HL Comando - GrandmasterJ

 


    This map series looks like some production went into it. It has a confidently misspelled title card (seen above) and proudly announces in the map description from the map database that it is "A server favorite for sure."

SCMapDB page

Author: Lolako

Date of final release: 2003

Maps in package: 11

Map review of HL Comando

(originally posted on SCMapDB) 

by GrandmasterJ | November 28, 2021 | 1716 characters

    This map series plays fairly decently, but suffers from an uninspired premise.

    The map series is heavily inspired by the Half-Life campaign. There are certain rooms that are modeled after parts of Half-Life and it's all built to look like Black Mesa. Half-Life already covered Black Mesa pretty well though, so a map series like this needs to do something different or memorable and it just doesn't. I just finished playing and I feel like I've forgotten most of it.

    Each map had a consistent quirk where right as my teammate and I got tired of the map we would hit the level transition. Each level ends right as it gets tedious and not a second before. But the first level we couldn't find the end so we had to use console to go to the next map. Sometimes level transitions would be in very strange places.

    Enemies come at you in big clumps. The gameplay is a consistent cycle of opening a door and dealing with a clump of enemies.

    I have a hard time giving this map a low rating because overall it's fine, there aren't a whole lot of things to complain about, but its also pretty boring, uninspired, and looks just like Half-Life. I played through the whole series and it just didn't leave an impression on me.

Pros:

  • No glaring problems that ruin the game
  • solid straightforward gameplay

Cons:

  • Uninspired, I would rather just play the original Half-Life campaign
  • boring and forgettable
  • Strange level transition locations in a few maps, could not find the end of the first map

Score: 6 / 10

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