that uses the HD model version of the LD Vort. Another one is the Xenocrab.
Which is a stronger, more quicker Headcrab effectively making it HL1's version of the Fast Headcrab from Half-Life 2.
And the final three that i guess you could count are a deformed version of the Xenocrab which has a human skull for a head and has blood all around it's cockroach like body, and another being a larger Baby Headcrab. (Keep in mind you only see these two "new" enemies in one map.) Also a "Ghost Barnacle" i guess.
And lastly a Black Ops version of the M1A1 Abrams tank that again is only fought in one map and functions the same as the HECU version.

Plus some of the continuity is odd, like for instance in the beginning of the second half of the mod, it is night time when you wake up but then two maps later(approx 3-5 minutes of gameplay) it is now dusk for some reason.

And when you are in Xen at the end of the mod's campaign, some areas are so excruciating difficult that i just had to use godmode to get through it.
The end of the mod boiled down to me just constantly pressing the second mouse button with the Shotgun and the M4/MP5 over and over again. To me there wasn't much room for strategy with the rest of my weapons, it was machine gun and shotgun all the way through. (With the occasional use of the .357, Crossbow and the Gluon Gun.)

I mean there are some things to appreciate here like the use of Opposing Force monsters or the new colored HUD being white to accurately mimic the fact that you are a Cleansuit Scientist, that and also the viewmodels being the gloves of a Cleansuit Scientist. But other than that to me this mod was a mediocre experience.
And i'm not sure how i would recommend it, considering that despite me listing off more problems than positives. I am not too entirely sure how i feel about this mod. There was many points where i loved it, but other points where i hated it so all i can say is check this mod out if you want to.

I have to say this mod, is pretty........... well idk what it is.

Cause on one hand it's fun to play and it's meh at best. But on the other hand, the two major problems i have with it make it to me not all that great.

And i wanna talk about those two main gripes that i have with this mod. And yeah i know this is an old mod but that still doesn't mean i can't talk about it.

-The Level Design
The level design really shows how this is the creators first and only mod, considering how beginner tier the level design is. Now is it wrong for me to critique a person for being a beginner, well not really but i'll be easy. Other than certain beginner problems like misaligned textures and barren detail-less rooms and hallways, some of the "puzzles" if you can even call them that are really basic, way too basic at least from my experience.

One example i can give is the reactor in the Gamma Reactor area, where instead of designing two pathways to go turn on said reactor, and going to it and turning the valve, here you just open up a door that leads to it by pushing two buttons. And then you go down to the reactor and turn the valve and escape into a portal to Xen.

This to me makes no sense since should this thing have something like a generator to turn it on, other than some rusty valve. It's just really bland level design really, and it feels less like a mod with a story and more like a mod that is a pseudo shooting gallery with some hint of a story, and occasional obstacles that don't feel like obstacles.

-The Continuity
Now i know this is the third review I've made and this is the third time i have complained about continuity. But this is to me a really glaring issue with this mod's storyline. Let me give the best and only example i can give in this mod.

The mod's beginning section starts at during Anomalous Materials(the chapter), and then the incident happens, and after traversing through some sewers and getting on a tram that derails, you then get knocked out. And you wake up later presumably during Office Complex or We've Got Hostiles. And you go through Sector B and wind up in Sector C and you go through there to the Gamma Reactor and then you wind up in Xen, and then after going through another portal you then...... see Freeman getting hired by the G-Man????

Hang on one second, the last like 15 to 20 minutes of gameplay gave me the idea that it all took place during Office Complex or We've Got Hostiles but i guess not. And if you want to say that the main character woke up later during Freeman's time in Xen then okay fine. But if that's the case then why would there be Marines in Sector C, shouldn't they have already left the sector by then.

Idk it's really ******* confusing and hard to wrap my head around. But all in all this mod is fine if you like playing shooting galleries, but if you are someone like me who enjoys at least decent level design and continuity(among a few other things) then skip this mod or go ahead and play it, i'm not one of your parents.