Reviews - PsyWarVeteran

A pretty enjoyable adventure that starts with a fun scripted sequence which reminds me why I love HL and its mods so much. There's some nice voice acting accompanying it too. In fact, the entire mod has custom voice acting sprinkled throughout and they're very high quality. It's always a plus seeing this in mods.

The mapping is alright. I've seen better in 2008 but what this mod has definitely isn't bad, I like the old-school approach. The prefabs used are very high quality too, especially the military vehicles. There are some puzzles in the maps, for example there is a section that wants the player to use a barnacle to reach a high place, and just like every mod that tries this inventive but problematic puzzle, it's easy to break. If you kill the barnacle before reaching the goal, you're basically stuck. The game actually ends if you fail to reach up in time though, which is nice.

Besides the simple puzzles, the gameplay is the usual run 'n gun. You take down both aliens and grunts, sometimes military vehicles too. There's some backtracking here and there but it's not a big issue, the biggest issue is the abrupt ending, I didn't remember it being that sudden. It very quickly ends just as it was getting interesting. Backtracking two maps, crawling through a pipe without any events going on and ending the final map five seconds after entering it doesn't feel like a real ending.

Even though it has its flaws, this is still a very fun yet short, old-school experience. Recommended for anyone looking for just a little more HL.

Compared to the usual "shoot the alien invaders" nature of many mods, this is a realistic experience. You are a soldier, the enemies are also soldiers, now go out there and fight. The new code brings nice additions such as nightvision that's separate from the flashlight, an objectives screen, different weapon attacks such as being able to use the knife both as a melee weapon or as a projectile etc. There are new weapons too, which is always a plus.

The mapping is pretty good and the quality improves with each map. It's mostly outdoor areas in the first half, then mostly indoors in the second. The creator(s) were clearly interested in military vehicles and equipment since there are many nicely created, different ones present here. The playtime is long and there are many maps, but most are pretty short, especially at the beginning. It's mostly a single area with a small obstacle or puzzle in it which you have to deal with, such as blowing up a tank, following a set way to not get shot by a sniper or lifting objects to make a path, then it's onto the next map. I really like this objective oriented nature of the mod.

You'd think a military themed mod that gives you whopping ten weapon slots (the slots 7-10 are unused) would be more action packed, but surprisingly there isn't much action here at first. After a while it starts to pick up the pace though, so don't let the slow beginning scare you away. I like the scripted sequences combining action with cool looking events during the second half. There's a great but pretty short cable car section for example. There's a surprise towards the end that I will not spoil here. It blew my mind back in the day but I don't know why, as it's not that unbelievable :) The reveal looks pretty cool, though sadly the ending is very abrupt.

Overall, this is a very solid project that's different than most other HL mods. A semi realistic military shooter without aliens, portals and other sci-fi concepts. If you're looking for a long, action packed grunt-shooting experience, look no further, this is it.

The first thing you see when you boot up this mod is an unintentional jumpscare at the splash screen :)

The mod is about discovering ancient ruins and finding an idol, not unlike Kasperg's old works (Vilcabamba / Sandscroll / Idol Hunt). The idea is fun, the mapping and brushwork are a bit basic but not bad, looks like something that came out in early 2000s. After walking a while you get hit with the unintentional scare number two: Falling off the cliff makes the main character make a blood-curdling scream. The last time I've heard that scream was from Penumbra years and years ago, way to give me flashbacks :)

The hands and enemies are re-textured. Hands don't look that good, but the enemies are fine. I liked the new zombie but didn't get what the houndeye is supposed to be. There are fun ideas but they're not implemented that well. You have to jump across platforms with swinging boulders but they don't hurt you or push you down, you can just stand in front of and block them. There's a stealth section but it's not set up to fail when the enemy sees you, I think there's a trigger you touch instead. What that means is you can just shoot all enemies from afar, they'll never attack or you'll lose the stealth section as long as you don't step in that trigger.

There are other strange design decisions here. For example you can select training and it'll load up a black screen with the text "Sorry but there's no training map yet." But there is a map, you've specifically created it to display that text :) Why not completely disable training instead? Another example, the first map takes five seconds to complete, you just walk down a corridor and the second map loads, weird stuff.

I mainly focused on the negative aspects for feedback but that doesn't mean the mod is bad. It's a fun but short tomb raiding adventure that you can complete in one sitting. I'm adding a couple of extra points to my actual score because I think the creator is talented and just needs more practice. Also, thank you for creating a fun and different adventure instead of yet another Black Mesa escape story. We need more like this these days.

Very nice, old-school styled single map, it's nice to see such projects in 2024. The areas are tastefully detailed without going too far and enemy encounters / weapon variety is good compared to the map length. I didn't notice any big issues or errors other than some brushes with holes in them, an acceptable mistake of a first time modder.

By the way, despite what the file says, you can still play this on regular HL, no Xash necessary, simply copy-paste it to HL folder. Overall, this is a solid run and gun experience that can be finished under five minutes, but it will be a fun five minutes. Try it.

If I had to describe this mod with one word, it would be "cheesy."

Most of the blame lies with the voice acting. Teenage voice + bad mic quality + bad dialog that uses the word "man" in every sentence possible makes a bad combo. Seriously, count how many times any character says "maaaan" and elongates it like a stereotypical stoner, it's ridiculous. Towards the end, one of the characters mentions smoking some weed too maaan. These are the worst soldiers ever. I'm also so sick of hearing those bitcrushed guitar riffs over and over.

With that rant out the way, how's the story and level design? The story is whatever, yet another "every country is bad and they all attack America" story. The level design is nothing special either. The mapping is blocky and there are scaling problems, everything is massive. We used to see this issue when HL mapping was in its infancy, four years later however, it's a different story. Still, I like some set-pieces and sequences, especially the ones involving fighter jets and explosives. It's acceptable for the year but could have been much better.

This is also one of the rare mods that take place in an urban setting. I love some of the areas such as the zoo but I wish they were handled better, brushwork-wise. I also love the logic that the animals turning into creatures like alien grunts, shocktroopers or gargantuas are explained away with "must be the radiation" :) Speaking of mutants, there are a few zombie re-models, or "mutants" as the game calls it, they were a nice surprise. There's a scene that takes place in a skyscraper with helicopters and a projector, that was great too.

The mod uses Black Ops as main enemies and since they don't take extra headshot damage, the fights aren't satisfying. Shoot them in the head or foot, it's the same damage. I hate those bulletsponges, even in OP4. There are some puzzles involving explosives, specifically, pushing them to various areas and blowing them up to progress. I liked that the creator made the game end if you explode them before putting them to the place you're supposed to. You don't get stuck when you mess up.

What else? The creators love for Xena: Warrior Princess continues :) Just like in the Xeno Project (Xena Project?) there are random characters rubbing (!) posters of her affectionately while spewing nonsense. These dumb scenes still make me smile even after all these years.

Overall, I still like the creator's previous works, "The Xeno Project 1 - 2" better. This isn't a bad mod either but it feels like it got suffocated under its own ambition.

How's this for a story: Gordon Freeman is working at Valve! One night he's in his office when Gabe Newell himself sends him an email, telling him that the building has been overrun by terrorists and to meet him at the roof! We don't see wacky and fun scenarios like this anymore in the modding scene. It's all realism and seriousness nowadays. I miss mods like these.

The mapping is hit and miss. I've noticed the initial areas look better than the later ones, maybe the creator was getting bored towards the end. It also kind of stops being a mod about escaping from an office building and turns into something else. You go through sewers and labs near the end for example. Also, for no particular reason, the zombies have been replaced with Xenomorphs :)

Overall, a relic from a more carefree and fun time. It has issues, sure, but the fun factor is high and as we all know, gameplay is king.

One of the now forgotten classic HL mods but not without issues. A total conversion which we rarely see among good old mappacks. This isn't an action-packed experience, it tries to be realistic and cinematic. The setting is an office building, grounded in reality. No shooting down houndeyes and bullsquids this time around :)

The creator clearly wanted us to be a helpless office worker. You kill enemies with six axe hits, there is no crosshair and the flashlight is a separate item, which means you have to lower your weapon if you want to use it. This is all well and good, but you will get your hands on a weapon early on and the game will still turn into a regular run and gun regardless. You don't need to wait for the cops, just start cleaning the tower from the terrorists top to bottom with your gun, Die Hard style.

Like mentioned, the mod tries to be cinematic but this hampers the gameplay instead. Besides the aforementioned axe killing people with a whopping six hits, the player movement speed has also been slowed down, but it's not done well. You only move slow while moving forwards, you can still sprint sideways. There's also the breathing, running even for a little bit makes the character heave, it gets annoying fast.

It's not all doom and gloom of course. The mapping is good to average, some areas are nicely detailed while others aren't. Some of the ideas are interesting such as sneaking around enemies, the multiple endings, the flashlight mechanic etc.

While it has issues, Night at the Office is definitely a unique experience that's different from so many other HL mods. There's no reason not to try this classic.

Solid space adventure that actually feels like you're in a spaceship unlike some of the other mods with a similar premise. The level design is impressive, especially for 2003. The attention to detail in brushwork and the fact that little bits & pieces in geometry that weren't necessary but are included regardless is admirable. Without a doubt, the creator knew what he was doing.

While well designed, the levels tend to be a bit too dark in places, not a dealbreaker but still worth mentioning. There are some new content like sounds, textures, models, sprites and so on. The SMG is replaced with a futuristic weapon that's a joy to shoot. I also liked how good the combat feels thanks to the increased weapon damage and the new sounds. Hearing the Deus Ex pistol sounds still feels weird after all these years of playing though :)

Overall, this is a well made space adventure. I'm not a big fan of this setting in general, but I've still enjoyed it. I'm sure others will enjoy it even more.

The underappreciated little brother of Afraid of Monsters. That said, it's not without issues.

Compared to AoM, it relies more on horror rather than action and though it may seem like that at first, this isn't a walking simulator. The maps are pretty good, nicely detailed and look like real areas that could exist. As if it wasn't obvious, we can see that the creator is a real horror fan by looking at the various horror movie posters on the walls :) The mod doesn't tell us much about the story, I've always thought it's about a madman dreaming. The new models are nice, the creatures look and sound disturbing.

The two biggest issues of the mod are the short length and the lack of meaningful gameplay. The atmosphere is nice and creepy sure, but even that isn't enough to make the gameplay feel less bland. The most you'll be doing is walking. There are barely any fights (I think there are about five enemy encounters the whole mod) and the puzzles are just you pushing buttons and rarely searching for items. It ends just as things start to get interesting too, with one of the most abrupt endings I've ever seen, feels like the developer got bored and looked for a way to quickly end it midway.

While Mistake isn't perfect, the creator's done nothing but improve. The sequel is better in almost every way. Grey, a similar mod for HL2 from same creator is fondly remembered and I've played and enjoyed his full-fledged game on Steam nearly a year ago. I respect the dedication.

Overall, Mistake isn't that great but it definitely has a nice horror atmosphere that deserves to be experienced.

You're looking at one of the greatest and sadly completely forgotten HL mods of its time. Mission of Mercy should be remembered fondly alongside Sweet HL, USS Darkstar and other classics in my opinion. This came out in 1999! Some may not realize it, but it's very impressive for the time and is still a better experience than most of the mods and maps that get released today.

The premise is a fun and unique one: Nihilanth himself wants to see you, so you jump into a teleporter and visit a pretty nicely designed Xen area. After speaking with him you learn that the humans AKA the military, are planning to destroy Xen with a rocket, so you agree to destroy said rocket and get sent to their base.

The mapping is excellent for the time and still holds up today. The maps are nicely detailed and have fun gameplay. The mod spawns enemies as you progress which I also liked, keeps you on your toes. Since Nihilanth and the aliens are allies, you only fight with grunts, which is just fine for me since I think they are the most fun opponents of HL. Finally, I always appreciate mods / maps with humor and this has that in one area. There's an "alternative ending" involving an elevator which I will not spoil but it always makes me chuckle whenever I replay this classic :)

The one issue I have with this is the abrupt ending. You enter a great area with a bridge and very nicely created spaceship comes and picks you up, that's it. Other than that, I really can't find any flaws with this great classic.

If you love older mappacks and have no problem with releases that use HL assets without anything extra, you'll love this.