Following on from last week’s poll question of Which is better: P1 or P2, I thought I would continue the theme.

This time it’s much hard to decide because like many great questions of prowess (Ali vs Tyson, Caruso vs Pavarotti etc) it often comes down to era. Just as importantly is which one you played first.

I’m not a huge Portal fan but I do enjoy the occasional map or mod.

There’s been more debate about which is better: Portal 1 or Portal 2 than for HL1 or HL2, mainly because they are both on the “same” engine and any comparison naturally gravitates towards visual aspects.

Let me start by saying that this article will not list archetypes, but is a call to the PP community to help define them.

The reason I am asking is because I read this BBC article and it started me thinking about how we could apply that to Half-Life maps and mods.

Ideally, we would have no more than 7, as I could then write a 7 Series article, but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.

You have been given a mission of entering a military base and destroying a Gargantua.

The base is well protected and you will need to keep your wits about you.

Intelligence suggests there are plenty of weapons and ammo within the base.

Good Luck!

Update: MapTap has been replaced by Gauge.

I officially launched MapTap on 1st October 2011. It is designed to make using SP maps a LOT easier.

I’s been fairly successful but I feel I should have done more work before the launch to ensure that enough tested files were available.

Herr_Alien and I have been working very hard behind the scenes and the next update will be a big step forward. We have about 5 new features planned for future updates too.

Anyway, back on the first of the month, I said there would be a game giveaway to one random Map Tap user.

Considering how unsuccessful the last two attempts at selecting a winner were, it is time to try a new way.

SEND ME YOUR ID AND KEY

To find your details, go to the About button. It will display your ID and Key.

The title of this post has got to have shocked you.

“Phillip must want the Half-Life games to keep coming.”

Yes, I do, but on a fixed schedule. Every 3 years is about right for me. Fixed engine too – no updates to break mods or any of those shenanigans.

But the world and Valve don’t revolve around what I want – quite right too!

So, here are 7 reasons I hope Ep3 is the last Half-Life game.

Don’t forget to add your own in the comments.

You and your squad have been pushed back into retreat by Xenian forces.

You must escape before you end up the same way as your buddies.

I’ve just finished a really long and great book. I feel a little relieved that I have finished it, but also sad because the story has finished, at least for the time being.

As much as I love reading I couldn’t start a new book for a few days, even a short one – I need time to “digest” what I have just experienced. I need time to look for the plot holes and consider the actions of the protagonists.

I like a certain level of realism in my gaming but more related to abstract things rather than weapon recoil or other details like that.

For me, it’s more about never having crates in room whose doors are obviously too small to allow a crate to fit through – stuff like that.