Reviews - SIGNAL LOST mod for Half-Life

9/10. For early access it was very awesome and immersive, the few rough spots that cloud this crystal were really something you should expect in an e. a.

I would say the strongest impression I had was of how it didn't feel like a callback to Half-Life (retail or alpha) all that much, in a good way. Yes, we all recognise parts of Uplink in it, and we know this is the red alpha headcrab and that's the cut security card, but Signal Lost felt almost like a standalone game that you'd see around 2000, very similar to Half-Life but "boosted".

The visual design is dense, rich, bright, nice. I was afraid at first it would feel too different, too colourful, but it really didn't, it used the bright colours sparingly and every time it had a point to it. The areas were pretty believable, like I could immerse into it and come up with my own environmental storytelling for what happened.

The level design, the geometry, can get overwhelming due to its scale and branches, this again is like "boosted" Half-Life. The nicest thing about the gameplay design is how it usually does arenas by letting you approach it and evaluate, apply pressure from different points, fall back in case of emergency, or even bypass sections altogether. I played on Hard and it was very scientifically possible to do it all. I died two times in the same spot, in the cargo yard.

I enjoyed it all much more than Absolute Zero. Signal Lost feels neither like "Half-Life we never got" nor "Half-Life I'm glad we never got". Gameplay additions all were done well, the new enemies weren't overdone, the changes in weapon appearance and behavior weren't overdone or forced on the player. I count on it staying this way and knowing when cut things should just maybe remain cut, or turned into a mere reference.

Now the rough spots that I mentioned. First of all it was performance hits in some areas. I believe the main reason was 1) scripted dynamic lights (like in the helicopter platform section) and 2) just sheer rendering complexity that couldn't be culled in certain cases. If the detail was toned down just a bit, I'd be fine with it. Like losing a few projectors or particle emitters or brush chairs.

Gameplay-wise, the biggest problems I had was the ladders and the machineguns. I feel that Gldsrc ladders are already (in)famous enough to preclude lengthy explanations. The machineguns have a quirk to them that if you're too close, they just won't fire. Which killed me one time. But again, this is early access.

Congratulations on release, it doesn't take an expert mapper to see how this amount of work can easily be overwhelming for a solo mapper. Like come on, are you crazy? are YOU crazy, reader, to see this and not just cry out in excitement? Are YOU crazy, Jane, to just DO it all yourself, how is this possible?!

Signal Lost is great and any potential haters should just uh, get lost. Yeah. That's all I have to say.

If you love Half Life, and you love the aesthetics of its alpha and beta versions, you have to play this mod. The map design is the best I've seen in any mod of this game, and I haven't had any hype to continue anything in a long time. 10 of 10

It's really really goooooood

Not all the days an HL mod releases with such quality, let alone being based on alpha aesthetics. That alone is an achievement.

Brushwork and atmosphere are quite great, pushing the limits of Xash (which surpassed what GoldSrc can do per se already), containing as well a lot of details, secrets and high quality crafted art.

Perhaps is a bit dark in some spots, and due to irks of Xash, the flashlight doesn't light up correctly models sometimes.

Gameplay wise, is a nice mix of HL Office Complex, WGH and Surface Tension.
The unique legit issue that I have is that the pistol silencer is useless, as the enemies will react the same if you use it or not.

Currently, only two chapters are available, but one can sense how promising this is already.
Definitely is worth keeping an eye on this project, as has delivered expectations already.
Once the full mod comes out, I'll expand this review.

As the one and only Half-Life community god. I don't recommend Signal Lost... I enforce it!

This is incredible, and it has the atmosphere I wished I had been able to conjure in Half-Life: Echoes. The sound design is exceptional, and the mood is fearsome.

The Half-Life Alpha aesthetic never particularly appealed to me but this repackages it as this bizarre Half-Life adjacent - something that never was but feels so familiar. Like a second hand retelling of your favourite story.

I cannot wait to see (and hear) more.

First of all, let me just say that the screenshots do not do this mod justice. Simply standing in a location in Signal Lost, I am blown away by the amount of work that has gone into it.

The lighting and brushwork are sublime, but the scripting and the audio work are what make it. There are so many subtle background sounds, visual effects and moving parts that really sell it.

As somebody who has played the Uplink demo multiple times, Signal Lost is a welcome departure from the norm. Some areas feel familiar by design, but the entire experience is fresh.

Now, I personally am not a fan of the Alpha/Beta aesthetic for Half-Life. The one part that is a bit of a let down are the models. While the maps are dark, forboding and dripping with atmosphere, the character models look entirely out of place. They lean a little too far into the goofy and cartoonish for me to take it too seriously and the seriously clash with the fantastic environments.

All that being said, you should absolutely play Signal Lost. It is a stunning piece of work and should be checked out by anyone who loves Half-Life

I have nothing but praise for SIGNAL LOST and I'm way too excited to play more. I think it's amazing that so much atmosphere can be conveyed through what is essentially an engine from 1998 (granted, there have been a lot of modifications to make this mod what it is!). I find it really interesting how as developers we're able to find ways to bring some of the new ideas and visuals of the modern era back into these old times. Floating particles for example emulated in what I think were models? Never underestimate the value of a small visual change. These things along with the sound design have converged to create a surprisingly eerie atmosphere. Superb visual quality and world design are what sell SIGNAL LOST. I was completely immersed.

I had a very smooth experience whilst playing and I didn't run into any issues. I felt really powerful during the scenes with the HECU. I loved finding the secrets.

I can't wait to see more from this mod and it's creators.

PS. Stepping on rats gave me the big sad.

A tribute to all of the years of blood, sweat, and tears the Half-Life community has devoted to attempting to capture the magic of the original concepts Valve scrapped.

Signal Lost is what many of us dreamed of back in 2012, before the alpha leak. We may have had unrealistic expectations of the beta of Half-Life, but that didn't make our visions any less special.

Finally, this dream is reality.

This mod has been the best Half Life mod that I have ever played.