Spherical Nightmares is a Half-Life 2: Episode Two single-player modification. The story takes place in the Half-Life universe and you take the role as Gordon Freeman. Your journey begins in an unknown location.
A decent-ish mod, filled with competent gun fights, puzzles, and adequate pacing. Story starts off intriguingly but quickly fizzles out in favor of pretty much non-stop action, which is disappointing. There's some nifty set pieces, though - particularly the tram sequence. Everything else is pretty much run-of-the-mill but, as I said, competent enough.
Ended very abruptly and left me feeling very cold about the whole thing. I get the feeling you can do so much better.
I played this a while back in a play test, and I had to admit its one of the better source mods ive played in a while. It has that old nostalgia feel to singleplayer games, where the story isn't incredibly blunt but more subtle and leaves it up to the player.
Wizard really got his own unique style of level design down, and I feel like this is just a must play, its visually great, and the combat is fun as hell.
Solid, but pretty much same old kill zombies/combine stuff herel
Heavy emphasis on combat and excellent gunplay with quite a bit of replayability. I found myself quick saving before encounters so I could try them a couple different ways. Nice variety, good intensity, and well-done combat pacing that continually raises the stakes. This rating is so high mostly because of the combat.
This game makes you feel like a badass when you nail an encounter exactly how the game wants- no, craves. Spherical Nightmares baits the player with juicy, satisfying, open-ended combat scenarios that are tough, but fair and rewarding. Very fun.
I did think it was strange that the game gradually introduced you to newer weapons but never gave you a chance to test them out. I mean, I know Half-Life by now, but a good HL game tutorializes new weapons, arming the player with a scenario in which to use it. There were like practically zero enemies until you get all the core weapons, then it's just wave after wave of combat. Like I said, the combat pacing is done well, but overall pacing is a little choppy.
Music is fitting and pumps you up, but is definitely overused. Kinda like too much epic music in an epic movie to the point where it becomes cheesy. It immediately fires up a moment before enemies swarm so you definitely know this is a combat situation, then it fades to silence the moment you kill the last baddie. Every time. I mean jeez, leave at least something up to the imagination. Sometimes less is more.
Puzzles were actually quite challenging without feeling annoyingly impossible. I just had to look a little closer. While I almost had to consult a walkthrough a couple times, I took a breath and told myself this game wants you to poke at the details. And so I do, and voila. Rewards patience with a sense of satisfaction.
A few too many vent puzzles though. Janky, subtle, linear platforming required that almost becomes predictable when you notice a bunch of conspicuously stacked boxes and furniture that are glued to the ground. Oh gee, probably a staircase I gotta climb to get to the- oh, there it is. The vent. Of course.
Loved the setpieces and overall environments. Clever use of graffiti Combine and gas pumps in the dark (revealed via lightning) to keep you on edge, seeing enemies everywhere you look, even when you're all alone.
Eerie and unsettling. The story was... subtle, putting it lightly. But that's fine. In this case, less is more. I have a lot of questions, but in true HL fashion, this game leaves a lot to the imagination and keeps you thinking. Wondering.
hope
One of the best HL2 mods out there. It's not long, but the level design is very strong, and most impressive are the wild west style shootouts with the Combine. This modder knows how to set up a battle sequence so that the encounter is challenging and diverse, but not so difficult it just becomes a slog. Very much enjoyed this as further HL2 throwback.
Such a great mod. Had no issues whatsoever. Level design is top notch and it was a blast the whole way through, took me a little over an hour. Recommended.
Great atmosphere and gameplay
Another short and sweet mod. The combat is well-balanced, but the thing I have the biggest beef with is the crosshair being gone. Lost count of how many magnum and crossbow rounds I wasted due to that annoyance. Aside from that, puzzles are present, but they're simple. Nothing new with weapons or enemies, but ammo is generous. The plot makes no sense and the mod ends abruptly. Overall, it's a fun play with good maps and combat if you don't want anything else.
⠀