Planet Halflife: Planet Half-Life Review of Cold Case

**Wraith** · 11-03-09, 04:45 PM

Alright, I "finished" the campaign. There are (I'm guessing here) three endings, as I've already hit two "failure" endings.

The Mayor's Mansion: Still fucking creepy, and there's a really crazy part near the end of it when you have to retrieve something for the mayor so he'll let you out. However, is confusing as hell is you don't pay attention to the annotations. I accidentally missed one the first time I tried going through and ended up searching every single room of the mansion for almost an hour before I said "Screw It" and took a break. Second time around, I read the one I missed but it was unnecessary as I already had what I needed.

The Brutal Outcome: This level (at least the beginning) is an amazing design, with you starting in a destroyed quarantine "check-up" station and following a bombed-out street (and I mean bombed-out) to the most elaborate evacuation zone ever, complete with a dozen giant spotlights, a minigun, a dozen gas cans, a chopper (that's out of gas), and a massive freaking countdown timer for the event. Oh, and three tanks come at you AT ONE TIME. How youll get out of that one, I won't say.

The Source: This is where things get crazy and the story kicks it up a notch. However, this is also where the voice acting goes down a notch. As the main VA gets angry with you, it comes out as slightly above deadpan. While the deadpan demeanor of the character might be fitting in some places, it just doesn't cut it here, although there are a couple places where the VA (with emotion) is rather good. Moral of this level: DON'T listen to the guy on the radio no matter when and where he talks to you. It just leads to a finale event that doesn't give you any answers to the story and wastes the effort you used in getting down there.

By the end, it gets pretty crazy, in that (I think) there is an actual time limit to get to the escape platform. Because of the stupid bot AI, I couldn't make it in time (there are a couple doors that all the survivors must be around in order for them to open). I also think I missed some story related to the survivors themselves because of bot AI/pathfinding and teleportation.

Therefore, I need to play this through on co-op with three people, preferrably on Easy so I can at least finish the campaign. Expert is a no-go - on Easy the special infected are ridiculously hard to kill already. When the features say the infected mutate, becoming stronger, tougher, and faster, they aren't kidding. It takes at least 3-4 shotgun shells at point-blank range to kill a BOOMER.

So, who and when is up for playing CC5 with me?

**PizzaSHARK!** · 11-03-09, 05:46 PM

I couldn't even get to the safe room at the end of the first map on advanced due to retarded bot AI. I liked what I did see, though, but the voice acting was pretty effing bad. The dude was trying to come across as tired or angry or something? He sounded bored and/or stoned. Really, really weak.

Overall, it looks like it'll be fun. Harder on my system than normal L4D, though - a lot of places I was pulling 20-25 fps instead of the usual 35-40. Bot AI still sucks, though - Zoey successfully managed to actually walk off the side of a building we were hopping down from, and die because we couldn't find a way to get back up to her. Awesome, thanks bot A