While the game play was similar to the first map pack it was very short, but could of been a lot better had the map maker made a few more maps for it. It was also incredibly easy and the only parts that had any difficulty at all were the very first fight and the last one, even the Apache was easy. It manages to escape an “Avoid It!” and a “Think Twice” because it was fun, and it’s not going to take much time to download or play.

Not much to say, fun and worth trying but too short.

The focus, like may beginner maps, is on the action and this map has enough to keep you occupied for 5-10 minutes. I thought the flow of the action was nicely paced and it kept me engaged until the end boss fight. Because the focus is on action, there is no story but the linear nature of the environment means it’s very hard to get lost.

The environment is just a series of corridors and rooms linked together, which abruptly change visually from room to room. The corridors and room are also very tight and claustrophobic but some rooms have a scattering of cover so a limited use of tactics can be utilised.

I think this may have turned out better if some thought had gone into layout of the map and the design of the rooms and how they fit together.

As it is the action will keep you entertained for 5-10 minutes but the map is visually unappealing. This was not bad as a test map but it isn’t really worth the time to play it.

What I mainly noticed about the build of this level was how SQUARE all the rooms were, apart from the corridors of course, which were just rectangular. Also, most of the texturing is pretty bland. Overall, it’s pretty easy to tell this was made by a beginner.

As for the gameplay, that’s also blah. You go through some rooms, you shoot at grunts in those rooms. That’s most of the map, really. The initial areas are way too cramped to use any tactics except “kill guy before he kills you”. Fortunately, the rooms do widen out later on. One thing I will compliment the author on is that they managed to figure out how to make grunts rappel from the ceiling. From the build of this level I wasn’t really expecting any scripted sequences at all, so the rapelling grunts were a nice touch. Not particularly wow-inducing, but hell, it’s still nice to have to fight off enemies from above once in a while. However, near the end there was a gargantua fight that was kind’ve stupid, because A. if you were playing on Difficult, there wasn’t enough ammo to kill it, B. it could run through a corridor too small for it and C. simply going around it allowed you to go into the next room, ending the map with ease. Still, apart from that the balance was decent. Apart from the gargantua and the grunts, the only other enemies were a handful of alien grunts and a somewhat easy to destroy chopper, mainly because it’s facing away from you half of the time.

My comments here probably seem a little vague, in which case I apologise. The fact is, there’s not much to say about this one, a map that will take you roughly 10 minutes to complete, maximum. In the end, it’s just too amateur in design for me to recommend. Think twice before playing this one, but at least know there’s no need to avoid it like the plague.

Cons:
Floating geometry Ex: Light in the Spawn room.
Bad texturing on some things Ex: Button to open the Xen room, and the Floor in Xen.

Overall: Not bad but a Think Twice.

But truth be told the battles are somewhat interesting; the chopper was a challenge to fight because you have to grab the RPG quickly. As for the garg, there are too many ways to glitch out of the battle. You can duck back into the building and hurl rockets at it from a safe distance. You can also rush directly to where the garg arrived from because that triggers the endsection for the map. LOL guys you all have to think before you shoot; it definitely is a bad idea to play tag with the garg in that yard. But it’s okay, I respect each player’s style of playing.

If this had been part of a larger/longer map/map-pack/mod then it would have been a forgettable section of something much better, but as a standalone release, whilst not terrible it wasn’t great either.

The ending could have been way better if the Garg and chopper fought it out and you had to defeat the winner before the far door opens, but

Also the Garg is seemingly able to change size, when I retreated back into the tunnel with the crates it followed me in!! According the CombineOverWiki they are around “six meters (20 feet) tall”, the height of the tunnel was four meters Max!

I think despite this being so very short (around 5 minutes if really stretch it out) I’m rating this one, one above what I would have given had it not been part of the Nostalgia 100.

This map, unlike the previous one, deserves two points, because it has progression and decent gameplay. I had to press some buttons to open doors and was ambushed by soldiers. So it doesn’t let the player get bored. In the end there’s a good boss fight. Running from Garg was a thrilling experience. And there’s an ending. Yes, it’s just an instantaneous return to main menu, but that’s better than nothing.

But what does it have besides the gameplay? Compelling story? Beautiful architecture? Original scenes? Atmosphere? It lacks all of them, so there’s nothing else to give points for. 2 out of 5.

I am not sure why I used the previous recommendation image. Anyway, it’s just a couple of silly rooms and a few corridors joined together with a few enemies thrown in for good measure. Considering this was released over 7 years after Half-Life you would think that mappers would have either improved or started with Source.

The final battle is just silly and the army chopper can be downed with just one rocket, and fighting the Garg in such an open space is neither fun nor easy.

It’s not much fun, so I say “Avoid It!”

In game use the ~ key to open the console

As always, I respect anybody who has made and released a map, so the least I can do is play it.

The gameplay was very simple but not boring. There was only one technical problem and that can be seen in image 15.

There was something that I enjoyed:
SPOILER ALERT!
When you are in the corridor leading to the outdoor section, it is possible to walk behind a number of crates. They move forward and provide some protection. It seems to me that this idea should be expanded and put to better use.
SPOILER ALERT OVER!

Overall I say:

If you have 5-10 minutes free and you want to play a linear little Half-Life map then this is for you.

If you are looking for something more then you best avoid it.