I only recently learned it wasn’t made by Valve, yet it makes so much sense. This and Blue Shift are the weakest entries in the Half Life series, ones I haven’t been able to play through more than once. You could argue my opinion stems from the idea that I’m posting this review in 2020, but the last time I touched this game was nearly 10 years ago, when I just finished Half Life and thought that was amazing. If I’m remembering correctly, this and Blue Shift are monotonous. They expand upon the GoldSource sandbox with hollow additions that never saw the light of day again in anything other than mods that were far more successful and entertaining.
Bad and stupid.
That it was made by a third party company rather than Valve bleeds right through.
Weird, confusing plot, until someone explains it I think it breaks canon.
Dumb gameplay additions;
There are way too many new weapons, which makes the gunplay unfocused, and the barnacle grappling gun is not only very poorly implemented (it is only used about 7 times in the entire game), but is a stupid idea in itself.
The new monsters go unexplained why Gordon never encounters them.
Most of the security guards are fat, because security guards, amirite lolxd?
The military squad feature is glitched to hell, as there were several times when I was shot and killed by them because I was "in the way", and they mostly get killed within 30 seconds of real combat.
The enemy AI is completely broken, which is very apparent in open areas where they can stand completely still while you shoot their brains out, and when they try and chase you through labyrinth areas, where everyone seems to forget about you.
The rope physics are pretty cool, but climbing ropes feel pretty awkward, and the ropes sometimes spaz out.
Most of the puzzles are arbitrary, and/or stupid, with the ending boss being one of the dumbest boss fights that I can recall.
The only moment that I really liked was the ending sequence, which gave some needed closure for the Black Mesa chapter of the Half-Life saga, and was overall pretty good
While it had it's moments, it is dreadfully bad most part. Stay away unless you really, really would rather pay 4.99€ and 5 hours of your life, rather than just read the storyline on the Half-Life wiki.
SummaryReturn to the Black Mesa Research Facility as one of the military specialists assigned to eliminate Gordon Freeman. Experience an entirely new episode of single player action. Meet fierce alien opponents, and experiment with new weaponry. Named 'Game of the Year' by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.