About
A 4 level Half-Life 2 mission pack. In this level your goal is to travel with the airboat up river and deliver a message to friendly forces. Along the way you need to destroy oil tanks on the beach. The resulting commotion should distract the Combine and aid in the assault.
Reviews
Basic Details
- Title: Assault On A Strider Base
- File Name: asb_blocke_alone.zip
- Size: 14.2Mb
- Date Released: 05 September 2005
- Author: Bruce Locke
- Download Version 1: PlanetPhillip Filecloud Server
- Download Version 2: PlanetPhillip Filecloud Server
Screenshots
May contain spoilers!
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Reader Recommendations
2 recommendations, average score: 5 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0
Broken Link?
Check out FileFront Direct, it lists every file I have, for posts with non-working links.
Published
18th September 2005
Categories
Half-Life 2, Single Player Mods and Maps
Tags
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15 Comments
18th January 2006
Wait a second….
This zip file only contains the second level….
Wheres the rest?
You really should specify that its not complete.
18th January 2006
If I knew it wasn’t complete I would have told you. I’ll check my local copy later and see what that contains.
18th January 2006
Sorry if I sounded bitchy there. I didn’t mean too.
Heh.
I didn’t know there were so many “tweaked” copies of various mods floating around the net until I got here.
26th February 2006
So have we got all the levels for this yet? As much as this looks great and sounds good, I got a download limit I gotta comply with…
26th February 2006
No, not yet. I did email the author a while ago asking for more information but never got a reply.
4th March 2006
looken good
16th May 2006
I downloaded the file from the author’s website and played through it (such as it is), and it’s not bad at all. I never got to the strider base–the level ended after I left the boat and killed the nearby enemies (but this was explained in the readme file; presumably the author planned to finish the other levels later). Anyway, it’s worth the download–lots of things to blow up and enough enemies to keep it interesting.
8th August 2006
Played this some time ago and wrote then;
A good but hard single level game with fine architecured sets, some very hard combat both on the ground and from the air, a good start to hopefully a more complete and much longer game. Well worth the download and play but it will leave you wanting more.
12th September 2006
I echo the comments above. An excellent set of maps taking full advantage of the boat’s weaponry. Great set pieces and a competent mix of puzzle and combat.
Too difficult? Well, the default difficulty setting is hard. I found it played just right on normal setting.
15th April 2007
If Bruce Locke’s level is level 2, does anyone know which level number this one is?
http://www.jennifern.net/levels.html
Map Pack: Assault on the Strider Base
Level: Rosa – Sewers
15th April 2007
And does anyone know where you go after reaching the Hotel Terminus – the one with the sign in flames – at the end of the rail track?
4th July 2007
Very short… but the level architecture is gorgeous, and the gameplay (the map places you in the airboat complete with combine-machine-gun) is very fun. Nothing is quite as satisfying as blowing away enemies with that awesome airboat gun! There’s also a nice battle on the top floor of a building where you’re given an Infinite Crate ‘O Rockets and pitted against two gunships, two APC’s, and a number of Combine soldiers. Great fun throughout… my only complaint would be the lack of a satisfactory ending (the game ends with text saying “This is the level end.”).
12th September 2007
First, let me state that this mappack is very much an airboat joyride. I mention this up front knowing that some HL2 gamers are not fond of water or road buggy elements of the original HL2 game. For myself, I enjoy the ride sequences and will normally get completely immersed in the fast and furious action along the water and roadways.
With that out of the way, your mission starts with the airboat while at the same time receiving ingame text messages outlining your goal. The story, for what it’s worth, does not really need mentioning. Just go and make hay with that water buggy gun.
The waterway layouts are well constructed with plenty of room to maneuver being designed to make the ride interesting with sweeps and jumps all situated below high rising rock faces on either side. I am not completely convinced with the quality and detail of the terrain’s architecture since much of the surrounding landscape appears lumpy with textures flat and having a slightly unrealistic look. For examples see PlanetPhillip’s posting of the mappack depicting screen shots of the terrain in question.
The interior design and what little there is of it, seems unimpressive being very basic and sparsely furnished giving an empty feel to the surroundings. However, this is predominately an open-air advantage that excels among the canal ways.
The waterway formation is similar to the original HL2 game, with stretches of power rides and stops to locate and operate lock-gates to progress. At these junctions, well constructed combat sequence have been plotted allowing effective use of the buggy gun. I just love that gun!
One mid-game Combine encounter is a very intense battle supported with enemy hardware that includes dropship, gunship, and rocket firing armored vehicles all combined in bolstering the strategy positioned troops. These engagements are well balanced affording the player ample health and ammo for the challenge at hand.
Another memorable encounter takes place against a helicopter gunship where the full power of the airboat gun comes into play. This fast and hectic sequence has great replay value and I guarantee you will want to play through again. Elsewhere, scattered throughout the mapppack we come up against zombies in different forms and headcrabs but this is the extent of various foe encountered within the game.
There is not much in the way of puzzle solving nor is there much scope for them apart from finding wheels to operate lock-gates and a few out of the way stores. Other than that, it’s very much a matter of nagivating your buggy to the next encounter.
Overall, this is a game designed around and along the waterways interspersed with admirably designed action sequences. Apart from these major elements, the mappack does not aspire to great heights in terms of gameplay, architecture, textures and incidental content with most of the building structures appearing bland both externally and internally.
Negative Points
- Only a part of an unfinished game
- Limited in design and environmental surrounds
- Gameplay is a bit restricted
Positive Points
- Plenty of ride sequences for those who like them
- Some well staged combat
- Great Gunship encounters
Conclusion
Being released some two years ago, this mappack would appear to be part of an unfinished game. Some doubt still remains as to whether this is part 1 or 2 of the complete story. Certainly it’s not the planned ending with nothing remotely resembling a Strider let alone their base appearing.
The way the level starts with Freeman facing the airboat and weapons already in hand, you can’t help but wonder if there was, or is a previous level to the game. Furthermore, the author refers to the mappack as level 2 in the readme file. So maybe there is a previous level and who knows maybe even subsequent levels leading to those striders and their base.
All that aside, I enjoyed the ride finding it challenging in parts and fun throughout. Not a classic but maybe a top twenty candidate with a few memorable sequences. However, unless you don’t like buggy rides, I see no reason why you should not ‘go play now’.
2nd April 2008
Stumbled on first level of this map pack. You can find info about it and link to file there-> http://www.jennifern.net/gameprojects.html scroll past couple of projects.
edit: never mind.. didnt read all posts. there already was mention about this level.
9th August 2010
In it something is. Clearly, thanks for the help in this question.