Author: muddasheep & team
Download: Here
Introduction
It’s been quite a long time since I last played through the previous halfquake titles, the second becoming one of my favourite releases for Half Life. The representation through style, atmosphere and its own soundtrack was a refreshing change. Then out comes this third instalment, perking my interests to jump right back into the sadistic world of halfquake once more. The insanity returns.
Review
You will once again take your role as another victim, to hopelessly navigate through the structure of the halfquake institute, whose sole purpose is to simply entertain. And die at the end. This instalment of the halfquake series is much more focused on the aspects of puzzle solving intertwined with many of the traps spread across each level. And there’s a lot of variation in the initial design of each puzzle that keeps the experience fresh, from logic to jumping puzzles. The latter will probably become your main source of nightmares, if not for the engines annoying habits. You even get a choice of routes here and there. But death is inevitable! I found myself liking a majority of the puzzles, there’s some clever stuff there for Half Life standards, such as the music puzzle. Unlike the previous titles of halfquake, there is very little in terms of action and practically no enemies to fight against this time around. As a whole however, the experience found throughout Sunrise is a lot more balanced and polished compared to the previous titles. Though I still forget how much life insurance I had to take out.
I recognise the halfquake series for its overall style present in each of the titles. The first started it off with the theme of sadistic traps and dangers inspired from Quake. Amen further pushes this by creating a fresh visual style and representation through the simplistic nature of textures and level design. It had atmosphere, created through a small soundtrack of its own and comes complete with satire humour. Sunrise brings many elements back. The general visual theme this time makes use of simple, grayscale textures and a level design with a detailed yet clean construction. Even those who have played through the previous two will find some nice surprises later on. Lighting however seemed to be very dark, at least on my CRT, I had to resort to forcing the gamma higher through the driver control panel.
One of the bigger aspects that create the atmosphere and mood in Sunrise is the soundtrack, complete with a mix of lyrical and instrumental through piano, acoustic guitar and others. This was a big part of Amen I enjoyed and continues to do an even better job in Sunrise. I even came across one of the best and most hilarious loading sequences I have ever encountered. The title music, ‘Eye of the Storm’ really sets the overall mood quite well, although being a simplistic tune. ‘Madvertize’ is quite an ironic piece, a somewhat relaxing listening experience. Despite having some different composers, every track blends quite well with the halfquake world and mood. The OST is available for download on the official site if you feel like checking it out.
The creation of mood doesn’t just end there either, as each level is packed with several ambient sounds, almost as if stuff is crawling through the walls or some odd things are taking place elsewhere, echoing through the walls of the institute. Even general sounds of the doors opening or mechanics slamming about can add a threatening vibe, which really kept me tense at all moments, thinking that something is going to poke and prod me at any moment. Half the time I felt like I was really there, desperately trying to time a certain puzzle correctly so my legs didn’t turn into paper. The satire conversations between the workers can be pretty amusing too, even dropping hints how exactly the other titles link up to Sunrise and how the institute works. The atmosphere and tone really hasn’t changed too much from Amen, but I do miss the moments you got to go ‘outdoors’. So as a whole, the main complex that Sunrise takes place in feels more claustrophobic, many tight spaces with sharp objects millimetres from your eyes.
Conclusion
Sunrise is a success in that it continues to do what I loved about halfquake amen, and expanding on it with a much better soundtrack and more polished gameplay and level design. The lack of fighting really helps keep a focus on the puzzles and traps, which I favour a lot more. Despite dying a lot, I did have more fun trying to solve each of the areas than avoiding enemy attacks. Overall, a nicer balance and lots of variety.
Award
This mod is really well done! The atmosphere seems a lot more combine and well put together in Sunrise that the other two. I did happen to notice a few problems that occured in thie mod if I may point out. When you drop down one of those fake holes that says, Restroom or Free Weapons their is a sign down their claiming you will be slowly killed, I waited in there for 10 minutes and nothing happened. In one of the levels when I was piloting the the machine that moves autmatically and you have to set the panels to avoid going through the white beams of light that cause an explosion when touched, sometimes the buttons would go behind the bars a few times.
Hope you don’t mind me pointing out those things, very sorry if I come off as rude. Also, as a suggestion if you are concerned for the tone of voice I am sure their is a program somewhere online that you can use to help convey your words a lot better. Could even make it, instead of being captured maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe the whole thing is some drug trip or you have been hit by a car what you have though to be an accident when instead it was on purpose. I hope as well as level design that their will be new enemies as well, maybe you will come across different kinds characters that stand out from the rest. Of course that is not up to me, just various suggestions.