|
by Weyoun Voidbringer 02/28/2006, 6:57pm PST |
|
 |
|
 |
|
http://www.planethalflife.com/heartofevil/default.asp
http://www.planethalflife.com/features/motw/heart_of_evil.shtm
It's actually been installed on steam on my computer for over a year now. I think I stopped playing it regularly just before HL2 was released.
Bad news first: one of the main design concepts for the map layout and puzzle solving is based on Survival Horror pre-RE4, which means you have to wander around for an eternity across the maps looking for the next correct level transition or innocuous(sosou) object that might open an impassible puzzle wall without the benifit of a walkthru (there is a walkthru tho, all that hassle is just if you do NOT have the walkthru which is available on their website). This is a gigantic pack of maps so it goes on and on for even longer than the Opfor expansion.
This is a total conversion so aside from the benifits, you might have to put up with some strange glitches or bugs. I'm sure there were some when I played it 3 times over, I just don't remember any specific ones. The character models and npc faces are pretty damn low quality even for HL1, which may harm your game experience if you are some kind of fascist purist, or help when you consider the heavily comedic nature of the game's "story" (based heavily on ApocNow! FMJ and the whole Vietnam war in general, so that's a bunch of positives all around, especially when you add in the original ideas included by the developers).
The team involved in making this mod has also been responsible for some of my very favorite HL1 packs, especially what might be the only good Opfor map pack ever made in history. So aside from those negative points or any negatives I might not be remembering to mention, everything else about HoE is excellent. Some of my favorite concepts from it: every historically accurate weapon from the era can go into your inventory, so that you will have tons of AK M-16 and M60-M21 remington shotgun (with normal buckshot and alternate elephant shot) ammo to spray around, along side a semiauto gun hammerable 1911 .45, all as your main guns which stand next to the fuckton shitload of other special weapons you will get (M79 grenade launcher).
There is also the Vietnam war story stuff, clearly plucked from real life and included as minor environment item plot immersion objects. I have some screenshots of the "newspaper headlines" from the beginning of the game, so remind me to post those later. Text based posted announcments and documents can be included here without needing to be transferred to a gif/jpg file:
(Translated from Vietnamese)
The owner of these premises was found to be guilty of
sympathising with the American Imperialist Aggressors
and furthermore of harbouring Bourgeous Ideals contrary
to the principles of our Glorious Revolution, and seeking
to make personal profit from the sale of petrol rather
than distributing it freely among the people according
to need. For this reason he was sentenced to death and
his petrol was confiscated. The wrath of The People was
swift and merciless! Long live The Revolution!
Signed: General Long Dhong
(Translated from Vietnamese)
These individuals have been punished for crimes against
The People. Despite their Heinous Crimes, they were
shown Infinite Compassion by our Merciful Leader, General
Long Dhong, but they nevertheless persisted in their
antisocial and deviant behaviour. Accordingly The People's
anger was terrible, and their vengeance was Just and
Righteous. All those who defy the will of The People must
be crushed! Long live our Glorious Revolution!
(Translated from Vietnamese)
EXECUTION TODAY, 3:30 PM
Our Noble and Glorious Leader, General Long Dhong,
invites you to attend the execution of five political
prisoners in The People's Stadium this afternoon. Watch
as they are torn apart by Bloodthirsty Creatures that
were captured by General Dhong's Brave and Resourceful
army. Cheer as the enemies of The Revolution are
dismembered by the monsters They created to destroy Us!
Failiure to attend will be considered an affront to the
ideals of The Revolution and will be looked on with the
Gravest of Suspicion by The People! The People will show
no mercy to those who attempt to sabotage The Revolution!
Long live The Revolution and our Glorious Leader, General
Long Dhong!
USE_LETTER1
{
(Translated from Vietnamese)
To whoever should find this,
I am writing this in the hope that someday this madness
will end and someone will read my words and know what
took place in this town. I feel sure that I will be
dead by then.
The first attacks by the creatures came several months
ago. Men started returning from the jungle talking of
attacks by strange, violent animals... or sometimes they
just didn't return at all. They believed they were evil
spirits. At first few people believed them, but we soon
found out first-hand exactly what they were talking about.
I remember the first time a Creature was sighted in the
town. It killed two people and badly lacerated a third
before someone managed to find one of the local GIs, who
shot it with his machine gun. We started to lock our
doors and make sure our children stayed inside, but we
were disorganised and we simply weren't prepared for how
many of them there were.
}
USE_LETTER2
{
By the time we realised the extent of the problem, it
was too late. A lot of people tried to flee the town,
but I doubt if they got far - the jungle was swarming
with creatures by that time. The rest of us started
to band together, barricading ourselves inside the
largest buildings and preparing for the worst.
That was how General Dhong rose to power. He claimed
to be high up in the North Vietnamese Army, but who
knows if that's true or not? All that mattered was
that people followed him. He gave speeches in the
centre of town, and everyone would come and cheer.
Instead of attributing the creatures to evil spirits,
as everyone else had been doing, he placed the blame
for them squarely on the Americans. That was why the
local Viet Cong supported him.
The General got everyone to erect huge barricades in
the streets to keep the creatures out. (Later, we
realised they were also to keep the people in.) At
first it was voluntary, but soon his VC army began
threatening and beating anyone who did not co-operate,
or was considered not to be working hard enough.
People supported him, those that weren't being beaten,
because he was keeping the creatures out.
}
USE_LETTER3
{
All food and fuel in the town was confiscated by
the General's men. Ostensibly this was so that it
could be rationed out fairly in the event of a
protracted siege, but it also meant we were now
dependant on the General for everything. Some people
objected to having their houses raided and their
supplies taken, but they were accused of having
'bourgeous ideals' and sympathising with the Americans,
who were the ones responsible for this mess.
The General began having public trials in the centre
of town, where supposed dissenters to what he called
The Revolution were publicly indicted, tried and
convicted. They were always guilty. They were then
strung up outside the barricades for the creatures
to devour.
Later, he came up with the idea of capturing creatures
and feeding 'enemies of The Revolution' to them in
the stadium - which he renamed 'The People's Stadium'.
It wasn't a misnomer. The People loved it, standing
up and cheering ecstatically at the site of those who
had once been their friends and family being torn to
shreds by creatures. I believe as long as the General
is able to supply them with food and executions, and
keep the creatures out, he will have their full support.
}
USE_LETTER4
{
I have managed to escape from the General's compound,
and am hiding out in this apartment block. If the
General's men find me, I'm dead. If the creatures
find me, I'm dead. I've placed tripmines on the
entrances to the building, and the area is booby-
trapped. It's a poor defense but it's better than
nothing.
I have found an old minibus near the General's
compound that still has some fuel in it. I believe
it could come in useful somehow. In order to prevent
anyone else from using it, I've removed the tyres
and hidden them in various places around the town.
I altered the axle to make sure only those tires
would fit it, and marked them with the symbols from
a pack of playing cards: Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs
and Spades.
One is hidden on the top floor of this apartment,
another is in a stall in the market place, another
is next to the barricade where the prisoners are
hanged, and the last is in the old gas station.
The gas station is barricaded shut, but I think the
creatures got in through the sewers; there's no sign
of life there anyway. You can get anywhere through
the sewers; I even heard a couple of 'enemies of the
people' once escaped from the prison cells through
the sewers.
I don't remember seeing/hearing any of that in Casualites of War. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|