Infinite Rift - Half-Life

The Abandoned Workshops Syndicated Review

Gameplay:
12 levels with a lot of action throughout the mod. There’s some very entertaining moments with some nice ideas the mod too. Levels aren’t too complicated and straight forward. You are guided by a scientist communicating you by your HEV suit. The best part in the mod is the computer, and you must stay near it fighting off enemies will the scientist downloads files, its a very entertaining moment. There’s plenty of health and ammo too. The end fight is very easy too.

Design:
Above average with some nice looking areas. Textures choices are good, aligned well, some didn’t look very well chosen, but other than that the structure was good with well place enemies. Lighting was good in some places and no coloured light overuse.

Conclusion:
A good mod, sure to keep you entertained.

Rating: 85%

Copyright:
This review was written by Ryan “Quakis” Rouse and first appeared on The Abandoned Workshops and is republished by permission.

What do you do after you kill the gonarch?

I personally didn’t find it hard.Challenging yes.There were a few spots where I had to think a bit but I dont like things where you simply walk through and shoot and its over.
You need help just ask.Thats what I’m here for although it may take a few days before I see the post.

Where do i need to extract the downloaded files?

Hey! Phil! Somebody over here isn’t playing the PlanetPhillip tune. Knowlwedge is indeed becoming a commodity. But, hoarding it does not make you wealthy. Open up, mate. If you have something to tell then, tell us all.

I’m talking about the spod further up this poll who says he has the answer but, won’t divulge till asked. Publish and be damned, I say.

Ooh, you swine! Go on then, how does one shut down this infernal device? Having pushed the buttons and blown out the core. I’ve been away watching the Spring telly, Heroes, Supernatural, Doctor Who… And, sorry to shungokusatsu, wrong mod. That solution is for ETC II.

Er… Can’t see it mate. Up? Down? Left? Right? The walls ain’t blown away. Hang around and they do? Can land on a ledge under the now closed cave entrance? Hi-Def pack is off.

A very welcoming addition to the Half-Life archive. Upon my first playthrough, which was months – maybe even years ago – I didn’t exactly enjoy this mod. In fact, I didn’t even go past the third map! But I was intrigued by what I’d initially missed out on, so I braved the call of the ‘Infinite Rift.’

Let me tell you, despite a few flaws, as well as a generic first quarter and disappointing last quarter, this is quite an admirable modification!

Gameplay is a strong point with this mod. Although the first quarter issues heavy overuse of enemies, uninspiring enemy placement and generic puzzles, the last few quarters hold up as a fun, fluidly paced pieces of entertainment.

Don’t get me wrong, gameplay does have its problems. All throughout the mod, the author seems to hang onto a mechanic involving the placement of twin alien grunts, (Or human grunts.) the same old group of 3-4 alien slaves, gigantic packs of houndeyes and zombies – It comes off as repetitive sometimes. Of course, the human grunts are the more fun to be had here, with – apart from the occasional twin pack, mentioned above – Fun groups and bottlenecks placed smartly within maps constituting brilliant map layouts. Turrets are placed nicely, too.

The puzzles pick up as quite respectable during the last three quarters, including some trip laser puzzles and even a stealth segment. However, this particular piece of ‘espionage’ comes off as lacklustre. It’s too short, too easy and there’s so much wasted potential. But it’s there and it’s decent enough to be mentioned.

There are many highlights in ‘Infinite Rift’s’ gameplay. One highlight is a segment that involves an arena, where your friendly neighbourhood scientist, Mr. Hoota, (See below…) is downloading files from a mainframe. All of a sudden, the cavalry arrives to stomp on your ***! The catch? Dr. Hoota is downloading via your HEV suit, so you can’t step away too far from the mainframe until he’s finished. Overall, it’s a tight, fast-paced rush, only let down by those caught playing Infinite Rift on easy mode, (Cough.) to whom will find it a bit too easy.

Of course, gameplay dips down during the last quarter of the mod. The author has really gone to a new low with long – often item-less – dead-ends, punishing portals and such that zap you back right to the start of the map. Then there’s the reliance on mostly just aliens at this point. Yes, Someplace Else worked – But this didn’t. It was simply repetitive and very much ‘been there, done that’ gameplay.

But enough of gameplay. It’s time for design. For the first two quarters, it’s mostly just above-average, generic Black Mesa styled environment. It’s clean, crisp – But nothing inspiring or overly special. Sometimes, it comes off as mostly average or mediocre, even. I also found some inadequate texture choices at times.

But then the mod picks up halfway through, and really begins to shine! There’s some really great looking brushwork to be had. Texturework is perfectly aligned. Trimwork is used to great effect. Even lighting is used to set moody and effective scenes. Then there’s the last quarter of the mod – Which is very much excellent. It’s extremely imaginative and superbly executed. I’m not going to spoil it for you – Just see it for yourself!
The mod has a decent storyline that ties it all together. The dark, mysterious government entity, the Administrator (Read: G-Man…) has evidently occupied the Black Mesa research facility, mere days after the ‘catastrophic event in the anomalous materials lab…’

With military crawling everywhere, rounding up and generally bullying around scientists, it’s a rather dangerous place – But it gets worse. See, the Administrator is working on a secret project known only as Infinite Rift, capable of ripping apart space and time itself! But Dr. Hoota has other plans. He contacts Gordon, who’s somehow wandering around the base, and asks him to locate, recon and obliterate Infinite Rift. Thus you have this mod.

Dr. Hoota communicates to you via your HEV suit. Text messages appear on your HUD, relaying useful (If somewhat obvious…) information to you.

It seems fairly generic and a big case of ‘been there, done that’, but miraculously seems fresh and appealing, while still retaining the original Half-Life feel.

Of course, by no long stretch, does this mod break any new ground or revolutionize the modding world. For the first half of the mod, it’s a generally un-polished adventure. Still, it’s not an overly generic experience, but it’s nothing you haven’t been through before. (Except for the intriguing level design, gimmicks and set-pieces of the last quarter – Unless you’ve happened to have played Mission Failed.)

Anything else I should mention? Well, during the first half of the game, music isn’t used too well. It is placed way too closely together – At least with the pace I set with the game. I found the music to overlap occasionally. There’s a new menu background, which looks absolutely superb, but there isn’t really any new content.

Overall, I highly recommend this engaging little escapade. I was thinking of whether to give out a ‘Consider it’ or ‘Play it now!’

I chose ‘Play it now!’ because, while the first and last segments are slightly disappointing, it’s nothing like the mediocrity and general **** that were frequently released in the olden days. (Hah!) Despite my dislike for the last quarter, I still slogged through it successfully, and actually managed to enjoy myself to some degree.

If you haven’t yet, take a gander!

My recommendation:

when i tray to play the mod i get this
using secondary sound buffer
Host_Error:Ev_Precache: file events/crowbar.sc
missing from server HELP!!!!!!!!

there is no events folder or i cant find it

can somebody just sand me this crowbar.cs file on mail

sure and_marko AT yahoo.com thanks i can`t wait to start this mod

thanks a lot

I want the crowbar file so I can play SSH!

If you want to play SSH please ask your questions there.The file your requesting should be in the updated SSH 1.0