It is just another try to escape from the Black Mesa. Would the nameless scientist save himself with your help?
This review may contain spoilers
I had a really fun time with this one, but only on a second play-through.
The first time I tried this mod, I was turned off by the painful difficulty that this mod started out with, often leading me into situations where my health went below 10 and I had to do some serious save scumming tactics just to get through. I gave up quite early on, but didn't realize how close to the end I was at the time.
The second time I started this up, I came into it with the expectation that this was a hard mod. It fits well with the title, as it's meant to feel like a 'Hopeless' situation. It pulls no punches to establish how hopeless the situation should be, from scientists refusing to help you out, to teleporting alien grunts at the least convenient times, to minor tweaks to the attack damage of each enemy to make it harder.
Because of the game really earning its title at this point, I was sort of expecting it to give some kind of downer ending at the end, but I don't agree with the mentality. Downer endings kind of spoil the feeling of accomplishment, which a hard game like this needs at the end. However, my major complaint is that it ends too abruptly, with mostly text to fill it in as a cliffhanger.
These complaints aside, the level design here is great, and feels like one of the more professional Black Mesa based mods, and could even outdo Half-life: Blue Shift back in the day.
It's well worth your time if you want something really challenging.