Reviews - Causality Effect mod for Half-Life 2

Unplayable. It's just ludicrously hard and yes I am playing with MMod. It's ridiculous without it too. So much buildup for no pay off.

Short, but meaty map with an abundance of difficult combat.

Interesting how a game that is so combat heavy can make you want to avoid engaging bosses, wondering if there's another way.

Really does a nice job with the warzone aesthetic. Feels like a genuine battlefield.

This mod is tough, no doubt about it, but rewarding to complete. Combat could be more inventive and less sloggish, but it satisfies that run'n'gun itch.

Expansive and authentic environments. Loved looking out over the multi-strider arena and getting a sense for the massive scale of the Combine's reach. The size of that barricade is impressive.

The plot was kinda far-fetched and poorly scripted with all the bizzarely precise time jumps. There were too many rushed "twists" to really feel any sort of emotion or attachment to any of the characters. Got ending 1 of 4, it sucked, and I really don't have much drive to try and figure out what I could've done differently to achieve a different ending. Maybe kill that Antlion Guard? Oh wait I killed that one. Not exactly a memorable boss fight after the lead-up. Oh right, YouTube it is.

I thought the mapping was decent. No real issues getting stuck and the game felt like it was moving at a decent clip with varied envrironments. Not thrilled about having to sit around for the retail "cutscene", though. Wouldn't have minded if the payoff was better and the game actually felt like Half-Life. Show. Don't tell.

Great concept, poorly executed. All said, the pros do outweigh the cons.

Poor level design. Sometimes it just too many enemies spawn at once that even can't pass through under normal difficulty. The plot of Alyx's betrayal is also somewhat ridiculous, though the multiple endings may seem interesting

It's a good concept, but the mod creator needed to play a proper game of Half-Life 2 before making this mod. Even on Easy, this game has really difficult gun fights that I had to retry several times because of how sadistic the spawning is. You don't even get to have a break or health before another wave or attack of combine is waiting for you on the next corner.

Neat concept, but still needs improvement, i missed the gravity gun and only realized it when i came across a stacking puzzle requiring the gravity gun

I cannot understand the high ratings on this mod.

It starts off with making you go through the entirety of red letter day...oakaay. Then it follows with, as far as I experienced, a half our of unfair, poorly created gunfights that border on unwinnable. Did the developer have a single person test this? The player is CONSTANTLY unfairly ambushed with enemies in corners, behind doors, waiting behind pillars, and this leads to taking unavoidable and unfair damage no matter where you go. There is also not a single second of breathing time with each and every space you enter being packed with enemies. I mean, there is a section where you drop into the sewers and the pit you are in has at least 7 headcrabs, why?! The level design is disjointed and bizarre with visuals that are pretty decent.

Overall nothing about this mod matters because its over-enthusiastic combat is impossible to enjoy.

Good on paper, less so on delivery. The mapping is decent but lacks cohesion and focus, it is completely disjointed. The map changeover often happens at points that are very inappropriate causing a very jarring and noticeable difference, compounding the effect.
The story offered some promise but the actual plot behind it makes little sense, and the explanation for it even less so. It doesn't help that the choreography is lacklustre and unsharpened. Cutscenes featuring characters getting shot without flinching, other characters acting completely OOC, and don't even get me started on the Combine. None of the things involving them make even the remotest resemblance to one iota of rational thought. And the worst part of all is that you don't actually seem to do anything to prevent the causality effect, yet it is prevented anyway.
I feel sad that I am compelled to say all this about this mod, because it's got some really good ideas that just aren't handled very well at all.
Aside from the poor handling of the subject matter, the original street maps are quite well made, especially one map partway through with one big house in the middle of the field where there is a great battle.
You know, one day I might even have a go at redoing this myself. If I do there will be some marked differences.

As a couple others have noted, some bits seemed pointless, such as the gunship you can't shoot down. And unless I had read the other comments I wouldn't have had any idea that Breen & Alyx were on the roof in the last scene, let alone that I should try to kill them -- her anyway. I'm not sure if there was a glitch or if I just didn't find the exact trigger spot, but I had a hell of a time getting out of the first underground office, where you use the gravity gun to blast through the wall -- that was a clever bit! But that dam door would NOT open for the longest time, and I wasted hours trying to get up the ladder, blow up another pipe, retrace my steps to another door, etc. maybe it's just me. Someone else complained about the antlion guard -- I thought he was pretty easy. Rolled a grenade out on the walkway where it blew up the two barrels (of course duck back inside) and then 3 or 4 crossbow bolts put him down. I also did it just with the crossbow, but that took up nearly all the bolts, and left me with just 2 I think to take out the goons who rappel in for the next scene around the left corner.

All in all, a very nice mod though, and interesting concept even if it's a little uncertain what's going on. Is it a parallel universe? An alternate timeline? I got to a 2nd ending where Kleiner lives, but how can that be when we see him shot right at the beginning? Alyx's last "He doesn't have a clue, does he?" really kind of summed it up; it was almost like dropping in 3/4 of the way through the second episode of a 2-part Dr. Who story.

Very good idea though, as I say, and hope to see more. I would REALLY like to see a mod that isn't so linear, like all of HL is. Definite cusp moments leading to completely different maps and such, and a few distinctly different endings -- maybe 2 ways to "win", 1 to lose, 1 to draw? Good luck and I look forward to your next.

Gameplay unbalanced, "invincible" enemies, meaningless (multiple) ending.

Fun action and different endings mean plenty of replay-value (Or at the least, playing from a previous save) on top of great level-design and scripted sequences that tell a good story make this mod a must play, so come on up and give Causality effect a whirl. :)