Assault on Roswell

for Half-Life

13th July 2011

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

See what the U.S government keeps secret! Go undercover to infiltrate the top-secret military base at Groom Lake Nevada.
Alarming reports within the media have led the British government to send you on a trip to the back of beyond, a place called Roswell, widespread insanity of the American populace has brought the country to its knees, your mission if you choose to accept it is to infiltrate the Roswell base and stop a possible contamination of a deadly virus (maybe alien!) and eliminate any suspected parties.

Basic Details
  • Title: Assault on Roswell
  • File Name: hl1-sp-assault-on-roswell.7z
  • Original File Name: Assault.exe
  • Size : 4.85Mb
  • Author: Migandi
  • Date Released: 02 October 2002
PlanetPhillip Download Servers
Installation Instructions
  • Copy the aor folder into your Half-Life folder.
  • Restart or start Steam.
  • Assault on Roswell should now be listed in your Library tab.

If you require more help, please visit the Help page.

Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!

15 recommendations, average score: 2.2 (out of 5), standard deviation: 2.43 (what's that?)
Total Downloads
  • 2,189
    Overall
  • 3
    Today
  • 6
    Last 7 days
  • 12
    Last 30 days
  • 92
    365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 2 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 2 Users

Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 27 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by Dmitry
Longest: 1 Hours, 53 Mins by Sheajay
Total Time Played: 2 Hours, 53 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
Special Events
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Jump to a review
Play It LaterPersonal FavouriteAvoid It!Phillip says MaybeAvoid It!Avoid It!Avoid It!Avoid It!Avoid It!Play It LaterAvoid It!Maybe?Avoid It!Avoid It!Personal Favourite

39 Comments

  1. Pat

    What a piece of garbage. Don’t play this at all cuz there’s a
    place in the caverns you can actually get stuck. The doors closes on you and you can’t open them at all. It is even marked in the walkthrough. What was the guy who made thinking? My guess is nothing at all.

    The mod itself is ok (some cool maps) except don’t try to figure what’s going on cuz I don’t know myself. You start in Roswell and then you end-up in a shack somewhere. Very odd.
    ——————
    (spoilers)
    The funniest part is in the beginning where you can’t enter the vault but if you go in the bathroom right next to it, you can crawl inside using a vent. Now what where the ones who made Roswell thinking??? They keep aliens and flying saucers but can’t figure out archictecture.

    Anyway enough trashtalk. I’m pissed enought has it is.

    AVOID!

  2. Christian

    I played that game a while back (as far as I could).

    There is a point where you fall down a chimney to enter a building.

    The only exit is through a high window, you can see the ledges to reach it, but there is NO WAY to make a jump to reach them. I tried everything for several hours, this is a dead end.

  3. GanjaStar

    There are certainly no dead ends in this map addon for hl. I beat it back in 2000 when I was crazed with half-life and virtually played every mod that I could get from the Internet. There might be some quite illogical and clumsily set up progress requirements. But overall, due to the length and uniqueness of the mod, I found it quite satisfying.

  4. wart

    I found it a good mod to play but it has no warning that you have to kill things as soon as you come from the vent and you are in a little room down the stairs there are military down there so watch out.

  5. Migandi

    Get the map pack off my website, dont get version 1 there is no difference apart from better compiling of the levels so they run with lower polys and the spalsh screen.

  6. I have edited the link to point to the PlanetPhillip server and also to the version that you recommend.

  7. GanjaStar

    Feeling nostalgic and downloading this mode again. God I hope it is as good as I remember it being. Is this the mod where you see an alien Spaceship flying inside a hangar like its drunk?

  8. Piledriver

    There’s some strange comments here about this mod. Who needs warnings that you have to kill things? All part of the fun I reckon. And I didn’t fall down any chimneys, honest. Definitely no dead ends.
    Well, it may be illogically difficult but it’s good. Very good. If you miss any pick-ups it’s even harder. The author has constructed a very non-linear gameplay that’s different to the usual stuff, and refreshing to see. Just use the old grey matter a bit more and drink less alchohol if you can’t beat it. Don’t avoid it, play it. There’s no auto saves, so don’t forget to save a named game occasionally or you will get stuck at a certain place in the game. It says so in the walkthrough, but don’t read that. This guy’s a tricky smart modder, but he’s a fellow English gentleman, so no suprise there
    😉
    4/5 for original routing and no bugs.

  9. shawn

    Very dull. Nearly endless corridors, then elevators to the next series of nearly endless corridors.

  10. EddieLee

    Perhaps someone can help me. I’m right at the end of the game and cannot enter the booth with the ‘test fire” switch in the virus room. Is this a bug or have I missed something ?

    Any help would be much appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Ed

  11. piledriver

    You have to press the safety hood buttons in a certain order. Cant tell you here as spoilers are banned (:
    There was a walkthrough available via the authors website, but the site is now suspended.
    I have the walkthrough available as a txt file if anybody wants me to upload to Phillip, just ask.

  12. piledriver

    I have sent the walkthrough to phillip anyway.

  13. EddieLee

    Thanks very much ! — I thought I had tried all possible combinations but apparently not.

  14. zsozso

    piledriver:
    Would you email me the Assault on Roswell walkthrough? I cant find it here on this site.

    Thanks,

    Zsozso

    PlanetPhillip Edit:
    E-mail address removed.
    Walkthrough posted.

  15. Here is the walkthrough. It contains no images. I will probably make a separate post laetr this month:

    Assault on Roswell.
    Walkthrough.
    copied from http://www.migandi.org.uk
    Site now suspended.
    Authors permission not requested or given.

    ——————————————–

    Roswell station
    Ride the train to your destiny and exit up the stairs
    In the middle, only ride the first train all others
    Are on the rail to nowhere.

    Roswell terminal
    Go down in the lift, and make sure you get the crowbar
    From the scientists maintenance cart near the ladder.

    Data control
    Go to lower floor with large piston thing, exit to the
    Right and go into the library.

    Library
    Barney will open door for you, go inside the orange room,
    Talk to the barney inside and get him to follow you
    To the button on the left as you came in, he will open
    The hev suit container.

    Crossroads
    Entrance to b-102 is locked open it from the storage
    Facility.

    Entrance to storage facility
    The main door is boobytrapped,enter next level by air
    Vent in toilets.

    As the crow flys
    You have to take out the soldiers with the crowbar to
    Get your first weapon, move quick hit hard.

    Storage facility
    Talk to the scientist in the toilets and get him to
    Follow you (if he gets stuck on corner run him
    Back and forwards until he comes round corner)
    To open glass panel, then deactivate b-102
    Security system
    Head back to crossroads.

    Crossroads
    Open b-102 and go in.

    Flying tonight
    As you come down the tunnel a secret door is on left,
    Kill grunts and go through vent system all doors will
    Open on the other side, see flying saucer!!!
    Go behind curved walls and head down to caverns.

    Caverns
    Avoid water wheel to left, in round room there is a
    Door that is locked, a switch opens it in another level.
    Head to the left exit.

    Caverns (2)
    Pass through red tunnels, get crossbow from silo.
    Behind the crates is a secret level (not that well
    Hidden)

    Caverns (3)
    Secret level
    Green slimy caverns, get the rocket launcher you will
    Need it later?
    Beware of the doors and be carefull you do not save
    In the wrong place as you can get stuck inside them
    With no way out,move quick.
    Head back to caverns (2)

    Caverns (2)
    As you come out head straight up hang a left to caverns
    (4)

    Caverns (4)
    At the burst pipe go through door and up stairs to
    The cave, crawl through opening and go past fires
    To left is a ramp go up and through tunnel to exit.

    Old miners town
    Get colt 45 off of barneys deathbed, chest can be
    Opened for more goodies.
    Go behind shack to enter next level.

    Old miners town (2)
    Go up into the barn and right along ledge, drop down
    To activate switch to open door that was locked in
    The caverns below.
    Head all the way back to round room with beams in
    The first set of caverns and open the door to the
    Black pit.

    The black pit
    Avoid gargantua,head through sewer and up to rear rooms,
    At the green slime poison go back and push a wooden
    Crate as fast as you can into slime so you can jump
    Across, go up stairs and out along ledge to the end
    Into cave of the gargantua pick up rockets and finish
    The lummox off. Press red button in cave to open control
    Room go up stairs to left press button to free barney
    And his mates from prison.
    Go through door at other side find button behind barrel
    To open secret door to next level, stations of the crass.

    Stations of the crass
    First door is locked blow crate to get on monotrain
    Head down to station walk to very end press button
    To get in secret room head down tunnel under track
    And come up in room press button to open the first door
    Go back on train head through first door to radiation
    Central.

    Radiation central
    Jump up on blue crates, jump across to room above door Head up and down ladders to get to rear office, in office Use bookcase to open secret door to balcony room, go
    Round to monorail. Jump off monorail at any point, look for button to drop
    Cages down.
    In science block find button to locked store door
    Pass through crate room at rear dropping down on lift
    Go up on lift to level flying tonight.

    Flying tonight
    You are now up on the balcony with the flying saucer!
    Get on goods carrier and activate, shoot open vent and
    Pass through as it is moving head up to next level.

    Heading up to the top
    Throw switch head through door to roof.

    Guns on the roof
    I hope you kept some rpg shells for the chopper!
    Head through three sets of large doors to next level.

    Pressure drop
    Go up on the big lift to upper roof
    Access small room, look over ledge you need to get down
    But before you do you need to have all the ammo from the
    Rest of the game you can go back to evey level if you
    Wish! But there is no way up after the pressure drop
    Unless you clip!
    Get to bottom and head to finale.

    Virus control
    Get up on gangway to safety hood buttons
    Facing forward press in order left/right/back left/
    Back right/ middle/ to open safety hood (you need to
    Press real quick)
    Head to virus control button and deactivate and blow up
    The virus. Job done.
    Now escape to the train if your hard enough, taking
    Your mates with you of course?

    Well done you have completed your task,go and put
    Your feet up and wait for your next mission.

  16. migandi

    hey phillip
    i see a “whats happened to a migandi” post on your forum, just thought I would let you know, I tried to renew my domain and did so but due to the useless people located abroad on the helpline I was unable to rectify the problems and decided to delete my website rather than pay the arseholes twice like I did before the other year.
    you can contact me at the email address if needs be.

    thanx for keeping my mods alive, I know my stuff is hard to play but I made them for die hard players who needed a hard challenge

    i was gonna do a walkthrough for riot mod but as my websites gone I gave up on that idea

  17. decided to delete my website

    That’s a shame. I understand about not wanting to pay twice though.

    thanx for keeping my mods alive,

    You are most welcome.

    i was gonna do a walkthrough for riot mod but as my websites gone I gave up on that idea

    If you write it, I’ll publish it!

    I’ve sent you an email.

  18. mcrip
    Play It Later

    Long and getting better level by level. The Walkthrough is helpful, the game is not straight and you have to go back long ways after switching sometimes. Some Frustation about the long ways back. But it is one ofe the mods I played to see the next interesting room, the next train an the next room… Enjoy.

  19. Ade
    Personal Favourite

    I might add 2 things to the author’s walkthrough:
    1. in Chapter 7 (As the crow flies) you don’t have to take out the grunts using the crowbar. In the previous map there’s a Barney in the toilet, you can take his pistol.
    2. in the final chapter (Virus Control) you don’t have to guess the secret combination, instead you can try and press the virus control button from behind, by jumping off the green platform in the middle. It’s hard, but not impossible. You just have to be careful afterward, cus the explosion takes a lot of your health.

    About past experiences: I, too, have played this way back, actually I was wondering which one was left of the 5 mods I had back in 2000 or so. This truly is another classic.

    About the mod itself: everyone who said this mod can’t be finished, you’re wrong. If you get stuck, try again from different saves, there’s always a way out.
    I’ve enjoyed replaying this a lot, maybe even more, because it was familiar. The first time was pretty hard, for a beginner. It’s very non linear, which is hard to come by these days, a big plus! Except the backward tram ride was a bit boring. It’s got interesting levels like the assassins and the cabins (my favourite back then), the double timed doors (which gave me a hard time even today) and the “jump from window to window in a tight vertical space” thing (I love everything related to city blocks in hl). The gameplay is great, can’t complain there. The mapping is ok, some sizes are odd in the beginning and the “comma like” walls were a little confusing (I’m referring to the round walls which hide plenty of alien grunts) plus I could sense an overuse of alien grunts all through the mod. But you get to fight a lot of them with Barney(s) by your side, which is always a nice feeling 🙂 The only thing it’s truly missing is great puzzles. Most of them was find the button or find the door opened by some button. Exploration is rewarded, plus there’s hidden health “n batteries in a lot of breakable stuff, too (like a radio or tv, for example, but you didn’t hear that from me..). The story was ok, but I would have wanted a lot more feeling of Roswell.. Hmm, what else? Ah, no bugs! I can’t imagine why the first mods that came to life back then were oh so thoroughly tested compared to the newer ones..

    Although playing this mod brought back a lot of good memories, it also made me realise just how long I’ve been playing hl. And even though I have lived this mod to the fullest – a bit of laughter, a bit of cursing, a lot of smiling when remembering several parts and how I enjoyed them and how I was still enjoying them now – I have also noticed the every day engine glitches (like buggy doors and sometimes poor AI) and the every day mapping imperfections (like small jiggling textures, or bad lighting, or as I said before, odd sizing). And for the first time in my life I saw myself like the others see me when I tell them I’m still playing hl1 10 times more than any other game. And I thought to myself I have to move on.. which is hard, because I know great stories and gameplay is really hard to find, but I can start with the next best thing: the rest of the hl series which I’ve postponed so many times because of the great number of mods for hl1 😀

    God bless this site and thanks for letting me be melancholic.

    PS: Play this mod right now!

  20. where is the storage facility?

  21. Hardcore
    Avoid It!

    this is bull@#~~€! don’t play it don’t waste your time

  22. Phillip says Maybe

    I would have liked to have given this a higher recommendation but in all honesty I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

    I found the levels a little boring, the action overwhelming and the gameplay strange. You have to pull a lever in one area and go back 2 levels to find an open door – that’s just crazy.

    Of course, it has to be put into context and it is nearly 10 years old but there were mods made at the same time that were much more polished.

    Personally, I would have cut about half of it and refined the rest.

    I found the transitions between some areas downright strange, mostly to do with the textures and the screen text was a little annoying.

    It’s certainly not the worst mod you will play but the fact that one person has given it a Personal Favourite and the other an Avoid It! should tell you it’s more or less a love hate relationship.

    Let me just say I am closer to hating it than loving it!

    If you enjoy hard mods and don’t care about details then you may enjoy this.

  23. Avoid It!

    Can’t say I liked this one at all.

    The difficulty was just bizarre, it was incredibly difficult up to the end of the Gargantua map and incredibly easy everywhere after that. At the hard parts there was a real lack of ammo, especially the shotgun and at the easy parts there was too much ammo which allows you to just tau spam right until the end. As I have stated in other recommendations, I like hard mods but the first half of this was just way too difficult to be too enjoying, why so many Alien Grunts anyway?

    Like Back to Xen 2 this was WAY too long. It must of took me around 3 hours to complete and I was bored before the halfway point. Plus the amount of times I had to reload during the hard parts was incredibly annoying and the lack of direction, most notably levers and buttons that require you to go in a completely different area. The amount of loading areas was another area which was flawed and completely disrupted the flow of the mod for me and is probably the main reason why I didn’t like it.

    I don’t know whether the RPG was required but if it was then it shouldn’t have been put within a secret, no matter how easy it is to find. The gameplay was pretty fun in areas but there were a lot of frustrating parts too. It is by far the best part of this mod.

    If you don’t like hard mods then avoid this one.

  24. Avoid It!

    The panic about Roswell became stronger and stronger, so the British Government sent a spy there…

    The introduction saddens. We enter the train and slowly ride in the long rectangular tunnel. This is the most boring train ride I’ve ever seen in a Half-Life mod.

    The “metro” stations look very bad. Big, empty, low detail and the texturing is not beautiful. Even more, nothing prevents the player from jumping in the train which goes to nowhere.

    We exit on the surface. It is boring, gigantic and miserable. The guard’s booth is too brightly lit. Oh no! There’s an entrance in the labs which are even brighter!

    To fit local gigantism, the author stretched the prefabs of shelves and bookcases. The textures of tilted books add evidence that the mod is amateurish, even though it’s already clear.

    Then there will be big rooms with bad lighting, unwinnable fights and unsolveable puzzles.

    There are some nice ideas – flying UFO, residental sector, and mod in a mod! Near the room with UFO there’s a passage which leads to the places which look like another mod, but this another mod is not much better than AoR, it just don’t have the overbright and gigantic areas, and the locations are more interesting. Sometimes walls and ceilings are textured with the ground texture. That mod in a mod really should be released as a separate mod, so that it won’t be spoiled by the bad Assault on Roswell.

    I missed that mod in a mod during the first playthrough, because I used the UFO to get up and from there proceeded straight to the ending.

    Overall, Assault on Roswel is the worst 100SDoN mod so far.

    1. Unq

      …I used the UFO to get up and from there proceeded straight to the ending.

      Oh dear god I wish I had thought of that.

      1. I tried but could jump high enough to get on it.

  25. Unq
    Avoid It!

    This pack wasn’t just rough around the edges, it was rough everywhere. I just didn’t have much fun at all in this set.

    Assault on Roswell really suffers from layout issues. Very often buttons open doors a map or two away in an area you already passed (and may have not even noticed the door there). Get ready for backtracking galore and literally searching everywhere for the door that is now unlocked since you hit the unlabeled button. Pure frustration. There were some memorable areas (like the UFO) but not really fun areas.

    Other issues? Halls of mirrors all over the place, terrible blocky lighting, serious scaling issues, long empty hallways, doors that stretch across the whole hallway, baby headcrabs in the darkness (pure evil!), overuse of music, etc. I don’t mean to tear into this pack but it was really frustrating to play for these reasons.

    The combat was challenging and pretty good. But one problem is that the author just shoved in everything Half-Life has (enemies, weapons, music). Many of the enemies aren’t put to good use (e.g. assassins) because of their environment. I also did like some of the train ride sequences but the main one inevitably required really slow backtracking while nothing happened.

    Yeah, I remember this one. Avoid.

  26. Barnz

    Played through this more than two times, and I never managed to beat it. All I remember is a funny hovering UFO in a giant grey room. It’s beyond mediocre.

  27. Alternative Mods Installation (in case you don’t have a Half-Life Steam account)

    – Copy the aor folder into your Half-Life folder
    – Create a HL shortcut
    – Right click
    – Properties
    – C:\SIERRA\HALF-LIFE\hl.exe -game aor -dev -console

    Runs fine for me. Assault on Roswell is true nostalgia, with even 2 HEVs to choose from…

  28. Hec
    Avoid It!

    If I say ur going to waste ur time with this and that’s the reason for the avoid it rate, is because u are going to waste soo much ur time with this stubborn stressing mod, specially going backwards thru maps to acces other maps!!!

    Is kind of reasonable to understand why the developers of this mod are actually so stubborn, is because they stick just to one concept or idea of how THEY and only THEY would like the gameplay to be!!!, I mean let’s accept it: terrible descissions make just TERRIBLE mods, it may that the textures and in general mapping assambling is ok, but when u mess with the gameplay issues and strand it, you and your mod are just so screwed up men!!!

    I say is comprehensible because remember this Assault on Roswell mod is the prequel for another interesting but really controverssial mod called “Riot in Progress” and in that RiP mod u found even terrible and really annooying issues related to the worst gameplay it has, if AoR mess with that thing of going backwards thru the maps, RiP mess with the right of the player to save their own progress thru the gaming sessions in the mod!, yes!!! the sadistics developers gives u that awfull thing of the saving gems, objects which u have to collect in order to have the right to save ur play advance with not being penalized by saving yes, u are hearing it well if u save without having enough those damn saving gems, u loose 20 POINTS OF HEALTH!, thank god we didn’t have that stupid-imbecile-idiotic issue in Assault on Roswell, and u can say AoR is bad-worse, then RiP it’s secuel, is the WORST of the WORST!!, if u don’t belive this just have a try in the continuing part of AoR!!!!!

    So it’s done for me!!, just follow that golden rule in modding, TERRIBLE DESSICIONS END UP IN STRESSING TERRIBLE MODS!!!!! here Assault on Roswell and it’s sequel are just perfect exampples of that golden rule, and also Riot in progress stick to that sick thing of going backwards too!

  29. Mel
    Avoid It!

    I found this a complete waste of time, and I can’t really add to Ung post which sums this one up exactly.

    To be honest, I could not force myself to finish it, I was completely pissed-off with the whole experience.

  30. Play It Later

    Well I think this is the only one I haven’t got around to finishing yet of the 100 at the time of writing. Looking at the screen-shots this should have been great, but then looks can be deceptive!

    Having now being bothered to finish this I really think some of the negative comments are missing the upside of the game, however this was not a good mod. This should have been, with hindsight, released as episodes much in the same way as Neil Manke released They Hunger as episodes, too hard for such a long time becomes boring. There were some nice touches in this, but like some others in the 100, Migandi tried to cram in too much in one go, rather than perfect each part before moving on to the next part. As it was, this for me got boring very quickly and at times frustrating, looking back at it I should of played this in sections a maybe half an hour each with maybe a days gap between plays.

    Overall I had some fun playing this and the layout wasn’t in my opinion too bad (one part even looked like DOOM, now there’s nostalgia!), but at the end of the day it was disappointing.

    At the end of the day if you haven’t already played this, play it in stages not in one go and you may enjoy it.

  31. Avoid It!

    Roswell, eh? What immediately (should) sound interesting to the people… is indeed interesting, BUT… this Roswell here? Meh..

    Being a British spy, disguised as Gordon Freeman, well okay, that was a neat story idea (as the scientists always say “Gooooood morning Gordon!”) hehe, nonetheless it failed hardcore.. just like the most recommendations here say..

    NOTE: Where the heck was the rocket launcher to be found?? lol
    EDIT: Okay, read the walkthrough, now I know hehe 😛

    Pro’s:
    -Story is quite interesting, but not fitting well – at least some text messages about what to do
    -Some pretty nifty architecture, but sort of rare – also, sometimes very good lighting
    -Some puzzles, harder ones – but also standard puzzles
    -Challenging combat,
    -If I’m right, some new textures, prefabs (correct me if wrong)

    Con’s:
    -Illogical and frustrating, odd placed enemies and area layouts which just make no sense, also some puzzles are very hard, as you have to run back a map or two more than once (!)
    -Some very poor, not detailed level designs sometimes, combined with long walkways
    -Absolutely no Roswell feeling, nor Black Mesa or anything good, gets boring quick
    -Some unfair combat, spawns
    -Feeling of getting lost fast
    -Boring beginning, and facing soldiers with a crowbar – yeeehaaa!… NOT!
    (I know that Ade here wrote you can get the Beretta from a Barney before, but…)
    -Sort of unbeatable without a walkthrough as some puzzles aren’t obvious (hit a switch, but not knowing what it does…)

    Comment to Ade: is this a fake “personal favorite” here? I guess so..

    Conclusion: Ridiculous, no mercy. Even not for it’s age, period. Don’t get distracted by the screenshots!

  32. Ten Four Reviews

    Andy was also the author of the Quake 2 map Strogg City After Hours which was only released a short while ago. That, however, contained only a single level and was pretty brief; in that respect Assault On Roswell is very, very different, containing no less than 24 levels.

    However, Assault On Roswell has one major thing in common with SCAH: it’s terrible. It doesn’t quite plumb the dark depths of mapping that Rum descended to but it’s pretty bad all the same. Take the introduction, for instance. Much as Valve and, more recently, Neil Manke have done with their Half-Life work, the build-up is slow and deliberate. Andy obviously thought the train sequence at the beginning of Half-Life was pretty cool because he’s attempted his own version here; unfortunately, he’s completely missed the point of Valve’s original. That was so captivating simply because there was so much to look at; without the voiceover and all those amazing sights and events going on around you, it would have been pretty damn boring. Strangely, this is the direction that this author decided to take. Instead of fascinating you with a barrage of cool little set-pieces and leading you into proceedings with a nice voiceover, Andy makes you sit through two minutes of long, empty corridors, each of which has a nice HOM at the end. Truly inspired, I’m sure you’ll agree.

    Things continue along these lines relentlessly for the next 20-odd levels. Never have I wanted something to be over and done with so much as I did by the end of Assault On Roswell. It just went on and on and on with one square, plain level after the next. In the few areas where he’s tried to inject some actual design into the maps, r_speeds are absolutely appalling (although there’s not really any visible reason for that being the case.)

    The thing is, Assault On Roswell isn’t just ugly, it’s incredibly boring too. Fights are pretty sparse; most of the time you’ll just be wandering around wondering if Andy’s copy of Worldcraft is limited to 90-degree angles or something. It doesn’t make sense either; one minute you’re walking around some base where everyone thinks you’re someone else and so the grunts aren’t hostile and then, all of a sudden, three grunts are firing at you without any explanation for the drastic change of attitude. Of course, I didn’t really care at the time since I’d already begun to lose the will to live…

    What more can I say? There really aren’t any redeeming features that I can try and emphasise, apart from maybe the bit with the red UFO thing (in the third screenshot) which is utterly bizarre. In the end, however, this should never have been released – in fact, it probably shouldn’t have got beyond the first couple of levels. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

    Notes
    This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Saturday, 2nd October, 1999 by Morgan.

    This review was originally posted on the Ten Four Website, which is now offline. Permission has been granted to republish the full review and more details can be found on the About page.

  33. Maybe?

    Interesting mod, but only if you have enough time and patience to search for all of its” secrets. Level design is very plain, low detailed. But gameplay is OK (for tough guys 😀 ). It was one of the first HL mods I’ve ever played and some episodes gives me a very nostalgic feel. Small advise – use walkthrough in the beginning to start game smoothly (because it’s a bit disorientating on start), but when you find your way, try to solve all puzzles on your own.

  34. Brad

    After the first assault then finding the scientist in the bathroom there’s no way to find a means to open the glass door to activate the security door.

  35. Avoid It!

    I remember this mod just from the name and screenshots. Assault on Roswell is absolutely horrid and after playing through it again it’s far worse than I remember it being.

    The biggest issue with the mod for me is the progression, which is all over the place. You start off fighting hgrunts (with no weapons), alien grunts and female assassins for the majority of the first half of the game. Alien Grunts and assassins are late game HL enemies, if you’re going to put them at the start you need to give the player adequate resources to deal with them. The second half has a lot of easier enemies like zombies and headcrabs, why you would only start using these enemies near the end of the mod I really don’t understand. Weapons progression is even worse, the first weapon that isn’t the crowbar is grenades, you then have to fight a warehouse full of hgrunts with only that and then aliens for the entire first half of the game with most of the weapons and ammo you scavenged from this fight. You get a rocket launcher and a crossbow in this half of the game, and i think you get more crossbow bolts than you do shotgun and 9mm ammo in the whole of this section, it makes no sense and combat is a huge pain. At the half way point you get a tau cannon, and shortly afterwards a gluon, ammo for this is in abundance and you might be able to finish the entire second half just using these weapons as long as you’re efficient with your ammo, this makes it extremely trivial.

    Going on from my last point, the difficulty in this mod is bizarre, the first half is insanely difficult even on the middle difficulty, and the second half is extremely easy. As I said before, after the early warehouse fight you find almost no ammo for shotgun and 9mm which means you need to be conservative with your ammo usage as you’ll be fighting mostly bullet sponges (agrunts). At the halfway point you’ll have every weapon you need and you’ll fight mostly hgrunts, this means that the originally scarce ammo becomes plentiful and you no longer need to worry about ammo conservation at all for the rest of the mod.

    The mapping here is very basic, you start the mod in what has to be the most boring tram ride I’ve ever seen, blocky corridors with hall of mirror effects while text appears on screen about the background of the story, as you will quickly see this is representative of the entire mod. Your next destination is an extremely blocky Black Mesa base that has a crowbar in a poor location, later you go through blocky tunnels and the blockiness continues throughout the whole mod. The mod is very ugly.

    The ugliness of the mapping isn’t the worst thing about it however, as the layout causes combat to be a pain. You fight agrunts at the end of long corridors with no cover, there’s a hole with two ichthyosaurs which can block your path, there’s a room where you fight agrunts in close combat that has rough edges that you can get stuck on mid-combat. Not fun. There’s a few areas where you hit a button and have to go back a few maps to a completely unrelated area where it has opened a door somehow, direction in this game is practically non-existant, even getting the HEV is more of a challenge than it needs to be.

    As for the good, this mod doesn’t really have any. I like the room in the main screenshot used on this page, it’s perhaps the only area in the game that has interesting map design and I like the way the breaker texture was used to create a tiling wall, it looks good. The UFO is kinda cool too. I really don’t want to be mean but this mod falls short everywhere at every moment and it’s going to take you at least an hour, even bad mods you can have fun but this lacks any.

    Stay far away from this, it’s frustrating, illogical, long, and worst of all, boring. If you do have to play it out of curiosity’s sake, put it on easy as it clearly isn’t balanced for anything else.

  36. Avoid It!

    Definitely an avoid it because this mod is horrendous. The level design poorly designed, everything is blocky, lifeless, and lack of creativity. Like for example, the trainstation and the railway. Sure you could do better than that but it’s just a long straight line. The trainstation doesn’t look like a station at all. You can also escape from some levels, breaking out of bounds. The combat is very unbalanced, too many alien grunts. The enemy placement is also bad as well, spamming grunts and all. With scarce ammo, it makes it nearly impossible on hard difficulty. Puzzles, what is up with the puzzles? They’re the worst in this mod. I would’ve enjoyed this a little bit more if there were no puzzles at all. It consists of backtracking, a lot of backtracking. I think it is possible to skip the entire campaign by hopping on a UFO. I haven’t tried it yet but it’s the only way to save much time.

  37. Personal Favourite

    Do you ever seen someone that can drop from one window to another window by simply jumping down. I mean if there’s not enough space, it’s very easy to lose the grap point on the ground and keep falling down like a rolling stone to the ground. This is one of the failure of Half-Life acrobatics. They make you believe it’s easy even to stand on a tiny ledge just like that. In theory, you need to grab something constantly to maintain balance. So jumping is nearly irrational or impossible, you can’t just land on the frontal part of your legs and mantain your heigh.

Reply without including a Recommendation and MetaReview Data

Recommendation System

You must be registered and logged in to use the Recommendation System.
Why not register now? It's free and easy. If you are already registered then please login.


Comment Formatting Guide

Well formatted comments are much easier to read. Please copy and paste the HTML Tags to use in your comment

  • HEADER: <div class="fix"></div><div class="sbe3">TEXT HERE</div>
  • BOLD: <strong>TEXT HERE</strong>
  • ITALIC: <em>TEXT HERE</em>
  • SPOILER: <span class="spoiler">TEXT HERE</span>