I'm still playing through the main campaign, probably past half way through at this point (Chapter 7).
I'll add that the game is both a lot like the former games in the series, but seems influenced by more modern games, particularly survival horror games; the Resident Evil series and The Last of Us in particular comes to mind. There's much more creepy tension and horror compared to earlier games, with more Lovecraft influence in its environments and enemy designs. It's set in City 17, but unlike in Half Life 2 the world is seemingly merging with the Xen dimension, resulting in many of its environments being covered in flesh, with an abundance of disgusting flora. There's enemies that feel inspired by Resident Evil 4's Regenerators, and others that feel like The Last of Us's Clickers or Bloaters, and some encounter designs call to mind set pieces from games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent more than anything from previous Half Life games.
There's also more of a focus on ammo management and scavenging compared to earlier games, where just finding two shotgun shells in a cupboard feels rewarding. The game's currency and weapon upgrade system means there's always a reason to scavenge, even if you're good for ammo.
In general, the pace of gameplay including in its action sequences is much slower paced compared to earlier Half Life games. Movement is slower, there's fewer enemies but they're much tougher to deal with, and your player character can only take a few hits before going down. Exploration feels tense as getting yourself into a bad position can quickly lead you to death.
The sound design is also phenomenal. The 3D audio is top notch; whether its in the game's many claustrophobic environments or more open areas, you can tell where every footstep or gunshot is coming from.
26 Mar 2020, 7:55 am
