Here we are again.
A room, with ramps and places for enemies to emerge from.
It sounds simple and it is, but HOW you play it is key.
Find the scientist and all your troubles are over.
Basic Details
- Title: C3
- File Name: hl1-sp-c3.7z
- Original File Name: c3.zip
- Size : 83.7Kb
- Author: Karl Jones
- Date Released: 24 November 1999
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Manual Installation Instructions
- Copy the c3.bsp file into your …\Steam\SteamApps\common\Half-Life\valve\maps\ folder.
- Launch Half-Life
- Open the console and type map c2 and press ENTER.
If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 5 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 1 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 5 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 4 Mins by Unq
Longest: 0 Hours, 6 Mins by PlanetPhillip
Total Time Played: 0 Hours, 24 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 1 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 5 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 4 Mins by Unq
Longest: 0 Hours, 6 Mins by PlanetPhillip
Total Time Played: 0 Hours, 24 Mins
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Single map. Run around or sneak on platforms and ramps. Shoot humangrunts and alien slaves. Find the scientist. 10 mins play. OK. Slight development of C2 map.
Very similar to “c2”, same author, same mapstyle, a little bit different with changed textures but still a cute lil gruntfest with some alien slaves. BORING!
Pro’s:
-Plenty of ammo, weapons, health + HEV batteries
Con’s:
-Very basic mapdesign
-Too easy
-Very short playtime
-HEV not available at start, but can be spotted at 1st sight
-No story, puzzles – just randomly spawning enemies
C3 consists of a single room, filled with ramps, in which marines appear. When you kill the marines some more marines come until the end, at which point a scientist appears and you’ve finished the level. That is a pretty complete description of this level. I think some authors are attracted to making these kind of one room grunt-fests, as they’re quick and simple, but while that’s good for the author, it doesn’t impress the player. And I’m rather bored of levels like this.
Killing marines might be a lot of fun. They might be the best enemy in Half-Life. They might feature brilliant AI. But they aren’t so incredibly good that fighting against them in a single room is particularly interesting. This sort of level always gets repetitive incredibly quickly and I don’t think many people go back and replay them. They lack all of the other things, such as plot, objectives, interaction with the environment, set pieces, atmosphere and exploration that people have come to expect from Half-Life. So C3 has major problems from the start, just by its very nature. However… having basically said that I don’t like these kinds of levels I’m going to try judge C3 based on how well it achieves its aim of providing an arena for slaughtering marines.
And on that criteria I have to say its one of the better ones. For a start the layout is actually quite good. The architecture may look rubbish but it serves its purpose well. The ramps provide enough range of movement so that you don’t get stuck in one corner surrounded by marines. And at the same time the AI also copes very well with the layout. There were times when I was sure a marine was in one corner of the map but he’d suddenly run up a ramp behind me, having used a walkway that I couldn’t see. Naturally I could do the same and found myself actually doing some tactical planning. Height even makes a difference, with a definite advantage being gained if you stay near the top. It’s a very limited kind of strategy but it is there. I think it could have done with a little more cover, especially on the top layer, but overall it’s not bad. But it is only a single room, and can’t really compare with having a whole level to fight across.
As I said it does look rubbish, the texturing is poorly chosen, and badly aligned. And everything is made of simple shapes – walkways and ramps hardly make the most thrilling combination. But the good thing is that r_speeds remain at acceptable levels. I pleased to see the author didn’t destroy this good work this by making the corpses permanent, instead they fade out once dead, so polygon counts stay acceptable. Function rather beauty seems to be the focus.
I was particularly impressed by enemy and item placement, relative to other maps of this type at least. The temptation with these levels is to pile in huge numbers of enemies all at once, and give the player a huge arsenal of weapons. The result: complete chaos. C3 neatly avoid this by having the enemy arrive in waves. At the start there is only one marine. Kill him and a few more come into the room. Once they’re dispatched another set come in. The number of marines in each ‘wave’ slow increases over time, and they appear from different positions. Some break in through the walls, others drop in from the ceiling and some appear out of thin air. Some scripted sequences have been used to make them move into different positions, so when they arrive they spread out. This adds some variety (not much though) and there’s a kind of element of surprise. It isn’t random, so it would be possible to learn the sequence, but I don’t think many people going to replay this map enough to bother. But as well as more enemy appearing more ammunition and health does as well. The larger weaponry (a crossbow and even a RPG) only appear later on, when there are more enemies so the combat does remain balance. Enough health is provided to make completion less frustrating, but still challenging. But the problem with the ‘wave’ nature of the combat is that it does eventually come to an end. I completed it in 10 minutes (on Hard) and I was playing slowly, taking my time. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone could finish in a couple of minutes. Personally I didn’t think this was too much of a problem as I was getting more than a little bored and didn’t want it to drag on much longer, but it does cut down on any possible replayability.
I preferred it to Pillars of Pain [a similar level reviewed here], but that isn’t saying much. Perhaps if you’re a real fan of slaughtering marines and are oblivious to everything else, then this may be what you’re looking for, especially as it’s a small download. But considering the quality of varied combat available in other levels (which have more than one room!) I still can’t see much point in these types of levels.
Notes
This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Saturday, 15th January, 2000 by Chris.
This review was originally posted on the Ten Four website, which is now offline. The full review is republished here by permission and more details can be found on the About page.
Im kind of amazed with anyone who post more than 10 lines of review on something like this release. I mean really? is really worthy??
There’s so little to say here, especially after posting C2 yesterday, but if you enjoy this sort of thing then I am happy for you.
This map is a little and I mean a LITTLE, more detailed than the previous release but nothing to enthuse about.
It’s fun for a few minutes, but no more.
Using Gauge
Medium
6 Minutes
Everything about this map has been stated out by the reviewers above.
If you played the author’s previous map, C2, then there’s nothing, and I mean NOTHING NEW that can be said about it. Same concept, same enemies and (almost) the same map. Its flaws are the same with C2, so there’s no point in playing this at all. At least it’s enjoyable, I guess.
Same feeling as C2 but with some different textures and 2 vortigaunts this time. I really think this is the Think Twice for excellence, also you can reach the scientist but there’s no penalty if you kill him so there’s no point for him there anyway.
Using Gauge
Medium
5 Minutes
This really is almost just like C2. Essentially a single ramp room (albeit decently laid out) with staged combat and weapons scattered about.
I rated it lower than C2 for a single reason: it’s too easy! While it’s nice to have a mix of grunts and slaves to fight, you get weapons that heavily tip the balance in your favor: the RPG and crossbow. It’s a better balance if you play one skill level higher than your normal.
Using Gauge
Medium
4 Minutes
I actually played the “sequel” C5 before this one, and I think this one is better, mostly because the map is less vertical, though it has the same problems like that one, too short and easy, other than that, there’s not much else to say that wasn’t already said, avoid
Using Gauge
Medium
4 Minutes
If you are playing this on Hard you need to be lucky. Stay away from shotgunners. Change positions. The best place to avoid the grenade launcher is indeed the upper catwalks where the grenade go pass beyond you and land where it can’t hurt you. Staying on the ground or lower catwalk or near a wall ensures that those grenades will land you instead. Every wave opens a new area with more health, look for more around too. Crossbow and Rocket Launcher with guiding system might helkp a lot. As I said, it’s far more difficult as C2, you really need to be lucky here or save like mad.
Manually
Hard
5 Minutes