Enter the mind of Filip Valkas, who lost his parents in the Seven Hour War, and take your revenge on your Combine captors in a new story centred on the Half-Life Universe. Pick up your own crowbar and force your way out of Citizen Containment Zone 19, and lead in the uprising against the alien agressors.
The beginning of this mod is unusual - we ride in the prisoner pod through some Combine buildings. Then we see a window and understand that we are in the Citadel.
A story twist - and we are resting on the sofa in the comfortable flat, but there's no time for resting, because CPs are getting close, so we have to retreat to the old church.
The design is excellent. We are in some unknown city, and while in general everything is very similar to Half-Life 2, there are many unique details. The elements of Half-Life 2 are skillfully combined with originality. There are some admirable little details which are a little scary: we hear hits in the door, open it, and - phew! - the CP's are knocking into another door, not ours! We break the wooden door and see a zombie on the other side who helped us break it.
It's too bad that the new dialogues don't have subtitles: it's hard to understand them, especially when speech is drowned by loud sounds.
There is some originality in the gameplay, too. The battle with antlion guard is something that I've never seen before.
In the end we'll have a glimpse on fantastic original location. I hope we'll be able to run, jump and swim there in the future.
This mod has many familiar things, but they are done differently, so it's definitely worth playing.
Great level design and gameplay, but the cut-scenes were somewhat lacking.
Loved the citadel exposition with the "tram ride" opening segment. Beautifully shot and imagined. The central square is familiar and the whole thing just feels like... Half-Life.
Gman sequences were a little verbose, but looked nice. Voice acting had good production values, even if it sounded off.
Unfortunately ends abruptly just as I was getting into it. The whole game feels like an intro to something bigger. I'm a little upset that I won't get to experience this.
Excellent level design and not too difficult, though it was a bit short. The voices were quiet so having subtitles would have been helpful.
"Joutomaa" (whatever the hell this word means in Finnish) is a pretty good HL2 user-made mod -- not very long but not too short either.
I enjoyed the varied environments traversing through outdoor canals and streams and rocks....and then back again to indoors environs...
The combat was slightly, if not more than slightly, on the 'easy' side -- as this was more of an 'exploratory' mod than a mod consisting of sheer action -- but I prefer a mod that is somewhat too easy rather than too 'difficult'...
The ending was somewhat abrupt and unexpected -- suggesting that "Joutomaa 2" is a mod that if it isn't ALREADY in the works then it SHOULD be...
I rate this mod a 7/10.
I loved Joutomaa! This is one of the few mods that tells a story. Mapping, gameplay, atmosphere, immersion, and especially the voice actors were top notch. Highly recommended.
Good parts:
+ level design
+ voice acting
+ gameplay
+ puzzles
Weak parts:
- length (cca 0,5 - 1 hrs)
- story is weak
- the beginning is too long and boring
- ending (cliffhanger)
Despite the above mentioned weak parts, it felt like something from the HL2 universe and overall it was kinda fun to play. Still recommend to play. :)
Lots of combat with all types of enemies,and great voice acting. Though the environments aren't anything so unique,it has pretty good gameplay in other aspects.
Very atmospheric and detailed mod. It really adds to the HL lore. Fun gameplay and all-round fun to play.