Best Of
Re: _K's krazy krash kourse of KATastrophe
Transmissions: Element 120(0.7 hours): A free to play game that is a short story in the Half-Life 2 universe. Built on the same assets and the source engine it has all the trimmings of a Valve game. With only 4 acts in the entire game, and they short, there isn't much content but given its short length a dozen achievements it is something I feel most of us would replay at least once to ensure 100%.
You awake on a train after listening to some strange transmission. The only oddity about this game is that Gordon can't jump worth beans any more. Feels like you can maybe get 6 inches off the ground by hitting space bar. This is very intentional since within the first act you come across the crowbar, pistol, and modded gravity gun. The new gravity is kind of the center piece of the game since you can use it to rocket jump and shoot people or objects with it. This iteration isn't really a shooter, much more of the platformer/puzzle from HL1. All of the standard HL2 elements are there but the developers did throw in some fun things. In the dark the zombies and headcrabs don't see you so you can just walk around them but this also works another way. There are glow in the dark messages left for you to give you information or show the correct path when you have several choices.
One silly thing in the game was QR codes that had messages for you. WHY???? There is an achievement for viewing them all. I found them all but couldn't automatically view them because the decode system is wack, and it feels intentional. Only gripe about the entire thing is the QR codes. You can collect most of the old arsenal after puzzling your way into their room, usually a door in the corner or a chair blocking you from the other side. Have all the weapons doesn't matter much since the gravity gun is super OP.
There is a battle at the end which isn't hard but is the only real fight in the game. You can brute force it or be clever and cake walk most of it. This HL2 "episode" has a Lost Coast feel without any real story being added to the universe, just something fun that is also new. Sit down and play it.
Games Completed: 128
Time: 5 weeks 130.86 hours
_k