Redwood's Half-Life Preview Page 7
WeaponsSteve Theodore is a game designer and animator for Half-Life's weapons. While at Valve, Steve introduced me to some of Half-Life's weapons. The first weapon you'll use is a crowbar, which is one of the handier starting weapons I've seen on a game since you can use to pry open or shatter objects in addition to whacking your enemies. Many of the weapons have alternate fire modes, such as the MP-5 mini-machine gun which switches between bullets and grenade launcher. Just because Valve is trying to be more realistic does not mean the weapons are bland, as one might think with this approach. Since the player is in a research facility, there are some experimental weapons that the player may find such as the gauss gun, which was described as something similar to the beam weapon in the 1984 movie, Ghost Busters. Laser designated rockets also enter the scene, giving a nice twist to the old classic. I have heard there are also some unique "alien world" weapons that will be particularly interesting to use in multiplayer games.
DeathmatchA while back, I was worried that Half-Life would have great single player gameplay but the deathmatch would be lacking. Thanks to the fact that some Valve employees are avid Quake deathmatchers, my fears have pretty much subsided. I played some Half-Life deathmatch with Choryoth and others while I was at Valve and it was a blast. Not all the weapons were in and I still had fun. The ones I did see seemed more satisfying than the weapons in Unreal. You could also see which weapon the other person was using, which is nice once you get used to it. Do not expect this to be the same old deathmatch like Quake. I have heard Valve has some extra special features planned that they will surprise people with when the game is released. Valve plans to include multiplayer specific levels in the game, and there will be both competitive and cooperative game scenarios included. Look for more details on Half-Life's multiplayer features to be announced at E3. I can not wait to play more!
ConclusionHalf-Life truly takes single player play to the next level for first person shooters. The AI, graphics, and attention to detail bring this game over the top. This shot in the arm, so to speak, is exactly what the genre needs. Half-Life will grab the attention of not only fans of the genre but pull new people into the fold. Based on what I have seen, I am going to recommend this game to everybody I know. If I were you, I would even donate plasma for enough money to get my grubby hands on this masterpiece.
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