With all due respect, if this is indicative of the overall quality of Project Borealis at large, then I won't even bother playing the full game. Even with this particular prologue being a free fifteen minute ordeal, it's rather subpar in practically every aspect. I can respect the effort, but the final product just honestly doesn't reflect any of the intentions promoted for this project.

The physics are beyond dire. Mounting props or even just parts of the environment itself is very difficult and gravity is against you every step of the way. It feels robotic to even walk around. Items fall through the world, hurl themselves into you, or just have this odd floating sensation to them. It feels like I've entered a parallel dimension that only mimics the aesthetics and physics of Half-Life.

The game performance is also beyond dire. I run a rig that can comfortably play the latest Call of Duty title on completely cranked up max 1080p 75hz settings, but stuttering visuals and jittery input in this prologue are rampant. I mostly like the art style on a level of it being visually appealing, but I don't think it fits much with H-L at large. Props to recreating the Source engine menu UIs, though. That was a nice touch.

Next is the fact this game for myself and someone else I know is literally not able to be completed normally. I spent perhaps five minutes in the room with triple god rays trying to ascertain how to progress, moving props about and smashing every surface with a crowbar or gravity gun. In my frustration, I reloaded to an earlier point and reentered the room, only to see the props I'd destroyed and enemies I killed were still in that state, so even the save system is just dysfunctional. I had to noclip past this room to even complete the game.

Overall, I just don't agree that this is a faithful recreation of the movement and gameplay mechanics or even a fun experience overall. The enemy encounters did not particularly serve as any challenge to defeat even with just gunplay, despite being premised in Ravenholm, notorious for its reliance on secondary means of combat with enemies. It does not encourage any smart encounters. There is a bit of dissonance for me as well during combat with how the head crabs have this strange way of floating listlessly in the air when they charge, it stood out especially because head crabs are known to be quite quick and narrow in their launches. I cannot state enough how bizarre it felt playing this. The final encounter area itself is just a whole bunch of listless combat until a ladder drops and the game cuts instantly to the credit rolls.

For me, Half-Life has been a part of my life for a long time. I remember the day when Epistle Three came, leading into the formation of Project Borealis and Boreal Alyph. Project Borealis stands alone now, so it's a fair letdown to have waited all this time and then have a prologue of this quality. I know Entropy: Zero 2 will likely never be topped in terms of sheer creativity and strength in execution, but I guess I always hoped something else would rise to the challenge and capture so many hearts in its own way.

Addendum: I was curious why on earth this release was almost 6GB, too. Turns out it includes an almost 2GB .pdb alongside the executable (literally only useful for debugging or modding, which is not at all relevant to the playerbase in this instance). Developers, please remove the .pdb from the build to save people the storage and time (or at the very least trim it down if possible should it be actually necessary for some reason).

With all due respect, if this is indicative of the overall quality of Project Borealis at large, then I won't even bother playing the full game. Even with this particular prologue being a free fifteen minute ordeal, it's rather subpar in practically every aspect. I can respect the effort, but the final product just honestly doesn't reflect any of the intentions promoted for this project. The physics are beyond dire. Mounting props or even just parts of the environment itself is very difficult and gravity is against you every step of the way. It feels robotic to even walk around. Items fall through the world, hurl themselves into you, or just have this odd floating sensation to them. It feels like I've entered a parallel dimension that only mimics the aesthetics and physics of Half-Life. The game performance is also beyond dire. I run a rig that can comfortably play the latest Call of Duty title on completely cranked up max 1080p 75hz settings, but stuttering visuals and jittery input in this prologue are rampant. I mostly like the art style on a level of it being visually appealing, but I don't think it fits much with H-L at large. Props to recreating the Source engine menu UIs, though. That was a nice touch. Next is the fact this game for myself and someone else I know is literally not able to be completed normally. I spent perhaps five minutes in the room with triple god rays trying to ascertain how to progress, moving props about and smashing every surface with a crowbar or gravity gun. In my frustration, I reloaded to an earlier point and reentered the room, only to see the props I'd destroyed and enemies I killed were still in that state, so even the save system is just dysfunctional. I had to noclip past this room to even complete the game. Overall, I just don't agree that this is a faithful recreation of the movement and gameplay mechanics or even a fun experience overall. The enemy encounters did not particularly serve as any challenge to defeat even with just gunplay, despite being premised in Ravenholm, notorious for its reliance on secondary means of combat with enemies. It does not encourage any smart encounters. There is a bit of dissonance for me as well during combat with how the head crabs have this strange way of floating listlessly in the air when they charge, it stood out especially because head crabs are known to be quite quick and narrow in their launches. I cannot state enough how bizarre it felt playing this. The final encounter area itself is just a whole bunch of listless combat until a ladder drops and the game cuts instantly to the credit rolls. For me, Half-Life has been a part of my life for a long time. I remember the day when Epistle Three came, leading into the formation of Project Borealis and Boreal Alyph. Project Borealis stands alone now, so it's a fair letdown to have waited all this time and then have a prologue of this quality. I know Entropy: Zero 2 will likely never be topped in terms of sheer creativity and strength in execution, but I guess I always hoped something else would rise to the challenge and capture so many hearts in its own way. Addendum: I was curious why on earth this release was almost 6GB, too. Turns out it includes an almost 2GB .pdb alongside the executable (literally only useful for debugging or modding, which is not at all relevant to the playerbase in this instance). Developers, please remove the .pdb from the build to save people the storage and time (or at the very least trim it down if possible should it be actually necessary for some reason).