Halfquake Amen is part 2 of our Halfquake series. (The first part of Halfquake appeared in 2002 June's issue of PC Gamer.) We have been working on HQA for more than one year and it has been released on September 1st 2002. Here are a few features: - Complete new textures and sounds - Absolutely confusing design - Soundtrack with more than 30 minutes of playtime - Twelve parts of pure sadism - About six colors (black, gray, green, white, yellow (alienblood), red (mostly your blood)) - And of course: No HEV Suit
Do not be discouraged by the challenge of this mod, reference the walk-through and continue to the end, it is well worth it.
Dying to review it.
It's perfect!
Best mod I ever seen
With a little more effort and resources, Muddasheep took Halfquake's sequel to a higher level, developing a mod with an identical but refined frustrating gameplay, the same premise storywise but more complex, and a well-worked ambience that accurately represents the despair that the protagonist (and the player) experiences at the hands of the Institute of Sadism.
The map textures are rather simple, consisting of only 6 colors (according to its creator), but their balance within each chapter and their combination with abstract backgrounds merged with optical illusions create a depressing ambience that discourages the player and transmits a sense of futility that emphatizes with the victim-protagonist. The adequately chosen original soundtrack (as well as music performed by recognized artists such as Bee Gees, Aphex Twin, Linkin Park, to name a few) also contributes to this end and fits the black humor of the antagonists, which persists from the first Halfquake. A few downsides are, in first place, the vortigaunt-like beasts that, though reskinned, are just mere copies of their Half-Life counterparts. In second place, the low-quality voice acting is hardly understandable due to the accents and recording issues, which is a major problem considering how important the dialogues are for the story.
Despite repeating the sadism formula from the prequel, Halfquake Amen manages to present a renewed story proposal. The key element here is the diaries. Though some people might find them boring, I think that they are definitely the best story element because they offer the victim's perspective to the player, with all their thoughts and fears, allowing for more empathy and a deeper experience of sadism. Of course, the dialogues of the antagonists remain as a contribution to the storyline.
In terms of gameplay, as we have learned from first Halfquake, the main premise of the game is psychological torture. This hasn't changed in Halfquake Amen, as your F6 and F7 keyboard buttons once again become your best friends given how frustrating the gameplay is. Trial and error is the name of the game, and although some people may find this genre unbearably boring, resilient players who are up for challenges can enjoy the most out of this mod. In that sense, the gameplay style is coherent with the concept of the story and ambience. However, I think that HQA's gameplay falls behind many others HL mods and FPS games, taking a secondary place compared to story. Maybe the reason for this is how unbalanced the puzzles feel: sometimes they are straightforward or at least bearable, but other times they leave you with an urgent need for a guide.
Overall, if you played and liked the first Halfquake, this sequel won't disappoint you if you've been dreaming of a better version. HQA has a very particular style for being a FPS, so it is possible that people give it a low rating after playing it for just a few minutes. If you somehow enjoy games based on trial and error, HQA has more than that to offer you as a fun experience.
This is my favorite half-life 1 mod (and i've played lots of them). It is a total conversion addon for hl1, that was released a year after first halfquake, but contains a bunch of new content, such as new textures, sounds and models. author also composed music for it.
Like the first installment, the main idea of the mod is solving puzzles and challenges, which require various skills from the player – for example: jump puzzles, getting out of labyrinth, fights with headcrabs and vortigaunts, etc.
But what makes this mod so special is its visual style. This game is depressing, surreal and dark. 95% of the colors used in entire mod are only 2 colors – black and white. Some design choices make you wonder – what was happening inside the author’s head while he was creating this? Some scenes and events in the mod are very strange and don’t make much sense, but do not fail to make you amused or, sometimes, genuinely confused.
Sometimes this mod is dark, sometimes scary, but sometimes it really touches with its authentic feel that consists of hopelessness but also (in some areas) sense of a complete serenity and tranquility that won’t last for long, but however will leave a certain impression that this is not just entirely a mod for a good old game, but something that I really can consider as a piece of art.
Voice acting in this is acceptable, not outstanding, which I think is forgivable for 2002 mod. I also really liked some tracks from this mod’s ost (which you can easily find on author’s youtube channel).
Solid 10/10.
P.S.: >)
Нет слов.
Amazing mod and sountrack, it's not for everyone and you need PATIENCE to complete it but it's worth it. >)
* features a unique design and strange gameplay.
* the mod is semi-serious, as in it will joke about itself and will be edgy at other times (mainly with dramatic/sad music).
* the slowness of some things is frustrating (slow moving platforms, slow scrolling diary text, etc.)
* the first music in "offence" is way too loud.
* obviously "patience" is the worst part of the mod, but that's exactly what it was meant to be.
* takes about three hours to complete.
the second installment in the classic halfquake series
(played the WON version)
Pretty unique and nice mod that will test your half life skills and patience.
Better than the first one and I'm looking forward to playing the last of the series.