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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 16</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../reviews/index.html"><font size="-1">Off 
          the Shelf</font></a><font size="-1">:</font></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          The Top Shelf</font></p>
        <p align="right"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Rowan &quot;<a target="_self" href="mailto:sumaleth@frag.com">Sumaleth</a>&quot; 
          Crawford</font></b></font></p>
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        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The sounds in <b>Half-Life 
          </b>are probably as good as I've ever heard in a computer game since 
          <b>Doom</b>, they are seriously fantastic. From the ambient environmental 
          sound effects to the various weapons, the game sounds great. The only 
          tarnish in the sound department are the voice samples for the NPCs which 
          border uncomfortably on being unprofessional, but I was lucky enough 
          to hear the game with surround sound today, and it the whole thing sounded 
          <i>amazing</i>.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Visually, <b>Half-Life</b> 
          is a bit of a mixed bag, with quality ranging from really nice to average.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The engine itself, as mentioned 
          earlier, looks great, with just the right mix of eye candy and frame 
          rate (I played the game on a P2-333 w/Voodoo2 card and a ton of RAM), 
          and Valve have managed to give <b>Half-Life</b> a look that is different 
          enough to <b>Quake</b> that it doesn't look too much like a "mod" or 
          a "TC".</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The models vary in quality 
          the most, although even at their best they don't make any serious attempts 
          to dethrone <b>Quake 2</b> in the model department. Some of them, however, 
          such as the big four-legged boss early in episode 4, do come very close. 

          Many of them suffer from poor animation or limited skin quality, but 
          the <i>overall</i> effect of the models in the game is a positive one. 
          A special commendation goes to the animation of the little blue one-eyed 
          dog-alike critter; the way he leans heavily onto one side and shakes 
          while he charges up is brilliant.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">One other criticism is that 
          the game could really have benefited from a lot more baddie types. There 
          didn't seem to be enough new baddies introduced during the game, although 
          I don't think the lack of variety had a negative effect on the gameplay. 
          It just would have been nice to see a lot more variety.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The textures are generally 
          nice, if not particularly adventurous, and the skins follow a similar 
          path. It's true to say that art side of <b>Half-Life</b> is not its 
          strength, although everything does work well in the context of the game.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Half-Life’s</b> environments 
          are great, with <i>lots</i> of variety in style and plenty of surprises 
          around each corner. There is some limited map interaction, although 
          nothing like the amount seen in the recent <b>Sin</b>. The first 3 episodes 
          are designed much like any other FPS game around, with lots of air-conditioning 
          vents to crawl around in, conveyor belts to hitch a ride on, and plenty 
          of crates to lay into with the crowbar.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The environments have that 
          "real place" feel about them, you can generally work out the architectural 
          purpose of any given room, and the various areas are very well designed 
          to present a particular type of challenge depending on the needs of 
          the game.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">For example, there are many 
          places that are designed specifically for the almost "deathmatch" style 
          play against the soldiers, all of which work unbelievable well (although 
          a number of map-change points have been placed too close to these small 
          arenas so you find yourself crossing load points mid-battle). Then you 
          have areas that are designed to test your manual dexterity, and others 
          that intend to get you lost and have you find your own way out.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">One aspect of these first 
          three episodes that I really enjoyed, and a facet of <b>Duke Nukem 3D</b> 
          that worked particularly well, was that the levels were designed to 
          make you feel like you were going totally the wrong way, exploring areas 
          that were almost hidden, when you were actually following a very specifically 
          designed path. You get this near-perpetual feeling that you have broken 
          away from the path the author had intended, only to have the next section 
          of map load, as if to say "yep, this is the right way. "The environments 
          of episode 4 are as different to the earlier episodes as you could possibly 
          imagine, with layouts quite unlike any other game around (the most similar 
          environments in another game I can think of are those in the new version 
          of<b> The Sentinel Returns</b>). The focus here is a combination of 
          the surreal, bizarre, and openness, with each map consisting of a single, 
          large scale puzzle, generally in huge open-air areas. Additionally, 
          using stealth rather than running around with guns ablaze is definitely 
          the way to make progress which adds yet another facet to the gameplay. 
          They've done very well to accomplish these large outdoor areas with 
          the <b>Quake</b> engine, and while they aren't in the <b>Unreal</b> 
          department, they do convey the intended openness.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The <b>Half-Life</b> weapons 
          are a well balanced set, each with their own purpose and use in the 
          game. I found myself strategically using just about every weapon on 
          offer right through the game, rather than sticking with a favorite until 
          it ran out of ammo, so, as with everything else in the game, they again 
          appear to have got the balance just about perfect. <b>Half-Life</b> 
          really is a case of the "total being better than the sum of its parts". 
          Take each element of the game individually and you find it’s well done, 
          but not Earth-shattering (with the exception of the sound), and yet 
          together you have what is arguably one of the best games ever created. 
          The hype that had built up around <b>Half-Life</b> since earlier this 
          year was enormous, yet it was different to the hype seen for other games; 
          rather than being the result of a clever marketing campaign, <b>Half-Life's</b> 
          interest was almost solely the result of firsthand impressions from 
          shows such as E3. This wasn't concocted hype, it was the real reaction 
          of gamers who liked what they saw coming.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As a result, it's perhaps 
          not so surprising that <b>Half-Life</b> lived up to the hype. The perfect 
          game? Not really. The best game you'll play this year? Without a doubt. 
          The best game ever? To rationalize a path through that question thoroughly 
          would take a whole article, so I'll leave that one up to you.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It hardly needs to be said, 
          but for the sake of clarity: a must buy!</font></p>
        <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font></p>
                
        <p align="LEFT">&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><i><font size="-1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- 
          Rowan &quot;Sumaleth&quot; Crawford is a regular contributor to <b>loonygames</b>, 
          and a member of <a href="http://impact.frag.com">Team Impact</a>.</font></i></p>
        <p align="RIGHT">&nbsp;</p>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Bargain Bin logo illustrated and is &copy; 1998 Dan Zalkus. This edition 
      of Top Shelf is &copy; 1998 Rowan Crawford. All other content is &copy; 
      1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi productions</a>. 
      Unauthorized reproduction is a majorly hostile gesture.</font></i></td>
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