Experience Half-Life 2 like never before. Return to City 17, held within the iron grip of the Combine and the Consul. Reunite with old friends, and enemies. Traverse vicious canals, make new allies, and brave the horrors of the Quarrytown. Immerse yourself in a revitalised combat system featuring old arsenals made new again, with added features to raise the bar in gameplay. You've been waiting for quite some time, now. It's time to climb aboard.
This is one of the best Half Life 2 mods, especially if you are into beta aesthetics and story. Everything looks really professional and well made.
All weapons are remodeled, they look very nice and crisp. Characters are remodeled to fit the beta story (all hail the Consul!). The atmosphere is very beta like.
Gunplay is very exciting, fighting Civil Protection and Cremators is really, really fun.
Division 1 was great, and what I have seen from division 2 promises to be even better!
Raising the Bar: Redux is shaping to be the best HL 2 mod ever, and I think it could very well become one once it is completely finished.
Highest recommendation!
I'm giving 10 for the effort.While it's not complete yet , the amount of effort is really impressive.With just a bit more polish it can become the half life 2 we lost.
The best mod showing what the Beta Half life 2 would look like if it came out today, the models are really very good, so are the textures, the story is addictive, the music is great, the Combat... centered.
Probably best mod for Half life 2 that I ever played. It feels so much like original game but at the same time it is its own thing. Cant wait for full version.
Great effort, good visuals, good gameplay.
Half-Life 2 Beta but the best way to play.
Weapons are animated very well, Gun sounds are really good, OSTs are amazing, Graphics is beautiful, Voice acting is pretty good.
I can't wait for the final version.
by the way, green background with black text is made it hard to write the review. or I should say hard to praise this masterpiece.
I think This mod can be next Black Mesa.
I loved it.
Everything I could ask for.
For a demo, there's more than what I expected. I would've given a 9.5 or 9.9 out of 10 if that was an option. There's a lot of content in this demo so I'll try to break this review down into a few sections:
Atmosphere: It really captures the dark atmosphere of the original story ideas. There were some moments I was actually surprised by some of the background story moments. One that caught me off guard was passing a metrocop, hearing a noise, and then gunfire as the assailant was gunned down and nearby citizens fled in terror. Another memorable moment was walking through the "Free TV" area and seeing the street skirmish between the metropolice and disgruntled citizens.
Level Design: I was honestly expecting to get lost more but that only happened about a few times. Great usage of lighting to help guide the player. There was a moment or two that I couldn't figure out "What to do" but they were only brief.
Gameplay: Really satisfying once the player acquires the HEV suit and weapons. I really liked the chaotic moments where the player is going throughout the city, battling metrocops and dodging fire from the multiple Hunter Choppers while weaving in and out of multiple buildings and areas. The weapon I liked the most was the MP7, not sure if it was the model or sounds or both that won me.
Characters: The most memorable and funny moment was Kleiner making puns/jokes about soda before pressing the button to reveal the HEV suit inside the soda machine. The only thing that threw me off was Barney's voice. I don't blame the VA, he sounds like a great actor, but it's a noticeable difference. Despite that, combined with Barney's dialogue from the original story, still works. I feel all of the VAs involved did a great job with their performance and staying in character.
Overall: Definitely an amazing first impression. Even if you aren't a beta fan but still enjoy great action and the default HL2 gameplay, I really recommend giving it a try. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Raising The Bar Redux in the future. Fantastic job to everyone involved!
one of the best beta mods out there. keep up the good work!