Yet another Half-Life release,
they sure are popping up suddenly. But as good
as the previous two releases (The Long Night
and Deliverence) were, this one takes the prize.
This pack of ten levels is truly amazing, and
blows the Valve maps away.
It has been with design that most maps, including
Valve's, seem to fall short compared to Unreal
and Quake/Q2. These levels are what Half-Life
should have looked like. Great architecture
on the outside, great details on the inside,
but the thing which stood out most was the colouring.
Textures have been used brilliantly together,
and along with some very nice coloured lighting
it looks beautiful. This is also something most
levels so far haven't explored much. Most of
this level set is based around waste levels,
with vents and tubes going everywhere, and yes
you get to crawl around inside them. But deep
inside is a small Xen section (don't worry those
who don't like Xen levels, this was short and
good!).
The layout of each level was
very good, where a number of times you have
multiple paths. There is one level where you
have two paths to enter the next level, both
just as hard as each other (yes I went back
and did both). Level transitions are done great,
and at times you get to backtrack or make your
way back to an earlier section to take the other
path. Although there were a few times where
I wasn't totally sure that I'd gone everywhere,
it was otherwise very well done.
Gameplay, however, wasn't quite
as successful as the design. There weren't a
heck of a lot enemies, but enough to keep you
entertained and challenged. The bad part was
that there was no big end battle! But they seem
to be lacking in most Half-Life levels anyway.
Overall, this was a mighty
set of levels that is not to be missed. It is
one of the best releases for HL to date, and
I can't believe it is a debut! It is quite obvious
as to why it took nine months to complete Gut
Reaction.
