Mod: Ravenholm: The Lost Chapter
Homepage: PlanetPhillip
BigDownload link: Ravenholm: The Lost Chapter
Required Game: Half-Life 2

Installation Instructions:
- Download Ravenholm: The Lost Chapter via one of the links above.
- Extract the folder into your Half-Life 2 'sourcemods' folder. This can be found in the location where you installed Half-Life 2 and, most likely, Steam. Example: C:\games\Steam\steamapps\sourcemods

Running the Mod:
- Launch Steam. If it is already running, exit and restart the application.
- Ravenholm: The Lost Chapter should appear in your installed applications list. Double-click it to launch the mod.

Review



A shiver of anticipation shot up my spine the first time Alyx Vance halted outside an abandoned tunnel within Black Mesa East. "That's the old passage to Ravenholm," Alyx said. "We don't go there anymore," she added quietly.

Curious, I made my way past dust-caked pallets and forgotten oil drums to peer through the open shutters of a sealed garage door. Alyx reluctantly followed, launching into an explanation of the old mining town's fate as another tremble accompanied my sight of a much darker tunnel lit by a faint, flickering yellow bulb. Alyx frowned and assured me that the passage was sealed off "for a reason" before walking away.

"We" don't go there anymore? Speak for yourself, Ms. Vance. Legions of zombies, abandoned buildings, woodsheds filled with rusted saw blades, and the chilling howl of the emaciated "Fast Zombies" just before they scamper toward you, grunting with anticipation as their claws reach out to rend, to claw, to kill.... For some, Ravenholm's challenges were an exercise in frustration. For others, it was Half-Life 2's most memorable chapter. I happen to fall deep, deep into the latter category, so it was with great anticipation that I delved into mod designer Anthnny Nichols' Ravenholm: The Lost Chapter.

A gray haze settled over the screen as my adventure began. Standing over me was a group of what might be the mining town citizens whom Alyx had referenced in Half-Life 2. One man peered down at me for a moment before slamming the butt of his gun into my face, settling a curtain of darkness over my vision.

Such a mysterious introduction, coupled with a snippet of back story on the mod's official website, led me to believe that Ravenholm TLC would featuring a compelling story arc, but this aspect of the mod is disappointing. The man from the introduction appears sporadically, turning up in the oddest places and under the most suspicious of circumstances--much like the G-Man in the canon Half-Life adventures. His role is never explained, nor is the appearance of Combine soldiers approximately halfway through the mod. Even worse, the abrupt conclusion of the mod left me sitting back in my chair with too many unanswered questions. What does it all mean? Who was the man? Why did the Combine appear? Why...?

Eh, who cares? The story disappoints, but every other aspect of TLC delivers. The player awakens from his unexplained assault in a room with a stack of explosive barrels and a barricaded door. A quick examination reveals that the blockade could easily be removed using a crowbar, but there are no weapons in sight. How will the player progress? By using his head, of course. TLC continues the tradition of Half-Life's common sense, real world-oriented brain teasers, and the starting room is but the first of TLC's puzzle offerings.




Eerie settings usher in claustrophobia and bouts of chills experienced in well-constructed horror settings. Early on, the player hops from rooftop to rooftop, nervously looking down at a graveyard teeming with zombies limping to and fro, slapping barrels out of their way as they wait for the player's inevitable arrival. Most environments are dark and haunting, and such instances feature slow but steady streams of undead. When the lights are bright and all nooks and crannies are visible, beware -- a mob is most likely looking for you.

The pace of TLC is perfect, both in terms of puzzles and enemy confrontations. Weapons are available here and there, but ammo is always scarce. Players must use a bit of stealth and caution, as most areas are teeming with zombies, necessitating one-on-one, crowbar-versus-zombie-head encounters until better weapons and more ammo become available.

Such careful tactics are perfect for a horror-themed mod. Going up against gun-toting Combine with only the crowbar wouldn't be much fun, but the tension of having to smash a zombie once, twice, then stumble back to avoid its powerful double-handed swing as other undead lurch into view around the corner, and from behind as my screen goes red and my vision lurches, and a "Fast Zombie" leaps from rooftop to rooftop until finally landing on the ground and charging at me, its deformed hands outstretched....

Yes, that's the way it should be, and in Ravenholm TLC, that's exactly the way it is. Despite taking the time to create an interesting story and subsequently ignoring it, Nichols has crafted a mod made for Ravenholm fans. It's short, but the excellent use of weapon and puzzle pacing makes The Lost Chapter very sweet indeed.


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Mod: Eclipse
Homepage: EclipseGame.com
BigDownload link: Eclipse
Required Game: Half-Life 2

Installation Instructions:
- Download Eclipse via one of the links above.
- Extract the folder into your Half-Life 2 'sourcemods' folder. This can be found in the location where you installed Half-Life 2 and, most likely, Steam. Example: C:\games\Steam\steamapps\sourcemods. Example: C:\games\Steam\steamapps\sourcemods

Running the Mod:
- Launch Steam. If it is already running, exit and restart the application.
- Eclipse should appear in your installed applications list. Double-click it.

Review



"I threw a rock at him!"

So proclaimed Killer Croc during an episode of Batman: The Animated Series, and so did his villainous comrades snicker at Croc's attempt to slay their common foe. While said boast was inarguably lame given its source, such claims should be taken seriously if made by Violet, the busty heroine of the Eclipse total conversion mod for Half-Life 2.

Set against a gorgeous fantasy-themed backdrop, Eclipse will see players traversing darkened forest trails lit by glowing mushrooms and scrambling through derelict strongholds, all the while flinging boulders, boards, pumpkins, and anything else not nailed down by way of telekinesis. Combat is quite simple: left-click an object to lift it into the air, charge Violet's concentration meter by holding the right mouse button, aim at an enemy, and release to send the object hurtling toward your target.

Unfortunately, that target is often unwittingly Violet herself. Violet's power merely lifts the items, leaving the player free to explore or dodge enemy attacks. There isn't a way to set anything back down; once lifted, items must be thrown. If Violet happens to wander into an object's flight path, it will bowl over the ample vixen just as easily as it would an adversary. Even so, the combat in Eclipse is strategic, and raining two, three, four, or more objects onto hapless foes equals the joy of using Half-Life 2's gravity gun.

Supplementing Violet's telekinesis are malleable environments. After making my way to an arched stone bridge over a deep pit, enemies occupying two wooden towers stationed at the opposite end revealed themselves. Rather than confront them directly, I threw a large rock at each tower, toppling the two stations and sending their occupants into the chasm below. Some locations hold firefly nests which release their angry inhabitants when smashed, leaving the sparkling bugs to distract enemies while players gather items to hurl.



Sharply contrasting with the beautiful settings are a few clunky animations. Watching Violet jump will make you wonder if her leap has two frames of animation, or just one. More distracting is the impossible reach of keepers, ape-like creatures that comprise Violet's primary antagonists. Even when I found myself well out of their way, their swings still managed to whittle away my hit points, leaving me to wonder if they had some form of telekinesis themselves.

Smashing rocks into monster faces never grows old, but that's due to the game's abysmally short length. Just after learning my first (and only) spell, Eclipse rolled its credits, leaving me wanting more game play, and more of a story. Violet's search for her missing father has her tracking journals purportedly written by the old man. Only a brief mention of her father is made before the game decides to use the books to describe an action immediately before that action is visually demonstrated. One journal uses several pages to reveal that keepers can be distracted by breaking a firefly nest. Just after reading this entry, a cutscene plays, demonstrating this fact. Why go to the trouble of describing an action when players will view the cinematic and easily comprehend its meaning?

Further lessening the impact of the journals is the lack of explanation for why Violet has to carry out certain actions later in the game. Why am I activating teleport stones? Why am I trying to fit blocks into these squares? The journals could be better used to explain these actions.

The conclusion of Eclipse felt more like the end of a demo rather than a complete experience. An arena-style survivor mode is included for those who need their fix of the game's addictive combat, but its inclusion doesn't make up for the short campaign. Violet's adventure doesn't last nearly long enough, but it does offer a highly entertaining experience packaged in an all-too-confining box.