Street Hazard

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

22nd October 2017

“You are one of the last surviving rebels in a war-torn city after a prolonged combat against the Combine during the Uprising. The main Citadel has been destroyed giving the Resistance a high ground in the battle while leaving the Combine forces disorganised without proper communications.

Because of this as well as the rebels’ persistent resistance the losing Combine had decided to use their last resort, the headcrab shell bombardment, consequently abandoning the plans of regaining control over that area and instead causing a zombie outbreak. This counter measure has caused almost the whole population of the city to turn into zombies including a considerable number of Combine Soldiers, as well. Right now there are still some small isolated Combine squads remaining in the region.

Since the shelling, you have been staying alone in an abandoned and half destroyed house for a short time. Though at this moment, having no other survivors to assist you and the zombies closing in, you have decided that it’s finally time to try and escape from the zombie filled city and find a new and better place to live in. You grab your only firearm, the shotgun, with the little ammo you have left and set forth through the hazards on the streets.”

Basic Details
  • Title: Street Hazard
  • Filename: hl2-ep2-sp-street-hazard.7z
  • Size : 34.60MB
  • Author: Lauri Vainio
  • Date Released: 23 July 2017
Gauge Users

Please download the file before using it with Gauge.

Download Options

Download to your HDD [34.60MB]
You can still use it with Gauge once you have downloaded it.

Manual Installation Instructions

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING GAUGE FOR THIS MAPPACK.
If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.

  • Copy the contents of the file into your …\Steam\SteamApps\common\Half-Life 2\ep2\ folder.
  • Launch Half-Life 2: Episode Two
  • Open the console and type map street_hazard_1 and now press ENTER.

Videos

Coming Soon.

Panoramic Image

Screenshots

WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!

15 recommendations, average score: 4.67 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.36 (what's that?)
Total Downloads
  • 2,919
    Overall
  • 0
    Today
  • 3
    Last 7 days
  • 14
    Last 30 days
  • 227
    365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 13 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 7 Users

Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 20 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 30 Mins by LightningMcYing
Longest: 5 Hours by fdewit
Total Time Played: 17 Hours, 19 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
Jump to a review
Play It Now!Personal FavouritePersonal FavouritePlay It Now!Play It Now!Personal FavouritePersonal FavouriteMaybe?Play It LaterPersonal FavouritePersonal FavouritePlay It Now!Play It LaterPlay It LaterPlay It Now!

31 Comments

  1. Play It Now!

    This is one of those maps where it become very clear whether you should be running, shooting or thinking. I found myself shooting and scooting.

    After fighting the good fight on the main and upper deck of the City it becomes clear it is time to pop smoke and run. There are a considerable number of enemies, zombies, fast zombies during the outbreak including some small isolated Combine squads remaining in the region. Shortly after moving three turrets out of the way you will have to make your way through the hazardous streets. As you descend into the subway tunnels fighting can become intense at times.

    It was a relief to get a gravity gun. Found a couple of good filing cabinets and cinder blocks for weapons and fought down to the main platform to link up with a couple of indestructible mates. As one of the team members fixes the train you and a couple of resistance fighters confront the final wave. There is plenty of ammo and health on this level. This goes on for a couple of minutes and then relief sets in as it is time to escape. Good combat mod. Thanks Lauri.

  2. Personal Favourite

    Three words: It’s. Just. Perfect. This is maybe my favourite map of the whole year. Everything is well done, the layouts and the atmosphere. The maps are well-decorated. You will never get lost, really. Every paths are loud and clear. Also the Shotgun, my favourite weapon, is the star of the show.

    The use of Nightmare House-esque “pale color lightning” inside the subway really adds the atmosphere to it.

    Even though the voice acting is not loud enough and the train at the end was quite janky, it holds place of my favourite map of the year.

  3. Wesp5

    Indeed a perfectly crafted and very atmospheric and detailed map. Only I found the gameplay a bit repetetive with just zombies and a few Combines as enemies in very similar environments! Also the endgame fight did not trigger for me. Do I need to do something specific once I meet the two rebels and the train in that underground area?

    1. There’s nothing specific you need to do like flip a switch etc.

  4. Personal Favourite

    My first impression of this mod was rather bad, and I’m pretty glad I still played through it, because apart from some issues, it’s a masterpiece.

    I’ll list the downsides first:

    At the start, I found some mapdesigner’s no-go issues. Some of these were placing crucial items in spots where players could miss them. For instance, the pistol and the crowbar were both placed in locations prone to be missed, which is just unforgivable. If pickups are important for the rest of the game, they are to be placed in a way that players can not not pick them up, such as in a doorway players have to walk through.

    Next up was a lack of autosaves. I’d played for about ten minutes and only encountered two autosaves. Since one of the saves had saved just prior to me dying (screw mounted guns, really), I was forced to cheat and turn god mode on to prevent having to re-play through about four minutes worth of gameplay.

    A general downside to the entire mappack is that I often found that I was attacked immediately after entering an area. This, combined with the rather cold and weak lighting in some darker areas, induced a rather horror-ish feel in the last third of the game. Plus, I found the poison zombie to be vastly over-used, as almost every wave of enemies contained one to several of them. This, together with the same “scheme” of waves attacking used throughout the maps, made for a somewhat repetitive gameplay.

    Criticism aside, the mappack was absolutely fantastic. As though meant to make up for the aforementioned weaknesses, the architecture was absolutely stunning, especially the Combine one. I dare say that at least half of my motivation to keep playing after the beginning was to see more of the absolutely amazing architecture. Everything was spot-on, and this mod sure doesn’t need to fear to compete with Valve’s maps when it comes to looks. The lighting, too, was just perfect, both conveying atmosphere and just providing eye-candy. I can’t praise the author enough for this.

    I found no bugs or technical issues. Everything worked (although occasionally it was hard to understand what exactly I was to do). The only real technical “issue” is the aforementioned lack of autosaves and the autosave placed in the middle of heated combat, prone to saving when players are just about to die. Another issue was that many texts were missing and replaced with placeholders such as #HL2_Saved or #HL2_Smg1, but I believe that Gauge is at fault for this, as it creates new sourcemods for maps instead of copying the files into the actual game installation.

    The final defense battle was well-crafted and set-up and can compare to the likes of the turret fight in Nova Prospekt or the resistance hideout in the antlion tunnels. I couldn’t help but laugh at the homage towards the “Concerned” comic. The final train ride was a fitting end for the mappack. The voice acting, of course, sounded very amateurish in terms of recording quality (and also was a bit too quiet), but since not everyone can or wants to afford (home)studio quality, it doesn’t really matter for plot nor gameplay.

    I’ve got one suggestion, though: it would be worth the (little) effort to turn this into a proper mod. This way, it can be installed by simply pasting it into the sourcemods folder, the credits can be implemented using the “proper” credits entity which rolls down the credits instead of just displaying one text after another, and a custom main menu background & logo can be used. Also, this way the mod’s scenes & custom content don’t mix with ep2’s if people install it without Gauge.

    1. Though, I have to add I kind of expected the train to blow up, given Frohman’s tendency to mess up everything he touches…

  5. Play It Now!

    “Street Hazard” is a great map pack, which is practically a mod in its own right. I will first outline what I enjoyed and then give some points of improvement.

    The Good

    From the start to finish this map pack tells a consistent story of a society that has collapsed. Everything is broken and there is a general sense of decay and neglect, even in obvious combine presence. I had the sense I was walking through City 17 after the resistance and all the populace had fled, leaving only a few combine mindlessly fighting against zombies, zombines and living humans.
    Design, combat, the placement and type of enemies, everything supports the story and that makes this map pack a work worth a “Play it now” rating.

    The Less Good

    Weapon placement : At times I found weapons by accident, because they were placed “off the beaten track”; an SMG placed on a higher floor of a ruined building reachable by walking a twisted metal beam only, or a crowbar in a cul-de-sac.
    The weapons should be put in the path of the player, e.g. by re-routing the player to go up to the floor with the SMG before moving down to the street.

    Gameplay: Sometimes I felt a bit like I did playing multiplayer deathmatch for the first time running and gunning frantically to keep the zombies and crabs off. I don’t like multiplayer (like that) because it feels goalless (and therefore pointless).
    The resources often could not be used to full effect; explosive barrels could not be thrown for lack of gravity gun, and could not be placed carefully to be exploded by gunfire because the rush of zombies didn’t allow it.

    Conclusion

    Despite the shortcomings this map pack is worthy the extra effort to turn it into a mod. This would allow fixing the few problems, and would probably make my score go towards “Personal Favorite”.

  6. Play It Now!

    This was a really good experience

    I enjoy it a lot through it’s visual and gameplay, I like when you get reward through sneaking in all places, I like when the visual touch make you want to continue your exploration. I think It was mostly straight forward which I liked too… especially when you have a mix between outdoor an indoor.
    I’m becoming old and I don’t want to think too much or getting frustrated though solving puzzles πŸ™‚ So everything was not fresh but gave me a fresh breath of gaming.

    Despite all those good elements gameplay was quite repetitive and I wouldn’t have enjoyed one more heavy battle spawning hordes of enemies.

  7. 2JEL

    That was a fun! Lot’s of action and nice detailed atmosphere. Definitely a “Play it Now!”, but not quite at the quality of a “Personal Favorite”. A few more puzzles and would have been nice, and some better balance in the major fight scene.

  8. asterixer

    Under Linux, no problems. For me to much Zobies und to few combine, but ok. πŸ™‚
    )

  9. Hec
    Personal Favourite

    Well, At first I thought to give Street Hazard a PN. I think still is a solid PN. But I decided myself for a PF, because, well… It has much stuff I like in a Half Life2 mod.

    I think the thing I love the most about this mod, is that is developed as a realistic military mission inside the HL2 Universe. I mean it, in the whole map pack I always felt I was an isolated resistance fighter, tryin’ to find safety. The CMB units also felt as isolated and uncommunicated units, the combat against them was pretty nice and well balanced, although I miss some battles against the Hunters.

    The peak of the map pack I guess is the one where you reach the open street and there you have to take the mounted gun to defend against zombie swarms. Then also the end it feels challenging but I felt it more like an escape closely related to some L4D2 Survivor Campaign, you know, one of those where you have to escape from a place. I don’t know if the author has modded L4D2, but the feeling is absolutely there, even in the last credit section.

    I also like the fact, better, I actually loved the fact, this map pack was a solid urban combat scenario. Some parts of the city where beautifully done, and it felt like battling in Stalingrad or some urban combat scene like that you know.

    The story was clear, simple but neat, and that Gordon Frohman joke at the end was nicely executed and though the voice acting wasn’t great it just felt OK. I also think The Metro station part was a great scenario to end the mod. I love Metro stations in the real world, and for some reason, I think those are great places for any FPS scenario.

    In conclusion, I guess this map pack got what I like, real combat situations in HL2 Universe, I enjoyed it a lot, and finally, well, I am glad 2017 it has been a real heavy year regarding modding production!!! I hope it keeps it going that way.

  10. Personal Favourite

    I absolutely loved this. The three maps are all gorgeous but I personally feel they were in an order of greatness and worked down from there… The first was utterly brilliant and so well lit and detailed with great action scenes throughout. Second, was almost as good but too many dark areas. Don’t get me wrong, the atmosphere it creates is perfect but it’s just my pref and the gameplay was incredibly awesome once again. Third, was the battle which I thought I’d never last – but I did! I don’t normally survive these arena-style battles but this was done well and spacious with good ammo knocking about. I was gutted when I jumped onboard the train and the game ended…sigh

    I will be keeping this installed. I could easily play map 1 again right now. Probably even map 2 also… What a fantastic release this is and I advise everyone should take this baby for a test drive right now! πŸ™‚

    1. I should add that I had errors once again unpacking this archive. Only with the Sound folder and its contents. In the end, my mate unpacked it on his PC and then sent me the Sound folder via dropbox… Phillip has heard this from me lots of times πŸ™‚ but hopefully, somebody else might have issues too and can help (I’m on Mac). Cheers all

      1. Do you use the default application for unpacking archives? If so, it might be worth a shot trying to find an alternative.

        1. I use “The Unarchiver” from the Mac appstore… also tried two others but they all failed.

          I don’t get the warning about the Sound folder (and its contents) for each and every download from this website. Just a few downloads, like this mod. Also, I’ve today downloaded TeleportVille and this came up with the same error. So my mate has unpacked that on his PC and sent me the Sound folder again.

          I don’t get it. Most archives unpack a-ok but then there’s the odd few (like this mod and TeleportVille) that fail unpacking the Sound folder. (The rest of the archive always unpacks.)

  11. Don’t know what all the fuss is about. It was immediately clear that this was made by an unexperienced mapper. First it’s even unacceptable that I have to add the files to my Episode Two installation, instead of having your own mod enviroment (which really isn’t hard to do). I don’t want to pollute my game files with stuff I don’t need anymore after completing the mod. Then the initial intro with the title which looked just really bad.

    Visually the map was very underwhelming. Bad lighting, especially outdoors, blocky geometry and repetitive. Combat was boring, at least until where I played, where you mostly fight zombies, especially normal zombies, in huge enviroments, so all zombies aren’t any threat. I could avoid most enemies. At one section the mod throws like literally 200 zombies at you and I just gave up and ignored all of them. Simply the fact that I could even avoid all of them without any trouble shows how pointless that encounter was.

    I reached a point where I got stuck. I jump to a window with a lambda logo, got inside, found supplies, but then I didn’t know how to progress. Since I didn’t like the mod at all, I had no motivation to learn what I am supposed to do and stop. Because I barely completed the mod I didn’t add a recommendation image to this “first impression”.

    1. I get the feeling you’re rather hard to please, don’t think I’ve ever seen a positive review from you yet… mind recommending some mods that you like?

      (genuinely curious, not trying to piss somebody off for once)

      1. Transmissions Element 120
        Precinct 17
        Downfall
        Mission Improbable
        Tons of Ville maps like “Run Think Shoot”, “MAMH”, “Trek to Borealis”, “Antlion Farm”, “Blast Pit” (And these are just the ones that got the best possible rating from me)

        Should I continue? (I can continue if you want) Look at the past Hammer Cup Villes and look at my reviews. There are always a few maps that I rated “ITS GREAT”, sometimes “ITS WOW”, often “ITS GOOD”. Last Ville was just disappointing.

        1. Mission Improbable, Downfall and Trek to Borealis are great, I agree. I think Transmission 120 is a great example of extremely bad mapping, actually, and loads of wasted potential. I don’t know the other maps & mods but I gotta try them.

          1. I wasn’t here to discuss, but “extremely bad mapping” is an extreme term that is completely exxagerated and disqualifies you from the discussion to me.

            But I’m curious, what makes you think it’s bad “mapping” (whatever that means, mapping isn’t just one thing).

            1. The combat becomes absurd once the player gets the super-powered gravity gun, because every enemy can be killed instantly with a single blast, save for gunships and other mechs. In the final battle, there is no infinite resource of rockets, meaning players can run out of ammo and be left with no choice but to restart the game, violating the rule of thumb that players should never find themselves in a position that forces them to kill themselves or reload an older save.

              There is no explanation why the fight (and subsequently, the game) suddenly ends and it is unclear, what the objective is at all – players are presented with waves of enemies, expecting some sort of defend-until-??? situation and the enemies just keep respawning until players kill the striders. If somebody chose to neglect the striders and just fight the Combine, they’d fight forever as the striders are the objective.

              Also, the maps are way too dark at times, the pit with the zombies is plainly annoying and the stealth mechanics, while interesting, aren’t used enough. The thing where you find story in the form of notes or whatever it was doesn’t really fit the Half-Life way of playing games in my opinion (though that’s just a matter of preference), as I think in Half-Life games, story should be told through the environment (maps, NPC dialogue, scripted events etc.).

              1. suddenly being able to one shot enemies is a nice power fantasy, just like the blue gravity gun at the end of Half-Life 2

                I love the final fight against the striders, because it takes place in a very open space with buildings as big cover against the striders, and the player is forced to move a lot to find new resources

                why do you desperately need an explanation for things? Sure, if things have explanation and context it’s better, but how does that hurt? Besides, what does that have to do with bad mapping? What does anything you said have to do with bad mapping?

                The enviroments in that mod are extremely impressive, it has its own consistent and unique look, and especially the final fight has a well designed combat area in my opinion.

                It’s definitly not a flawless mod. but who cares, nothing is perfect. It’s definitly not “A great example of extremely bad mapping” … That sentence is simply ridiculous …

      2. I don’t know what people expect from Mods, but mods like these are not at all what I am looking for. Besides, while I criticize this mod in my “first impression”, it’s still just a first impression, and at the end I would probably still give it a “MAYBE” rating. I just hope that people want to improve and don’t just build stuff without thinking about it, just doing stuff without thinking why, without questioning why something is good or bad. I played through all Half-Life games a million times and a million maps and mods, but so many maps and mods still have trouble to get combat right (it took me very long too). Being nice doesn’t help anyone, pointing out flaws does.

  12. Maybe?

    Street Hazard could have done a better job at engaging the player and making sure they felt connected to the maps. The whole thing was tedious right from the get go after you began taking down the hoards of zombies. Zombies are good to have in HL2 levels but if you’re fighting nothing but zombies and headcrabs and occasionally throwing in Combine soldiers, the thing will become stale very quickly. There was hardly anything in this mod that made the player truly think for themselves and then go and find a solution. Even when there was a gate/force field closed, the path to it was linear and obvious and it never required the player to have to think.

    Having a balance between enemy types and enemy numbers is very important. You almost want each encounter with a group of enemies to be a set experience. Having almost endlessly spawning zombies along the main path of progression with no place to find safety does not work. There were zombies round every corner and often, they would spawn behind the player. This makes the player feel cheated as the ground they have covered is gained by them when they destroy what is in front of them. Having zombies come from behind in this mod created this very situation. More focused combine combat would have greatly benefited this map pack. It would have engaged the player a lot more however including puzzles and situations where the player could think about how to solve it would indefinitely make it better.

    The final battle was not very well done either. While the idea was good on paper, it would have been much better to make it more controlled. Having less enemies spawning at a lower frequency would still have made it a challenge as they would still be coming from multiple different locations. The way it was with load of zombies around the same area made it boring for the player.

    Overall, this mod was really tedious to navigate, combat was repetitive and puzzle were nonexistent however the mapper appears competent in making maps so it will not be difficult to go and either change this mod or create another which exceeds what the mapper has already done.

  13. Play It Later

    A competent set of maps. It never hesitates to throw a huge wave of zombies at you.

    Expect lots of combat and not much else.

  14. Personal Favourite

    This is one of the best maps I’ve played last time.

    What I liked:

    -Medium playtime
    -Awesome level design
    -Clearly understoondable route. No situations like “where TF I need to go?!”
    -Action. All the time.
    -Strong waves of zombies. Not like “Hey Im a zombie, shoot me pls”
    -Combine ventilation

    What I didn’t liked:
    -Uhhh…
    -hmmmm…
    -Maybe….Ah, no, everything is OK.

  15. Personal Favourite

    Great gameplay with beautiful mapping and episode one atmosphere.

  16. Play It Now!

    Nice

  17. Play It Later

    Looks good. Plays good. Not sure what is missing.

  18. Play It Later

    This is a good campaign at least but there are some flaws in it. First, let’s go to combat. Sure there are zombies and a few combine soldiers but turns out, you get to fight a horde of zombies. What is this, Left 4 Dead 2? I mean it, 80% of your enemies are zombies that appear from outta nowhere everytime you start backtracking. Where’s the fun in that when it gets repetitive? The level design is pretty decent, it feels like you’re playing Episode 1. It is quite linear for some areas, while some part of the areas are backtrack. The puzzles, there are no puzzles at all. If you count find the hidden object, then I guess there is a puzzle, but the point is, it doesn’t make you use your thought but your eyes instead.

  19. Play It Now!

    Very nice war-torn aesthetic.

    The floody mounted gun battle was an interesting nut to crack. Do you attack the zombies? Or the Combine? Or neither? There are several strategies which leave this battle open-ended and unable to be beaten by brute force.

    Apartment vibes were on point. Claustrophobic combat in nostalgic environments. Great architecture. Unique, but still on location.

    I like that the mod rewards you for smashing random shit. Items hidden on top of a wardrobe? No normal person would’ve seen that, so the only way to get it is to bash the crap out of stuff with a crowbar. I don’t know why anybody would just destroy shit for the sake of it. I mean I certainly don’t leave every single room empty of all breakable physics objects. Do you?

    Citadel area was unexpected, but very welcome.

    Combat was excellent. Nice mixture of open and tight encounters with really well-done swarmy defense-type sections. Intense and thrilling.

    Tough, but rewarding exploration-based mod. I’m in. 9/10

Leave a Response

Comment Formatting Guide

Well formatted comments are much easier to read. Please copy and paste the HTML Tags to use in your comment

  • HEADER: <div class="fix"></div><div class="sbe3">TEXT HERE</div>
  • BOLD: <strong>TEXT HERE</strong>
  • ITALIC: <em>TEXT HERE</em>
  • SPOILER: <span class="spoiler">TEXT HERE</span>