Forum Overview :: Reviews :: Action Half-Life Director's Cut 2 (first draft)

[quote name="Creexul :("](I would like some other people who played AHL to provide some more thoughts or screenshots for this.) :( Some third party decided to continue the work of the old "A Team" (warning: they are not the actual A Team from the TV show) who made the original Action Half-Life, a lackluster, buggy Half-Life 1 mod that floundered due to the fact that other mods were more fun or interesting. The more successful mods have taken off and changed, while AHL has basically stayed the same in various stages of bugginess and unplayability. There was an entire year where the game did not feature working spawn points, and the "A Team" refused to fix it immediately and refused to take responsibility for it. That pretty much indicates what kind of mod this is, and thousands of potential gamers have come to the same conclusion. Because the team who made this are fucking losers, and the people who attempt to perpetuate this mod are fucking losers too. Action Half-Life is the scientology of video games. <b>Graphics: 0</b> This brand spankin' (HEH) new version of Action Half-Life features a new stylish splash screen. It's in black and white. Aside from that it's basically the exact same as most Half-Life 1 modifications. Maybe a little rougher around the edges though, especially considering this mod is over 4 years old. But let's face it, even for a third party Half-Life 1 mod made by "enthusiasts" in their free time, the graphics are terrible. You have to fuck up pretty bad when Half-Life 1 still outdoes your graphics and effects even 8 years later. <b>Sound: 0</b> Quake 2 quality. Nowhere near as satisfying as even the core Half-Life 1 sound effects. It's here that it becomes clear this mod was a waste of time to conceive of. I think some of the sound effects were reused from Quake 2, in fact. After a year they couldn't even remodulate some Half-Life 1 sound effects to improve this? <b>Weapons: 0</b> Same as they ever were. A couple akimbo combinations, a sawedoff shotgun that for some reason can't hit anything even at point blank range, some interchangable rapid fire weapons, and a laughably unnecessary amount of sniper rifles (two, but even at one a sniper rifle would be unnecessary without the mapping to back it up). Just plain stupid. All the weapons have the same effect, to attempt to point them in the general area of an enemy and then fire. A couple weapons are stronger than the others. Any other differences are negligable. <b>Maps: 0</b> Really good for Quake 2. They are mainly floors with the occasional elevation. Became dated during one of the early Day of Defeat betas, years ago. I guess all the good mappers are working on, say, good mods. I remember some of the older maps in this game were quaint and had areas to hide or dive out of, or areas you could try to rush in with teammates. It looks like they've abandoned that for plain deathmatch, and not even good deathmatch. <b>Gameplay: 0</b> "It functions on Steam" is the most you can say about this game. You run around shooting. There is a dive button, but it's basically like a "move faster and come to a sudden stop lower to the floor" button. What function this would have in the game is limited since using it to avoid fire is pointless due to the netcode not being properly optimized. The web of this mod's problems and bugs affects unrelated parts of the game. In the end, this would've been fitting multiplayer for Chemical Existence. Since The Specialists has come out it's become the sort of "official/unofficial" competition for AHL. Unfortunately that hasn't inspired anyone to try changing AHL to one up The Specialists in any way, which shows on Steam's user statistics since The Specialists is just about the biggest HL1 mod currently. This is without even mentioning more modern games like say Battlefield 2, but to compare Action Half-Life with Battlefield 2 would be unfair. Unfair, but helpful. <b>Fags: <font color="gold">10!</font></b> If you go into the game, the first thing you'll probably see is an AHL fan WHO'S BEEN THERE SINCE THE BEGINNING MAN be in an argument about how The Specialists, a somewhat similar yet infinitely more successful deathmatch mod, sucks, is for newbs, and requires no skill because you just "spam" and that is for skilless newbs. These people will apparently play Action Half-Life after we've all moved on to Team Fortress 2 or whatever crazy multiplayer games the future brings. The people who populate AHL's fanbase believe they are of some kind of refined class of gamer who appreciates the finer points of gaming, and of fine quality action <i>feeeeeeelms</i>. I noticed one player brag that first person shooting requires good hand-eye coordination, and that is why he was so good at games that he competed in game playing competitions and even won money (OOOOOOOO), and he made sure to throw in that The Specialists did not require the same level of skill as Action Half-Life. I'm surprised he didn't mention he was doing all this to achieve a <i>state of clear</i>, but I guess bragging to about 3 total strangers at 3 in the morning was good enough for him or for any typical AHL fan seeing as most of them have had this kind of behavior since the mod began. As he was yapping I was lining an enemy up in my crosshairs and firing, to no effect because the aiming offset is completely random, even for the sawedoff shotgun. Don't believe the giant wall decal that implies you peppered a 5 square foot area, I guess. Why that would ever be in a game I have no clue, but it's retarded. I think I already said this, but the people who made this mode can't code for shit, and never could. Again, it pales in comparison to something like Battlefield 2, where I can actually hit what I aim at. Overall: You might as well play this mod's supposed "competition," The Specialists. It might not take any skill, but it's way more fun.[/quote]