Mistake of Pythagoras - Half-Life 2

Some brilliant ideas have been icorporated into this mod, giving a unique feel to it. Large tracts of it didn’t feel like I was playing HL2. Indeed, there was one section, a puzzle with a rolling block and two keys, when I was reminded of the old Freescape games on my Amiga - it had that kind of vibe.

Highly recommended if you fancy somthing unusual. A word of caution though. This mod is quite buggy, and the author has not addressed the problems. It’s been out awhile so I can’t see the problems being rectified any day soon.

Somewhat the same reaction as the other posters.

I must think differently than the mod maker, or this mod was purposely made as an exercise in frustration, not fun after a while. And the “after a while” came soon for me. I quit at the rolling block and two keys. Yes visually its very well done and obviously much work went into it.

If this has been out for some time, is there a walkthrough in English anywhere?

Thank Phillip, that got me much further along and past the teleport sequence, at which point I gave up out of growing dislike for the whole thing. To me, the mod repesents a sad waste of good mapping talents.

The Abandoned Workshops Syndicated Review

Gameplay:
This game is not related to the story of the Half-life2. Something goes mad because the human race failed in the experiment, and it connects with another world. The resident in the other world is crazy due to the mistake. We should restore the situation. Very exciting and interesting gameplay with a very good introduction which makes you start wondering what the hell is going on. Throughout the whole modification is a lot of action and some interesting puzzles. There are also some very tension building cut scenes and other interesting elements I don’t wish to spoil. This modification uses some very good ideas throughout making this one stand out from the other modifications. When you get closer to the end though, you get some interesting power which is both fun and hilarious to use, ever wanted to fling trains across a map? I’ll leave it at that.

Design:
Some very interesting locations are made within this modification and a lot of good ideas and well designed buildings, but sometimes they can feel a bit flat or average with some rooms being empty and basic texturing. But that doesn’t make the modification bad because of all the great ideas and structures make up for it, especially in the other world. I also found the numbers dropping from the sky quite scary as well, because it’s not normal!

Conclusion:
Interesting modification with great ideas and a lot of good action and cut scenes.

Rating:88%

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

Some interesting ideas; maps and music very good. Unfortunately, the game is buggy (try the patch) and some locations are under-utilized, frustratingly difficult and/or a little monotous. Had the potential to be something special. 6/10

When writing a walkthrough it is difficult to know quite how much to give away. The original pages for my walkthrough has some films included and they will not provide many clue’s either. I simply love KS’s mods, and it is a shame if people give up because the game seems too wacky. So, a bit more than just a hint is required sometimes.

BTW, If anyone is really stuck on this mod or is pulling out their hair trying to solve the puzzle (yellow dog and blue cat or some such!) just google me, my email is all over the net, and write to me. My last film has a clue..

http://www.btinternet.com/~rideflame/HalfLife/MOP/mop1.html

And finally, finally Philip…I like the lay out of the walkthough…but really, my name should be included. I forgive you for referering to me as a ‘he’ as everyone knows that women never play Half-Life, LOL!

I really enjoyed this mod. The atmosphere was awesome & the music plays right along with it. I enjoyed the “unique” style in which it was developed and felt like I had been taken out of the HL element for a change. I enjoyed the puzzles that were set about & some of the action was a bit insane but well worth the time to play. Kudos.

The entire mod is reminiscent of his “Peaces Like Us” mod for the original half-life; I was especially reminded of the “anotherworld” chapter from that mod.

At the moment, I’m stuck in a room with a large saucer that is spawning poison headcrabs and zombies en masse, and I’m not too sure how to proceed.

Oh wow… I’ve just finished this mod for the third time, and I’ve just now realized how deep it is. It even has a sad ending! See if you can spot why…

This mod is awsome and freaky at the same time. Numbers falling from the sky???
The combine on your side???
This is like starwars all twisted up!
I am really enjoying this mod and all the interesting scripting. Everything that happens is very unexpected and makes you want to play more just to see what happens next.
I havn’t finished it yet, so I don’t know the full story, but man, I am impressed!

This is the first mod for Half-Life 2 from Koumei Satou (KS). He’s the author of excellent Half-Life mods Peaces Like Us and Sweet Half-Life. If you’ve played either of those then you’ll be better prepared for Mistake Of Pythagoras (MoP) as they have similar quirky styles.

It opens with a short title sequence and then you find yourself in a small apartment where you receive a brief message from Dr Kleiner. When you’re free to move about, take a look out of the window and you’ll get a quick taste of what the author has in store for you.

The first time I ever played this mod I found the opening map a little confusing and spent ages walking around trying to figure out where to go but once I’d passed this small hurdle it became a bit more obvious. The second map is where the real action starts but you’ll have to hang around for a while before you can get hold of a weapon. Things soon start to get weird with strange craft flying through the air and enormous experiments going wrong.

The architecture that is featured in the next few set pieces is outstanding. It’s based on the work of French architect Claude Nicolas Ledoux and it’s obvious that KS has put a lot of time and effort into research. I don’t mean to imply that the rest of the design is anything other than first class but the two large white buildings are in a league of their own. He’s also created some elaborate machinery that wouldn’t be out of place back in the 19th century. With spinning wheels and spot on sound effects it’s a joy to watch. The contraption looks and feels like it might actually work!

KS has chosen some unique pieces of music. If you heard them on their own you’d struggle to see how they could possibly work in a Half-Life 2 mod. Yet somehow they do work perfectly and add another layer of depth to an already atmospheric mod.

At times the mapping doesn’t seem to fit with any of the Half-Life universe that we’ve seen before and sometimes it even feels like it’s grand and elaborate just for the sake of being grand and elaborate. To me, however, that’s part of the charm of this mod - it offers some totally unique locations to explore and marvel at.

The puzzles range from figuring out how to get up a wall that’s too high for a duck-jump to fitting shapes into the correct slot. There isn’t anything ground breaking but KS offers us a new take on these tried and tested themes and they’re always stylishly done.

Eventually you’ll lose all your physical weapons but that doesn’t stop the killing. If anything it gets more extreme! I won’t spoil it for those that haven’t played MoP yet but I’ve never seen this done in any other mod and I’ve played a lot of mods!

I haven’t said much about the storyline; the various enemies you’ll encounter or any of the action sequences but this is deliberate. I believe this mod to be so different from any other out there that it should be experienced first hand with as little prior knowledge as possible.

Positives
- Beautiful architecture and machinery
- New enemies
- Unconventional

Negatives
- The way forward is sometimes far from obvious
- Difficult in places
- Sequences don’t always trigger

Conclusion:
This mod seems to divide players with some despising it and others singing its praises.

The gameplay is often uneven and the puzzles can be quite confusing, but what really lifts this mod way above the norm is the stunning architecture and mapping. It’s worth playing for this alone.

If you’ve never played it before I highly recommend trying it and if you’re one of the many who couldn’t get into it the first time then I urge you to give it another go.

My Recommendation:

I thoroughly enjoyed playing thru this add-on the 1st couple of times, but I went back to it a few days ago and got to a spot (just after jumping up to the ledge mentioned in the review above) where if I tried to advance, the game would crash to my desktop. I tried everything, including re-installing it, but nothing helped.

Have Valve made some code changes that make this add-on no longer playable? If so, I hope the author will bring out a patch….this add-on is too good to delete from my hard-drive.

So, my rating now is

I haven’t finished this mod yet, but have enjoyed it so far, and wanted to put in a good word for it.
The mod shows creativity, and quite a bit of length. It’s kept me busy for a few hours, and I’m not done yet.
There are variations on half-life that I’ve never seen before. I’d list them, but don’t want to spoil the surprises.
Yes, the mod is confusing in places: what’s the story line? where do I go next? And sometimes a puzzle solution seems unguessable from the context (I was supposed to *pull* that??). Yes, you can occasionally get stuck. But there is a walkthrough available, and workarounds for being stuck. If you’re up for some interesting and experimental gameplay, this mod is definitely worth a look.
There is plenty of attention to detail, and the kind of new perspective on the half-life world that you might expect from another culture.

If you need a mod with polish, clarity of purpose, and game balance, this one may not be for you. But if you can take it as it comes, and enjoy mysterious new situations, Mistake of Pythagoras is worth your time.

Lars