Here's my review for anyone who cares to read it:
Having got as far as Office Complex last night, I can say that it isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than I expected it to be and damned, damned impressive for something that was made by fans rather than game developers.
In fact, I think (minus a tiny bit of the voice-acting, AI response time, some bugs, and some of the animations) it's definitely on-par with what Valve probably would have done if they hired a team to do this. No wonder it took these guys 8 years... Although that sort of goes two-ways, since it has such a mirror-polish shine that anything which isn't done well in comparison to the polished parts stands out a lot more than it should, like noticing specs of dust on a white sheet. :S
They nailed the atmosphere almost perfectly though and it accurately echoes the first game really well - Even though I've re-played the original Half-Life nearly as much as I've re-played Abe's Oddysee I still get a feeling of nostalgia. I really love how it's the same, but different - I mean it sort of lures you into a false sense of security.
For example I'm so familiar with the first game and think that the layout of this game is similar, but then get jumped by a zombie, barnacle or a flaming barrel, or simply get lost, and am quickly reminded that it's a different game. I've not experienced that ever before while playing a game... That somehow makes the experience even more awesome.
Also I love the majority of the voice acting, you can tell they really worked hard on that - It's mostly voiced well and the game dialogue is written pretty solidly. The additional dialogue was a nice surprise, too.
But yeah, play this game - It's awesome as a standalone game too if you haven't played the original.
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Freeman's Mind is hilarious.
