This is a pretty bog-standard survival game in terms of mechanics.
Grab materials, craft things from various bits of scrap, deal with your unreliable weaponry breaking on you mid-combat, etc. It handles the balance of these rather well, with the exception of some grinding requirements in later areas that can make sourcing proper armor a bit of a hassle without a group to work with. The game is VERY tuned around team play, though it's still plenty doable solo.

That isn't what makes this game _GREAT_ though, which is its absolutely spot-on atmosphere. In trying to replicate the feeling of half life 1's dingy induistrial lab environments, it's created a very well-done world that hits on that same sense of discovery and early-era cinematic gameplay that defined half life as a franchise. With the exception of some slightly dodgy voiceacting that fails to bring the same energy as the half life scientists it aims to replicate, it feels like it's really nailing what it's going for while still having enough unique flavor to be its own thing.

That isn't to say its without technical bugs, however.
The tram system is notably without rails, so you're just kinda hovering around when riding it, and the loading gates are simultaneously too sensitive and abysmally slow, resulting in massive slowdowns in a game that looks like it should run at 120 fps on a slide rule. I suspect there's also some memory leaks or something, as the game gets progressively slower over time until it's an unplayable slideshow, especially in the later areas. I figure this will be fixed over time, hopefully soon. the second hub area in particular chugs hard, since at one point there's a 3 way intersection that seems to be trying to pre-load three whole areas at once and failing spectacularly.

You're also GUARANTEED to see the seams in the map as you enter loading gates, they aren't very well cordoned off so you'll turn a corner into the void and be paralyzed for minutes at a time as the map pops in, often spoiling some of the upcoming level features in the process.

Technical chugs aside though, I'm enjoying the mechanics and find the skill grind to be well-paced and balanced, with the exception of some skill-gated weapons being disappointing at best.

This is a pretty bog-standard survival game in terms of mechanics. Grab materials, craft things from various bits of scrap, deal with your unreliable weaponry breaking on you mid-combat, etc. It handles the balance of these rather well, with the exception of some grinding requirements in later areas that can make sourcing proper armor a bit of a hassle without a group to work with. The game is VERY tuned around team play, though it's still plenty doable solo. That isn't what makes this game _GREAT_ though, which is its absolutely spot-on atmosphere. In trying to replicate the feeling of half life 1's dingy induistrial lab environments, it's created a very well-done world that hits on that same sense of discovery and early-era cinematic gameplay that defined half life as a franchise. With the exception of some slightly dodgy voiceacting that fails to bring the same energy as the half life scientists it aims to replicate, it feels like it's really nailing what it's going for while still having enough unique flavor to be its own thing. That isn't to say its without technical bugs, however. The tram system is notably without rails, so you're just kinda hovering around when riding it, and the loading gates are simultaneously too sensitive and abysmally slow, resulting in massive slowdowns in a game that looks like it should run at 120 fps on a slide rule. I suspect there's also some memory leaks or something, as the game gets progressively slower over time until it's an unplayable slideshow, especially in the later areas. I figure this will be fixed over time, hopefully soon. the second hub area in particular chugs hard, since at one point there's a 3 way intersection that seems to be trying to pre-load three whole areas at once and failing spectacularly. You're also GUARANTEED to see the seams in the map as you enter loading gates, they aren't very well cordoned off so you'll turn a corner into the void and be paralyzed for minutes at a time as the map pops in, often spoiling some of the upcoming level features in the process. Technical chugs aside though, I'm enjoying the mechanics and find the skill grind to be well-paced and balanced, with the exception of some skill-gated weapons being disappointing at best.