This is a review of the NostalgiaVille mod compilation, available at RunThinkShootLive. There were 9 entries in the compilation (8 + 1 bonus entry). Below, they will be reviewed in the order they were in the compilation.
+ : Positives/Pros
? : Other points/Neither positive nor negative
- : Negatives/Cons
? : Other points/Neither positive nor negative
- : Negatives/Cons
Metro
Playthrough time: Approx. 20-30 mins.
+ Gameplay was fun and varied.
+ Managed to effectively condense early sections of Half-Life 2 into a shorter time-span.
+ Fast-paced (assisted by having the entry take place all in one map, which helped keep the pace up).
+ Knowing where to go was telegraphed well by the map design.
- Mapping details e.g. blocky rooms, asymmetrical train station exit etc. left quite a bit to be desired.
Overall: 7 or 8 out of 10, leaning more towards a 7 - A good start to this Ville.
+ Managed to effectively condense early sections of Half-Life 2 into a shorter time-span.
+ Fast-paced (assisted by having the entry take place all in one map, which helped keep the pace up).
+ Knowing where to go was telegraphed well by the map design.
- Mapping details e.g. blocky rooms, asymmetrical train station exit etc. left quite a bit to be desired.
Overall: 7 or 8 out of 10, leaning more towards a 7 - A good start to this Ville.
Cosmonaut
Playthrough time: Approx. 1 hour, shorter if you don't explore.
+ Incredibly well-polished, feels like it was made by Valve.
+ Atmospheric as hell, and evoked much of the spirit of Half-Life 2.
+ Lots of little details made the entry feel like a living, breathing world.
+ Exploration by player was rewarded with ammo, health packs and environmental story-telling.
+ Puzzles were well executed.
+ Ending battle was suitably epic, with a great train destruction/set-piece finish.
? Bit of an over-reliance on explosive barrels/too many explosive barrels.
? Occasional momentary freezing as well as noticeable lag in some areas, probably a result of my own hardware issues.
- Pacing felt a bit uneven at times.
Overall: 9.5 or 10 out of 10 - an exceptional entry!
+ Atmospheric as hell, and evoked much of the spirit of Half-Life 2.
+ Lots of little details made the entry feel like a living, breathing world.
+ Exploration by player was rewarded with ammo, health packs and environmental story-telling.
+ Puzzles were well executed.
+ Ending battle was suitably epic, with a great train destruction/set-piece finish.
? Bit of an over-reliance on explosive barrels/too many explosive barrels.
? Occasional momentary freezing as well as noticeable lag in some areas, probably a result of my own hardware issues.
- Pacing felt a bit uneven at times.
Overall: 9.5 or 10 out of 10 - an exceptional entry!
Lone
Playthrough time: Approx. 25 mins.
+ Lighting was done somewhat well in a few early areas.
+ Early sections set up good atmosphere.
- Overly dark, even with flashlight on - led to disorientation.
- "Blocky level design", made worse with aggressive darkness.
- Minor issues with A.I. here and there.
- In many sections of the entry, enemies are just thrown into the map in a cluster without thought, leaving little room for strategy or variation.
- Final strider battle was extremely difficult and frustrating, even on Easy (See points below).
- No clear or discernable way of replenishing RPG ammo for strider battle.
- Ground in final strider battle littered with hoppers, forcing the player to stay put or sprint around hoping to avoid damage.
Overall: 4 or 5 out of 10, possibly lower - Promising early sections ruined by mounting issues and an aggravating final battle.
+ Early sections set up good atmosphere.
- Overly dark, even with flashlight on - led to disorientation.
- "Blocky level design", made worse with aggressive darkness.
- Minor issues with A.I. here and there.
- In many sections of the entry, enemies are just thrown into the map in a cluster without thought, leaving little room for strategy or variation.
- Final strider battle was extremely difficult and frustrating, even on Easy (See points below).
- No clear or discernable way of replenishing RPG ammo for strider battle.
- Ground in final strider battle littered with hoppers, forcing the player to stay put or sprint around hoping to avoid damage.
Overall: 4 or 5 out of 10, possibly lower - Promising early sections ruined by mounting issues and an aggravating final battle.
Here Again
Playthrough time: Approx. 15 mins.
+ Details were relatively well done.
- Level design was confusing, wasn't always clear where the player was meant to go.
- Allowing the player to backtrack into certain areas (e.g. without an HEV suit so you can't select weapons) made the confusion worse.
- Ending is glitched (at least for me), walked into a vent and there was a black wall at the end. Confused, I walked out of the vent and two combine soldiers abruptly appeared out of thin air, A-posed and then the entry ended.
Overall: 5 or 6 out of 10, leaning more towards a 5 - Like Lone, it was promising early on with good atmosphere, but the cracks began to show very quickly.
- Level design was confusing, wasn't always clear where the player was meant to go.
- Allowing the player to backtrack into certain areas (e.g. without an HEV suit so you can't select weapons) made the confusion worse.
- Ending is glitched (at least for me), walked into a vent and there was a black wall at the end. Confused, I walked out of the vent and two combine soldiers abruptly appeared out of thin air, A-posed and then the entry ended.
Overall: 5 or 6 out of 10, leaning more towards a 5 - Like Lone, it was promising early on with good atmosphere, but the cracks began to show very quickly.
Canal Escape
Playthrough time: Approx. 15-20 mins.
+ Overall, well designed with variation in terrain, textures etc.
+ Gameplay was varied, but challenging.
? Puzzles were a bit hit-and-miss.
? Possible to soft lock in some areas (if you somehow miss the Gravity Gun like me)
- Some areas were confusing to navigate - sometimes, it wasn't clear what you had to do.
Overall: 7 out of 10 - Another good entry hampered by a few issues here and there.
+ Gameplay was varied, but challenging.
? Puzzles were a bit hit-and-miss.
? Possible to soft lock in some areas (if you somehow miss the Gravity Gun like me)
- Some areas were confusing to navigate - sometimes, it wasn't clear what you had to do.
Overall: 7 out of 10 - Another good entry hampered by a few issues here and there.
Grigori
Playthrough time: Approx. under 10 mins.
+ Atmosphere was OK.
- Same blocky level design problems as Lone.
- Same darkness problem as Lone, although not as extreme.
- Again, like Lone, Zombies are just placed carelessly in large groups seemingly without any thought for design.
- A.I. appears to be significantly broken in this entry.
- Entry ends uninterestingly with the flick of a switch to turn on a radio which was shown at the beginning of the entry.
Overall: 5 out of 10, possibly lower - Atmosphere was good, but everything else was mediocre or really poor.
- Same blocky level design problems as Lone.
- Same darkness problem as Lone, although not as extreme.
- Again, like Lone, Zombies are just placed carelessly in large groups seemingly without any thought for design.
- A.I. appears to be significantly broken in this entry.
- Entry ends uninterestingly with the flick of a switch to turn on a radio which was shown at the beginning of the entry.
Overall: 5 out of 10, possibly lower - Atmosphere was good, but everything else was mediocre or really poor.
Power Up
Playthrough time: Approx. 10-20 mins
+ Interesting spin on typical Half-Life formula, with a mysterious figure guiding you through an area.
+ Atmosphere was good.
? Some areas might be a bit TOO open and large (e.g. takes a while to get from Point A to Point B since you don't have the HEV suit).
- While the new "voice" is interesting, his accent and the quality of the audio can make it a bit difficult to understand what he is wanting you to do at times.
- To end the entry, you have to be hit by a Combine soldier with a stun stick. The player expects the mysterious figure to lower the shield to allow them inside the next building, but this is not the case. Thus, the player is able to never end the entry if they continue to avoid these Combine.
Overall: 7 out of 10 - Slightly confusing at times, but still pretty solid with a unique approach.
+ Atmosphere was good.
? Some areas might be a bit TOO open and large (e.g. takes a while to get from Point A to Point B since you don't have the HEV suit).
- While the new "voice" is interesting, his accent and the quality of the audio can make it a bit difficult to understand what he is wanting you to do at times.
- To end the entry, you have to be hit by a Combine soldier with a stun stick. The player expects the mysterious figure to lower the shield to allow them inside the next building, but this is not the case. Thus, the player is able to never end the entry if they continue to avoid these Combine.
Overall: 7 out of 10 - Slightly confusing at times, but still pretty solid with a unique approach.
Badwater 128
Playthrough time: Approx. 30 mins
+ Atmosphere was excellent.
+ Exterior level design was very polished.
+ Final battle with RPG taking down two choppers was fun, but a bit generic.
? Pink/missing textures on water and some windows, most likely not widespread issue as only one other person that I've found has had this problem.
? Pretty severe lag across most of the map.
- While most of what the player had to do was well telegraphed by the level design, there were some glaring problems (See below point).
- Difficult to perform jump suggests player has to do something else to progress, leading to needless wandering (i.e. the fact that the player needs to do this jump to a ladder is not conveyed well to the player).
Overall: 7 or 8 out of 10, leaning more towards a 7 - While (mostly) polished and atmospheric, some of the design choices were questionable and thus bring the rating down.
+ Exterior level design was very polished.
+ Final battle with RPG taking down two choppers was fun, but a bit generic.
? Pink/missing textures on water and some windows, most likely not widespread issue as only one other person that I've found has had this problem.
? Pretty severe lag across most of the map.
- While most of what the player had to do was well telegraphed by the level design, there were some glaring problems (See below point).
- Difficult to perform jump suggests player has to do something else to progress, leading to needless wandering (i.e. the fact that the player needs to do this jump to a ladder is not conveyed well to the player).
Overall: 7 or 8 out of 10, leaning more towards a 7 - While (mostly) polished and atmospheric, some of the design choices were questionable and thus bring the rating down.
BONUS ENTRY: Freeman and Bob
Playthrough time: Approx. 20-30 mins
+ Level design mostly good, if a tad generic and a bit blocky.
+ A.I. companion was surprisngly intelligent, and also endearing/compelling.
+ Like Power Up, the companion provided a unique spin on HL formula.
+ Good pace, moments of action as well as down time so you could catch your breath.
+ Final battle is fun, with the ability to shoot infinite rockets and send Combine soldiers flying.
- Near the end, a combine shooting the infinite rocket launcher is impossible to progress past unless you have an SMG to shoot grenades at it (which I somehow didn't pick up).
Overall: 7 or 8 out of 10, leading more towards an 8 - A great bonus entry to end on.
In order from best to worst:
1. Cosmonaut
2. Freeman and Bob
3. Metro
4. Badwater 128
5. Power Up
6. Canal Escape
7. Here Again
8. Grigori
9. Lone
+ A.I. companion was surprisngly intelligent, and also endearing/compelling.
+ Like Power Up, the companion provided a unique spin on HL formula.
+ Good pace, moments of action as well as down time so you could catch your breath.
+ Final battle is fun, with the ability to shoot infinite rockets and send Combine soldiers flying.
- Near the end, a combine shooting the infinite rocket launcher is impossible to progress past unless you have an SMG to shoot grenades at it (which I somehow didn't pick up).
Overall: 7 or 8 out of 10, leading more towards an 8 - A great bonus entry to end on.
In order from best to worst:
1. Cosmonaut
2. Freeman and Bob
3. Metro
4. Badwater 128
5. Power Up
6. Canal Escape
7. Here Again
8. Grigori
9. Lone
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