with mods a 7, without it's a 6
nice ,but need warhead style maps and controllable aliens
(Mild spoilers ahead)
Really liked the new zone design and handmade map. Pretty proud of not using guides in this one.
Biggest issues with this mod are the lack of an actual ending (maybe I failed to trigger it) and weapons being far more inaccurate than normal, making the last strech especially difficult (sniper rifle is essential).
Some bugs or quirks that could be fixed are the quest NPCs in agroprom leaving their posts to loot bodies far away (made worse by lack of minimap), dropped weapons disappearing due to lack of safe boxes (and no way to repair them), the map not fitting properly with the player marker (playing in 16:9) and map teleporters not really making sense (which also aren't marked on the map).
It's a complete disservice to STALKER to make the VSS innacurate, that needs fixing ASAP.
I was also expecting the last NPC to give you a better suit with containers, not just some healing items.
Also should add a PSA noting that only DX10 and DX11 modes are playable.
Current score: 6.8 (could go up with fixing)
Not bad for demo of unfinished mod, but level design is a bit simplified and maybe needs more storytelling? Also required scientist is not protected anyhow (autosave etc.) from death, so you can loose whole your progress from the beginning.
Still hoping they release this on PC.. remember playing it long ago and enjoyed it.
Story, not so good and neither the graphics for a 2007 game. 1 is definitely way better. but this one has more gore execution
Super cool mod, although the objectives are a little unclear during the dream sequences at the beginning. All the new guns feel and play really well.
Its a fun mod, I think its showing its age a little bit, plus the stealth section is boring.
A cool stream-of-consciousness mod. It's a little blocky but I really dig the aesthetic, especially that mushroom level with the blocky sky. The ending on the boat was strangely poignant.
It has most of the checkmarks you expect of a good mod; a (mostly) consistent art direction that fits with the base game, fun battles, as well as the interesting twist of offering a seldom seem in video games setting. Its biggest issues are that the campaign is on the slower end of things, making it a bit of a bore when the game inevitably forces you to wait and spam the end turn button, and some of the UI looks rather clumsy.
I honestly loved this, feels like playing someone's unfiltered stream of consciousness. Gameplay is fun, visuals are lacking - but come on, it's a mod from 2006, what do you expect? I'd love to see a modern remake of this.
Very Half-Life-y gameplay and level design. Like other reviewers mentioned, it's kinda short and there are some inconsistencies there and there (SECURITY being reversed on a face of some doors, a critical scientist can be killed and you get soft-locked...)
One annoying thing: there are no auto-saves, if you die, you need to start from the beginning all over again. Not everyone has the reflex of doing manual and/or quick saves.
If you are willing to ignore those details, it's a good experience overall.
A nice but short little combat mod with good lighting and enemy placement. Not much to it, but it is nice for what it is.
A little short. Level design is Half-Life like, classic and good. Enemy combat was easy, despite playing on hard. There is no trigger to return to the menu once the game ends, but I do not blame the author, the way it was made to end a game in GoldSrc is nothing short of dumb. Great little mod with potential to expand upon!
The units are amazing , the map is beautiful , and the mechanics are better than the original mod , but I don't like the fact that nearly all the custom maps of the original mod are removed for some reason. Also the turn times are horrific , I have a top tier PC and yet it takes a very long time for each turn to conclued , not to mention that they become outright unbearable in the late game.
Overall the mod is like a step forward and 2 steps back , I still recommend it though if you have the patience for long turn times.
love the music and the guy with the voice makes me hahuahua
some maps could do with some beautification though, and the pacing along with some encounters are pretty uncomfortably tight
I like the updated texts and items! Unfortunately the game crashes pretty often in sea battles.
This review is for HLC 4.6, on normal difficulty.
First thing's first, this mod is not Doom but a classic style survival horror. As such, you're not an nigh-immortal Doomguy but a guy in a hazmat suit and everything can and will quickly kill you. So, no run and gun deal here.
The game's premise sees you infiltrating a hotel building and locate a group of SWAT team that was sent in earlier and disappeared without a trace. Since this game is set in the infamous Backrooms internet mythos, you can guess what happened. Most peoples that went in got noclipped through reality and into the alternate dimension called The Backrooms, while some otherworldly lifeforms from over there got noclipped to ours. Hell broke loose and we're left cleaning up the post-apocalyptic scene.
Healing items such as pain killer, Snicker bar, Pepsi and Cocaine can be picked up and use later, providing a much needed flexible strategy. Unfortunately for some reason, only one of each healing items will be carry over to the next level no matter how many you have.
For weapons you have a rather mundane set of arsenal with typical reload system found in most shooter, no magdrop or anything fancy. A more fancy list of secret weapons and weapon upgrade (one that I know of) can be aptly found inside many secret rooms.
Monsters can be separate into three tiers: the lower tier fodders in which you can dispatches them in melee with ease. And the high tier enemies which are unreasonably tough, fast enough to be a jumpscare of its own and can one-shot or two-shot you regardless of your health and armor. Every encounter with these pure evil can be considered a miniboss battle. There's also enemies with firearms which is something of a tier of their own, in that they're highly accurate, hits realistically hard and can take as much hit as it can deal. Not to mentioned the stronger variant of these guys will actively strafe away from your reticle, making every firefight with them very intense.
Atmosphere-wise, this mod is phenomenal in crafting some of the most nerve-wrecking setpieces ever. You will travel through a hotel floor and a messy alternate version of it, an absurdly large indoor pool, a dark hell of rust and blood that immediately brings Silent Hill to mind and a very interesting take on the deepest level of the Darkroom: a dark valley suspended above the abyss where various massive otherworldly entities are floating and stomping around, minding their own business. A combination of labyrinthine hallways, aggressive droning ambients, fast moving creatures and occasional break into big fights make this mod an extremely intense experience from start to finish. There's nothing bad to say about the map design except for a rather box-y, jumbled and inorganic map design which seems to be intentional, making it in line with the actual Backrooms aesthetic.
However this mod is not without its flaws though and there's quite a number of them:
-Very high difficulty, even on normal. And like I said above, HP and Armor are useless in this game.
-The mod can be very taxing to play. The constant droning noise can put the player on edge all the time and can become extremely annoying, even if it stays true to what is described in the Backrooms. Unfortunately, the intensity is going to get worse the further you go into the mod. The Silent Hill level in particular genuinely makes me want to puke in a bad way due to how disorient combined with how dark it is.
-Monsters can get unfair. Not just from the monsters themselves but the map also actively working against you. Throughout the map, there are many holes that connect two hallways together that only the monster can use, ensuring that fast enemies will always be few steps behind you no matter where you run. "sleeping" enemies can also hear your gunshot through these holes and trigger their chase before you even know it.
-Unintuitive weapon hotkey placement is the biggest issue I have about gameplay. For example, a lighter "weapon" which gives you a much needed respite in the darkness are bind together with the knife (key 1) and require two presses in order to pull it out, instead of having a flashlight key of its own. While for some reason, The Fire Axe which is a more powerful melee weapon, is bind to the pistol slot (key 2). Another mildly infuriate example would be the secret Supershotgun that, instead of sharing slot with the Shotgun like it usually did, got relegated to the "big gun" key instead.
All in all, this mod would've been a perfect horror mod, if not for the glaring flaws outweigh the goods by just a slight margin. So I'll give this a 7/10
this is not PVE is joking
but i don't know what is this
I fun little twenty minute romp through a section of Black Mesa.
The combat encounters are pretty nice throughout, though not particularly challenging. It could be improved by upping the number of enemies in some of the wide open arenas.
A couple of mapping issues I noticed throughout which could be fixed are a number of railings in combat areas that are func_walls, meaning you cannot shoot through them even though it looks as though you should be able to. Also, a lot of the windows in this mod are practically glowing. They are far too bright and far too opaque.
Otherwise, this is a very enjoyable, bite-size experience.