Silly me, tried to shoot the chopper because I DLed (and read the summary) a couple days before I played it.

Dog did get in my way a few times and cause me some damage, but I didn’t die. From him. (And the Combine only killed me once.) It would have been nice to see more of Dog in action, but then there might not have been much for me to do.

It was nice to see dog in a custom map, but this was an unsatisfying reunion.

Worth a play through with a good fun factor without ever reaching any noticeable achievements in either gameplay or design

First off, I was rather disappointed that all dog did was run around, absort bullets, and “break” two doors. The concept could have been utilized much better and he may as well not have been there at all. The level design was alright. A bit sparse at points, but good enough. The gun fights were the best part, but were only a little better than all the other aspects.

Thanks John

Picking up on Phillip’s comment about Dog getting in the way, that happened to me too! and once to the point where I was trapped and he killed me, I think!

Visuals
The interior part of the map is really nice; it looks realistic enough and still provide some good gameplay. The exterior parts were too dull in my opinion. They had plenty of detail but the lightning and set were too dark. This area would look fantastic in Episode Two.

Gameplay
Definitely the strongest part of the map came from the gameplay. Although some time the bunching of the Combine soldiers was a little frustrating. It made killing them too easy. The single addition of one Elite guard seemed out of place but who is say that wouldn’t happen?

The interior part offered more vertical movement whereas the exterior is simply flat. It would have been nice if there were a few walkways along the upper parts of the building from which Combine could have appear.

After Dog breaks a hole in the barrier you are blocked from re-entering the previous section by an invisible wall. This was the only problem I encountered. I am sure the author could have found a better way to limit the player’s movement.

Dog got in my way a few times but nothing to really worry about. That said, he played very little, if any part in the action except the opening sequence. It does raise the question why hasn’t Dog been used more. It/he offers some interesting options for authors and I would certainly like to see more of it/him.

Layout and Design
It’s quite a small area but at each point the player has to work hard to pass it and move on. As mentioned above the interior section looked great, although the addition of exploding barrels on delicate walkways is always a giveaway for action.

I would have liked the opportunity to explore a little more but that’s not really what the map was a bout and it’s easy to see as part of a large mappack that this would be the action section.

Summary
This is a really good little map and I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s hard not to wish the exterior section was as beautiful as some recent releases but let’s remember this is over 3 years old and as such you can’t really complain.