Half-Life: Source Review (♥ Mali ♥)
Half Life Source is, as the name implies, the original Half Life game being ported over to the Source Engine. What does this add? Well a few new graphics, ragdoll physics... Quite a few bugs. Is it a bad game? No, not really. It has some good sides, some bad sides. Should you play this rather then the original? I'd say no. A few things in this game are nice but its not really worth it. The things you get, along with the bugs you get, don't really justify playing this. If you really like Half Life and want to try out every version possible then I'm sure you'll end up trying this one too or you already have tried it. For someone that is entirely new to Half Life and is trying to decide between the original or the Source Engine port I'd say go for the original.
+ragdoll physics.
+You can now select what level you want to play directly from the main menu.
+The new flashlight is 10/10
+/- Some graphics look better, some don't. I kind of like the water (except for a few scenes) but I dislike the floors because some are really shiny for some reason? Some are shiny because they're slippery something like water must have gotten on them thats fine but then some are shiny without being slippery. Another thing for the water effects in some areas they look nice but the rest of the textures still have that old Half Life feeling to it so there's a weird effect of having modern-ish water but having old wall and door textures. Its weird. These few new graphic stuff might be good for some, might be bad for some depends on your own opinion really. I think they're not bad but not the best.
-You know those head biting creatures on the roof? They have a long white tongue and if you step in it they drag you up, into their mouth and they kill you? Yeah those things normally you could see them or their tongues from a mile away and you could just not touch them. If you were calm, collected and knew where to move to you would never get caught by them. Only when you panic and start running around randomly only then they could catch you. In here they catch you a lot more often. That should be a good thing right? An enemy that was somewhat useless before is now all of a sudden very dangerous? Well normally yes but the implementation of it is awful. They catch you more in this Source engine version because their tongues can't be seen anymore. Yes you heard that right. They were easily spotted because their long, white tongues would reach the ground. This time they still have white tongues but its not long anymore so you can't notice them as easily. This means that you will walk around normally, the area is clear as far as you know and all of a sudden BAM you're caught by an invisible tongue. Another funny thing when you're underwater this won't happen. When you're underwater their tongues are just as long as the original game you'll see them easily. When you're above the water their tongues are suddenly short and can't be seen anymore. I think this is a bug and its a very annoying one.
-The game is buggy in general. Missing textures, getting stuck on random things, enemy AI sometimes won't fight you but then sometimes they'll pursue you for as long as they can so it doesn't make much sense.
-I don't remember if I mentioned this in my original Half Life review but it applies to both games. Stairs and the slippery movement is gonna be a big enemy. Stairs are a huge enemy no matter what game you play.
So this game is sold in a pack and it comes with Half Life Deathmatch Source too. A port of Half Life Deathmatch onto the Source Engine. When, and if, I get to play that I'll make a review on it too but its basically useless if you don't have friends. So you're paying a total of 105 Turkish Lira for a meh port of the original Half Life and a Deathmatch version which is useless if you don't have friends. Fortunately I bought this before my economy went to shit so I'm not too angry but no one in their right mind would spend a 105 Turkish Lira on this game. Its probably a lot cheaper in Western markets. I'm giving this a thumbs down simply because you simply don't need it. The original is much cheaper, same game with like no level select, a worse flashlight (its flashlight is pretty bad tbh), some old graphics like you're really not gaining anything by playing this version and you're not losing anything by playing the original. Stay away from Source unless you're a big fan and want to try out all the Half Life games you can get your hands on.