My only real complaint is the length could have been longer but I can’t fault it for that.

“tell the story into the mod, please”

here we have a great layout plus great textures an excellent atmosphere of how the G-Man base is in a really high cold mountain, and awsome battles, oh god, i really enjoyed the battles on this one, the last part of secure the helipad by destroying the Osprey to stop the incoming waves of grunts was a delightful fine great detail, and then destroy that awsome done KingPin space ship protected by Controllers was really cool too, if i love new weaponery on mods, i also love to be able to shoot static machineguns and that helipad got one too, that’s great.

I’m writing too many good things on this one, but just to be a Personal Fav. But for my gamers taste, maybe i’d like it to be longer, and i’d love to be able to ride and see the trip into the cablecar. But definitely it worths play it, it makes you feel a good time and mapping is really well done and it feels like every map is conected into that g-man secret complex, so come on, go on and play it!.

You’re given a mission at the beginning, and it’s nice that even though you seem to accomplish the original mission partway through, you still have to get your ass out of the base. This time the only knock against Edge of Darkness is that I found it too easy (even the finale). Maybe it’s my honed skills after years of Half-Life, but I recommend raising from your normal skill level for this pack to get the most out of it. Your enemies are a good mix of grunts and aliens, with a couple of boss-style fights (one with an Osprey) near the satisfying finale.

The polish of Edge of Darkness is what impressed me the most. From the opening briefing, to the in-game scripts (attention mappers: this is how you do cutscenes), to the action-packed finale, the fine gameplay blends with believable settings and a decent sprinkling of details that really make the maps feel alive.

Needless to say I had a great time playing this classic again. Highly recommended.

It’s difficult to know where to start with this one, it looked good and it played good. It’s also difficult to believe it was released over 11years ago, as most others of the same vintage in the 100 look nowhere near as polished as this. On top of everything else it appears (to me at least) the author put a lot of thought into this as well as imagination.

The combat was a slow build up to an almost impossibly frantic finale but was fun all the way and did I mention it looked good? The test chamber section was one of my favourite parts because usually large areas can look a little bland, but the look just felt right to me. I also liked the ‘Alien’ style eggs containing headcrabs. The ending was manic and I admit to using cheats at the end as I chucked every thing I had (and then some) before it blew up.

This is one that is well worth a play.

One last thing, the opening scene, I almost expected Captain Scarlet to appear!

The mapping and sets were really well done. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a cool assortment of locations, they’re the kind I would love to have in Gmod – if only they were current!

Very clever use of existing voice materials, as well as models. This reminds me of another mod, the helicopter waiting outside and rushing around in a wide room – but this one was pulled off much better. (Was that the same dev? I can’t remember!)

My problem was that I couldn’t survive the explosion in the water-floored room. I tried numerous times to crouch and blow it up from the water, but finally I got too frustrated and noclipped about. Still unclear on how you’re meant to get up to the 2nd floor of that room, but that’s fine.

I’m also a little unclear on the presence of rockets and the tau/gluon pack ammo. Did I just completely miss it? Did we get those weapons somewhere? I didn’t have them in my weapon lists, that’s for sure. They would have come in handy in the last battle.

All in all though, excellent and fun mod. Well worth playing.

I have heard many people recommend this mod to me in the past, and I even downloaded it at one point, but I never actually got around to playing it until now. This one, for me, was along the same lines as USS Darkstar and Life’s End and I really enjoyed it.

The intro to this mod was fantastic, and quite possibly the best and most professional part. It tells you what you need to know, gives you your objective and basic equipment and gives you a feel for the mod as well as mixing in a little bit of humor in there. Like Phillip said, it was disappointing that you never managed to get to take the cable car however.

The gameplay of this mod was another great part of this mod although it was too easy. The puzzles were pretty easy and boring, the combat was pretty fun though but way too easy. The whole design and mapping of the mod was really well done, and it was pleasing to look at unlike a lot of mods we’ve had in the 100SDoN so far. The glass doors were pretty nice too. There were very few bugs in this too, and the ones that did exist made very little difference and often worked in the players favour (getting the snarks and the vent zombies are two I can think of) and you shouldn’t have to use noclip. The whole atmosphere of the mod was nicely done too and gave it a good feel.

The ending was just as brilliant as the intro was and, without spoiling everything, throws you into an epic fight against many enemies with a very unusual end of mod boss at the end of it. While it was too easy it was brilliantly done and the best ending I have seen in a HL mod.

The intro and ending alone are reasons to play this, but the whole thing was fantastic. Definitely worth the praise.

I enjoyed the introduction. It is amazing and also contains some humour.

The design is beautiful, original and interesting. When we enter the base, an atmosphere of luxury if felt.

Our actions are commented with robotic voice. Also there is a radio contact with the command. The voiced words that come with Half-Life used creatively there. Later there will be creative use of the dialogue in the scene with Barney and G-Man.

We will encounter many interesting places, laboratories, experiments, destruction. It’s too bad that it’s not possible to get to the access card without killing the staff.

There will be a big experiment which is as great as the one in Black Mesa, maybe even greater.

The arrival of the tentacle is amazing and original. The final boss is also amazing and original.

This mod is certainly worth playing.

I was a little disappointed that we never actually took the cable car ride, but I understand why.

It follows what I feel is the BM formula of corridors and basic areas that lead to large open, central sections with battles.

I found the bigger areas too easy but overall I had a good time. I had one WOW moment which is more than most HL1 mods, at least nowadays.

There were plenty of nice touches, like the oil coming under the door and such, and it’s always nice to see little details like that.

Certainly not my favourite mod of the 100SDoN but I can easily see why some players loved it.

Definitely worth your time – go play it!

Subject: Gordon Freeman.
Mission: Thwart the G-Man’s plans to open a portal to the border world Xen.

Sound familiar? That’s the premise of Chris Spain’s Edge of Darkness. But this is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill rehash of Half-Life’s story. Instead, Edge of Darkness is one of the most engaging and enjoyable Half-Life single player episodes to date.

The plot is relatively simple: you reprise your role as Gordon Freeman. On an assignment for the Alien Counter-Insurgency Bureau, you are charged with infiltrating the G-Man’s secret hideout, foiling his evil plot, and escaping with your life. Oh, and kicking some serious ass in the meantime. But beware: Edge of Darkness is also pretty tough in a couple of points (especially the finale). Your combat skills will certainly be challenged in this episode.

Continue reading the review on Ten Four…

Notes
This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Sunday, 30th July 2000 by Unquenque.

Rating: 95%
Recommendation: Personal Favourite (My kind of game!).

The level design is quite simple, but it is marvellous when bundled with the fast paced action. My only gripe with it is that the opening sequence is not very straightforward, in fact it is very easy to miss the area where you are given your first weapons, which makes the following level where you meet the first enemies quite puzzling.

In the end, there is not much to say. Download it. Now.

The level design is outstanding, it makes my PC lag (lol) but not too much to waste the fun, the architecture is perfect and well crafted into the adventure, it feels great.

The battles are great, though, I would like a bit more stealth element, all the action is amazing throughout the mod, and stoping Mr. Smith is one of the must fun action I ever had in any mod.

This is the first SP adventure that I play twice in a row, so, what the hell are you waiting for? download NOW!

4/5

Design:
This modification keeps a consistent, solid and tidy structure throughout the entire mission. Each area of the mountain complex has its own style of design and texturing, the first part having a lot of marble and a rich sense added to it. The labs also have their own style but look similar to those from Black Mesa. Texturing has been done well in each area, while some mix others together to add more detail into it. Each room has plenty of objects, furniture or computers to fill up the space but of course some crates which gets a bit old. The lighting is moderate throughout with nothing that looks bad or out of place. Everything uses the default textures and sounds, but use them well to create some interesting designs for a few rooms and corridors, and the thunder from the introduction level. There was a slight bug with the bathroom door later in the mod, in the blue corridor. Pressing the use key on the glass panel causes it to “open” therefore closing earlier than the main door if that is opened as well making it look weird, doesn’t affect gameplay though.

Conclusion:
Balanced, consistent and enjoyable gameplay with a solid, tidy design throughout.

Rating: 84%