Recent reviews by sex

I didn't really like it

Negatives:
-bad visibility, everything is grayish
-the music is incredibly unfitting (same with the ending screen)
-the prison concept/theme could have been executed better
-with the game being short and getting new weapons so often, you don't have time to really use any of them.
-the game is just so ugly and not good

Positives:
+commentary system
+detailed levels
+achievements

Positives:
+It's a short Half Life 2 level worth playing
+It has developer commentary

Negatives:
-i found 2 places where I could't jump because of invisible walls, this was never an issue in Half Life 2(1st is around the stone stairs, on some wooden beams, 2nd is towards the back of the courtyard on a wall)
-there are some lightning issues in the church dome, when you go closer/further to it.
-there are physics items on the ground in multiple places that are annoying and get in the way.

-considering that this is so short and is a showcase for new technology, it should have less issues.

It's way too easy, much easier than Half-Life 1.
I recommend playing on hard, and without saving at all (except for when you exit the game), as HL2 autosaves often, and at good points (unlike HL1). Also, if you die, you should have to think about what you are doing wrong, not just quicksave and quickload all the time, especially in a Half-Life game.


The weapon arsenal is not as wide as in Half-Life 1.
I miss the "toys" you could play with in Half-Life 1, like the Laser Trip Mine, Satchel Charge and the Snark. In HL2 the bugbait becomes useless after you finish that chapter, the crowbar is practically also useless after you get the gravity gun.


The smaller arsenal and easier difficulty makes breaking crates and looking for items (and exploring) less fun,
as you are not that desperate for health, and don't have that many different stuff to pick up. (Also, there's only 1 type of crate)


The HECU soldiers from HL1 are more fun than combine soldiers.
Combine soldiers are too boring compared to the HECU, who moved more, and felt more intelligent.


The movement in Half-Life 1 feels better, more Quake-like.


Otherwise it's awesome

0 crashes and 0 bugs
This was my biggest concern when going into HL2 update,
but i didn't encounter or at least didn't notice any issues.


commentary mode
I played HL2 update over default Half-Life 2 for this feature only.
It's worth a play with commentary mode, however:
-the commentary is WAY TOO QUIET, even on max volume (relative to the game sounds)
-in some places, there is no commentary where there definitely could have been.
-sometimes the commentary bubbles are just timed badly, either npcs talking constantly over
it or getting attacked while you want to listen to it.


Otherwise, just play default Half-life 2,
as HL2 update hasn't been updated in a long time,
default Half Life 2 is just better in 2024,
unless you want very minor visual improvements like godrays.

Its an amazing game, in some ways its better that half life 2.

Being an old game, it has very different gameplay than what is normal nowadays, I had to think in ways that i never had to in games.

It has a suprising level of interactibility, sometimes you are struggling with an obsticle because you just dont think of an other way to bypass it (like disabling the generator to an electrified pool of water)

I dont know any games that have aged better than half life 1 and half life 2.

It's an amazing mod for Half-Life, I played through it twice

Positives:
+It makes HL1 feel like a modern old school shooter, it adds amazing details, animations, effects, crosshairs and features. It's amazing.
+It has the Uplink and Darkstar campaigns included.
+It has a shooting range map that you can hop into.

Negatives:
-It's based off the pre 25th anniversary update. (small UI on high resolution, no improved grenade physics, no improved satchel charge controls)
-the Uplink and Darkstar settings are separate from your main one, so you have to set everything again.