Recent reviews by Ramen Enjoyer

Look, it's just good. It's sincere. Enjoy it while it lasts; success can sometimes bring down great games like this.

I first played this game in late 2012 on the PS3. I was a student at Digipen in my first year. I played it in a dark room with three others, all of us being newly acquainted friends. This was one of the most impactful gaming experiences of my life and I'm glad I got to share that experience with others. Our first game project together ended up being heavily inspired by this game. Ten years later, this game still stands out as being particularly special, among the hundreds and hundreds of games I've played, the many ideas for games that I've developed and fleshed out with friends or professionally, this game always inspires every single one of them, it's DNA always finds its way into my work. I'm so grateful I got to experience it as I did, when I did, how I did.

I cannot recommend this game enough. It is among the greats and a glimpse into the uncharted territories of this medium.

HUAH HUAH HUAH

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Revision: I thought I had revised this review after playing more, but it didn't take.

After spending more time with this game, I think I understood the goals of the developers. Goes to show how important understanding intent is. This was an engine made with modding in mind, so they didn't necessarily focus on content. If you are a modder, and want a base for your ideas, then this is for you. If you want a game, maybe this isn't for you.

Finally. A shark game. And the divers have feet.

Wew lad an actual good game

I am throwing a flapang

I could see how in 2005 a mod like this would have been a welcome addition to the growing library of enthusiastic half life 2 fan creations. It's well-scripted, (somewhat) original, the art is of a high quality.

Maybe I'm playing this game with the wrong context in mind, but I think good games/mods stand the test of time. The level design, while I like the verticality, is often confusing. Areas of interest aren't appropriately lit in contrast to non-essential areas, and the constant button pressing/lever switching isn't always well cued by light or other means; because of the amount of backtracking necessary, you aren't ever sure if you're going to end up in a dead end. The frequency of combine squad spawns means that this is usually a bad spot to be in. Maybe that's intentional, maybe Adam wanted you to feel like a cornered rat. That's fine in small doses, but if the premise of the entire experience is that, then it hardly makes things fun or engaging.

Half Life 2's combat without the gravity gun is really just not stellar. I get that there would have been no narrative justification for having it in Minerva so I don't necessary lament that it's gone, but gunning down squad after squad of combine soldiers that just kind of rush you is really uninteresting. I've scripted encounters with this AI before and I know from first hand experience that it's not easy. The AI shines best in larger "combat spaces" which is why Half Life 2 is full of them, especially on the highway areas. The level design for Minerva, on the other hand, is almost always cramped, so the end result is about 3-4 soldiers rushing the player. In practical terms this means the gameplay loop is just about entering a trigger volume that spawns the soldiers, then running backwards to find cover while the soldiers run into your fire. Not particularly interesting.

There's a couple of gems in this game, like a moment where you are told to look for a power switch, and Adam placed one of these switches on the right side of a hallway but to the left was a headcrab ambush. This worked perfectly and I fell for it. I didn't feel upset but instead felt that connection to the designer that he was going for. There's a few others, like the very beginning on the surface of the island was perfectly executed.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. This mod is 13 years old so it'd be like in the early 2000s going back to talk about how Super Mario Bros was kinda shallow. I first heard about Adam because of his contributions to Portal 2's ARG. The man is smart, no doubt about it.

If you're looking for some general narrative and atmospheric inspiration, this mod has a lot to offer. Otherwise, as a game, it isn't really worth the time.