Genetic Research Facility

for Half-Life

3rd June 2011

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

Genetic Research Facility is a single player map, which has you fighting your way through a facility intended to create and research life forms that could prove useful in military action.

25 Comments

  1. It’s not bad little map but it suffers from the same points that many first time maps do; strange combinations of environments.As the author said he built it to learn and as such you should expect too much.

    As always, I respect anybody who has made and released a map, so the least I can do is play it.

    The gameplay was very simple but not boring. There was only one technical problem and that can be seen in image 15.

    There was something that I enjoyed:
    SPOILER ALERT!
    When you are in the corridor leading to the outdoor section, it is possible to walk behind a number of crates. They move forward and provide some protection. It seems to me that this idea should be expanded and put to better use.
    SPOILER ALERT OVER!

    Overall I say:

    If you have 5-10 minutes free and you want to play a linear little Half-Life map then this is for you.

    If you are looking for something more then you best avoid it.

  2. Is really the thing I judge after playing this one, for a first effort and 10 min of gameplay it doesn’t add any eyes candy or memorable facts but like most of the people who want’s to play everything including good and bad things this one is certainly not the worth…

  3. bkadar
    Play It Now!

    wow almost as much install time as playtime,i think you got a screen shot of every moment of the game lol. not a bad little map for some kill testing , should have a timer built in for competition,i’m gonna say play it now it’s 5 min download to finish then on to the next mod or map. not sure if this is a recent made map if so keep going I need more hl to play:}

  4. andrej

    when I play half life I don’t have console what sold I do so I can have console

  5. If your using steam right click the half life section and select properties.Under launch options type in -console

    In game use the ~ key to open the console

  6. TheRipper
    Maybe?

    Not bad for a beginner. A bit short, and pretty standard half-life gameplay. Sort of easy.

  7. Mel
    Maybe?

    Ok for a few minutes of fun shooting-up Grunts although you may not beat the end scene first time of asking. Surprised to see a release date of 2007 the map had the feel of much earlier HL1 custom releases, tight corridor sets with Grunts everywhere, if this is a first map for the author then he has done well to give us a playable if short encounter, but please structure your ending better in future.

  8. Phillip says Avoid It!

    Okay, I have to update my review and recommendation image. It’s not a Maybe but an Avoid It!.

    I am not sure why I used the previous recommendation image. Anyway, it’s just a couple of silly rooms and a few corridors joined together with a few enemies thrown in for good measure. Considering this was released over 7 years after Half-Life you would think that mappers would have either improved or started with Source.

    The final battle is just silly and the army chopper can be downed with just one rocket, and fighting the Garg in such an open space is neither fun nor easy.

    It’s not much fun, so I say “Avoid It!”

  9. Think Twice

    It starts in the room with brick walls. I took smg from the table that stands on the floor, and the suit from the stand. The stand and the lamp are not supported by anything but they don’t fall! I marveled at this wonder and went on through rectangular rooms.

    This map, unlike the previous one, deserves two points, because it has progression and decent gameplay. I had to press some buttons to open doors and was ambushed by soldiers. So it doesn’t let the player get bored. In the end there’s a good boss fight. Running from Garg was a thrilling experience. And there’s an ending. Yes, it’s just an instantaneous return to main menu, but that’s better than nothing.

    But what does it have besides the gameplay? Compelling story? Beautiful architecture? Original scenes? Atmosphere? It lacks all of them, so there’s nothing else to give points for. 2 out of 5.

  10. Play It Later

    When I finished this I could think only one thing “Is that it!”

    If this had been part of a larger/longer map/map-pack/mod then it would have been a forgettable section of something much better, but as a standalone release, whilst not terrible it wasn’t great either.

    The ending could have been way better if the Garg and chopper fought it out and you had to defeat the winner before the far door opens, but

    [spoiler]One rocket to take out the chopper and once the Garg is out of the way leg it to the open door.[/spoiler]

    Also the Garg is seemingly able to change size, when I retreated back into the tunnel with the crates it followed me in!! According the CombineOverWiki they are around “six meters (20 feet) tall”, the height of the tunnel was four meters Max!

    I think despite this being so very short (around 5 minutes if really stretch it out) I’m rating this one, one above what I would have given had it not been part of the Nostalgia 100.

  11. 2muchvideogames

    Amateur first map. A gruntfest with some aliens and two bosses. Environments are pretty shabby but the large lobby room is a bit interesting. I hope reviewers at least have an idea of how maps are made: for a first map this is pretty decent but not if you compare to other well established mods.

    But truth be told the battles are somewhat interesting; the chopper was a challenge to fight because you have to grab the RPG quickly. As for the garg, there are too many ways to glitch out of the battle. You can duck back into the building and hurl rockets at it from a safe distance. You can also rush directly to where the garg arrived from because that triggers the endsection for the map. LOL guys you all have to think before you shoot; it definitely is a bad idea to play tag with the garg in that yard. But it’s okay, I respect each player’s style of playing.

  12. Think Twice

    Pros:
    Overall goodish mapping for a basic/beginner map
    Battles are interesting. Ex: Garg, Helicopter, and the whole big room before the Xen part

    Cons:
    Floating geometry Ex: Light in the Spawn room.
    Bad texturing on some things Ex: Button to open the Xen room, and the Floor in Xen.

    Overall: Not bad but a Think Twice.

  13. Think Twice

    Meh. Yet another first time map, but this time from 2007. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better than all the OTHER first time maps.

    What I mainly noticed about the build of this level was how SQUARE all the rooms were, apart from the corridors of course, which were just rectangular. Also, most of the texturing is pretty bland. Overall, it’s pretty easy to tell this was made by a beginner.

    As for the gameplay, that’s also blah. You go through some rooms, you shoot at grunts in those rooms. That’s most of the map, really. The initial areas are way too cramped to use any tactics except “kill guy before he kills you”. Fortunately, the rooms do widen out later on. One thing I will compliment the author on is that they managed to figure out how to make grunts rappel from the ceiling. From the build of this level I wasn’t really expecting any scripted sequences at all, so the rapelling grunts were a nice touch. Not particularly wow-inducing, but hell, it’s still nice to have to fight off enemies from above once in a while. However, near the end there was a gargantua fight that was kind’ve stupid, because A. if you were playing on Difficult, there wasn’t enough ammo to kill it, B. it could run through a corridor too small for it and C. simply going around it allowed you to go into the next room, ending the map with ease. Still, apart from that the balance was decent. Apart from the gargantua and the grunts, the only other enemies were a handful of alien grunts and a somewhat easy to destroy chopper, mainly because it’s facing away from you half of the time.

    My comments here probably seem a little vague, in which case I apologise. The fact is, there’s not much to say about this one, a map that will take you roughly 10 minutes to complete, maximum. In the end, it’s just too amateur in design for me to recommend. Think twice before playing this one, but at least know there’s no need to avoid it like the plague.

    1. 2muchvideogames

      Dude, there already is a mod called “the plague”, and it’s pretty decent.

  14. Unq
    Avoid It!

    Yeah, another map from an inexperienced mapper. Plain architecture, no attention to detail, unrealistic situations, no story, etc. Some combat here but nothing is attractive or memorable.

  15. Think Twice

    it’s not that bad in terms of gameplay

  16. Hec
    Play It Later

    Well worth the effort because is cool to have some combat and it folows at least a fluid dynamic path…

  17. Think Twice

    This map is probably another test level by a beginning mapper. The difference here is that it’s playable. That being said it probably shouldn’t have been released to the public, maybe to some friends or on a forum for comment but not completely open.

    The focus, like may beginner maps, is on the action and this map has enough to keep you occupied for 5-10 minutes. I thought the flow of the action was nicely paced and it kept me engaged until the end boss fight. Because the focus is on action, there is no story but the linear nature of the environment means it’s very hard to get lost.

    The environment is just a series of corridors and rooms linked together, which abruptly change visually from room to room. The corridors and room are also very tight and claustrophobic but some rooms have a scattering of cover so a limited use of tactics can be utilised.

    I think this may have turned out better if some thought had gone into layout of the map and the design of the rooms and how they fit together.

    As it is the action will keep you entertained for 5-10 minutes but the map is visually unappealing. This was not bad as a test map but it isn’t really worth the time to play it.

  18. Think Twice

    Wow…this is is really a bland, short map. I don’t know what to say, other than it just really felt like a waste of time.

  19. Maybe?

    Strangely enough this map was just like a mix of the first two of the Summer Days of Nostalgia.

    While the game play was similar to the first map pack it was very short, but could of been a lot better had the map maker made a few more maps for it. It was also incredibly easy and the only parts that had any difficulty at all were the very first fight and the last one, even the Apache was easy. It manages to escape an “Avoid It!” and a “Think Twice” because it was fun, and it’s not going to take much time to download or play.

    Not much to say, fun and worth trying but too short.

  20. Avoid It!

    Very poor brushwork. Very poor texture alignment. Too easy. Too linear. Boring. Like in two previous mods/maps, no melee weapon. Whatever You Want is right that it looks like a mix of two first entries in 100 Days.
    Do NOT play.

  21. Think Twice

    After playing the horrible “Freeman’s Allegiance”, this was short fun! Although it’s not that different! Yet again it’s boxy, undetailed mapping with only a few corridors and small rooms, until the end. There’s a little outdoor area with two suprises! 😉
    The lighting is okay better here, just the mapping is again very basic.
    Balancing is also an issue, as this time it’s just too easy. There are plenty of healthkits and chargers, and also HEV batteries. Also lot of ammo. I suggest to play on “hard”.

    At first there’s the HEV suit and the assault riftle with an ammo box. After a few corridors with enemies and also the first health + HEV charger, there’s a bigger room and more enemies. Hit a button, next room, next corridor.. Not very sophisticated, but this way you can’t get stuck.

    A tiny snack for lunchtime break 😉

    Pro’s:
    -Decent combat (but stupid AI)
    -Ending is okay
    -Good lighting
    -A bit fun while it lasted

    Con’s:
    -Basic, boxy mapping without any details
    -Very short playtime (~5-10 minutes)
    -No story
    -No puzzles
    -Balancing, it’s just too easy (too much ammo, healing possibilities)
    -No atmosphere

  22. Maybe?

    It’s a map from a beginner, so I won’t say a lot.

    I don’t know how to map. I tried it, but I couldn’t even make a basic room. But I can feel how he can, by most people hating on this map. I have one thing to tell you freyyr890; keep on mapping!

    About the map; it’s just a small basic gruntfest with two incredibly easy boss fights. You may not really enjoy it, but I did.

  23. Think Twice

    Boxy featureless rooms connected by boring empty corridors, yeah… this one is bad, is one of those maps that still need a lot of work before being released, at least it’s pretty short, and the gameplay isn’t “offensively bad”, is just… very amateurish

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