Another single player mod for HL2.
This was apparently a three parter that has now been reduced to a single download since it has been finished.
The story puts you in the shoes of, I think, a combine soldier who has betrayed them to fight against them. Or maybe you're a human who worked for the Combine and now is working against them. Something like that. It doesn't matter as you're really just a pawn for someone...maybe an AI...maybe not.
Mysteries or bad storytelling? Your call. Either way, the story is actually interesting even if the characters are easily distinguished.
Anyway, you're tasked with infiltrating an island that used to house a WW2 base. You're dropped off on the surface and face immediate resistance. Eventually you must make your way down to figure out what exactly is going on here.
I was quite impressed by this mod. The whole layout is actually pretty cool, although there are moments of "ok that's doesn't fit the tiny island theme", but fuck it. It's a mod.
The pace of the game is pretty good, however you will have moments of "peace" versus moments of non-stop enemies. I've always found endless rushes to be pretty fake in games where I'm carrying around enough weaponry to level a small city. In this case, there was a stairwell late in the game that kept spanning a certain type of enemy and I was thinking, "if this were real, I'd just close that stairwell permanently". Still, the solution you're given is kind of cool.
I'm telling you, the design here is excellent. There is NOTHING new in terms of monsters, weapons, etc., but the level design is worked out really well. You can tell that this thing was tweaked and play tested like crazy to make every encounter "perfect".
What's really cool is the little gimmicky touches thrown in. For example, there's an area where you have no weapons at all, yet there are combine soldiers running around trying to kill you. Once you actually find a weapon, it's not as simple as just being back in business as now you've got limited ammo that can only be found in crates around the area.
My only complaints about the mod are the moments when I was "stuck" and it took a minute to figure out what to do. Not because of some tough puzzle, but because there was a switch I missed or I didn't realize I had to hit that thing with my crowbar.
Overall, this is a fantastic mod and kudos to the designer because he or she put a lot of time into it.
9 out of 10 (reviewed as a mod and not a full game)