5 Comments

1. Mel

   1st April 2008 at 8:46 pm

   

   ok/not very polished/rocky at times/thin on content/not memorial

   Reply
2. piledriver

   5th December 2008 at 11:26 pm

   

   Assuming this is an early mod, then use of brushes and lighting is way above average. This is a good quality but short mission, involving decent gameplay with a realistic goal. Some cut scenes. Health and armour are spread really thin, with the HEV suit only attainable after some dangerous fighting. About 20 mins, play on hard. Well worth the download.

   From the Readme:-
   “There are a few basic ideas you need to grasp before taking on Plan B. Instead of throwing 90 grunts at you I
   increase situational difficulties by limiting ammo, Strategic enemy placement, and by discouraging stupid non-
   realistic behavior (eg if you wouldn’t do it with your body in real life don’t do it in Plan B).”

   Reply
3. Technic

   12th March 2012 at 11:08 pm

   

   Suddenly waking up in a strange place, imprisoned, you have to free you way at all costs!
   Once done, you’re aware that soldiers have taken over the place – to prevent the aliens to attack!
   So you have to find a way to escape… after that, a scientist in a nearby cell makes an offer you can’t refuse 😉 He knows how to get to some storage room, but the price is to free him first.
   Therefore you fight and search your way to get to him, avoiding soldiers and aliens which ain’t very easy. Time for a plan B it seems…

   Pro’s:
   -Very good leveldesign most of the time, few exceptions (lot hallways)
   -Nice scripts, cutscenes and text (dialogue) supporting the story
   -A few puzzles
   -Superhard, challenging combat requiring strategies – a bit bad balanced for my taste (less health, ammo)
   -Interesting story, exciting gameplay

   Con’s:
   -Difficulty, definitely nothing for newbies
   -No HEV at start (takes a few mins to get / find, involved in gameplay)
   -Quite short playtime (is there a sequel, anyone??)
   -Mean enemy spawns / placement

   Reply
4. Ten Four Reviews

   7th August 2012 at 11:49 pm

   Plan B is a first-time single player release, although the author, Adam “Jeb_Redec” Brown, has made a couple of multiplayer maps judging by his website. This short pack shows some flashes of clever design, but overall it is merely slightly above average among first-time releases.

   A short backstory has been provided, but just to set the opening scene. Though there is a logical progression through the maps, there is no further plot development. But keeping in mind that this is a short pack, and that the author promises it is “To Be Continued,” this is excusable. The puzzles you must solve are conveyed through in-game text, in most cases taking the place of spoken instructions from a scientist. Some camera sequences are used as well, but some of them are irritatingly long and serve no real purpose. In my mind, camera sequences should be kept at a minimum – part of the superb original HL experience was that you were always a part of the action, with only a single camera sequence. The puzzles themselves are pretty straightforward and are executed well – nothing groundbreaking, but better than your average first-time SP map pack.

   The maps are laid out fairly well, with a number of areas that double back on previously visited ones, although your path through the first time is kept pretty linear. However, many sections are not designed to be friendly on the r_speeds, as they were well over 2000 in a lot of areas (areas with combat, no less, which is sure to cause problems for you if you have a system that can’t keep up). Add in a handful of dynamic lights and your framerates will likely take a dive unless you have an above average system. The architecture is decent with some rather attractive areas, but what could really use improvement is the lighting.

   The gameplay itself is where this level pack’s strength lies. As mentioned above, the puzzles and overall layout of the maps are well-done. The combat is challenging in parts, and you should be cautious when returning to already visited areas. What is missing, however, is some attention to detail. There is some poor texturing in the maps. In one section a scientist tells you to meet him ahead at an elevator, and then he magically appears ahead of you even though you take a short and direct route there. And be warned that having the HD model pack installed will screw up a sequence involving a zombie, although the gameplay is unaffected.

   Is it worth the download? If you’re strapped for HL levels to play, sure. It’s not a bad pack, and hopefully the author will build on this decent first release in the near future.

   Notes
   This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Sunday, 11th August, 2002 by Unquenque.

   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.

   Reply
5. monster_urby

   13th September 2021 at 8:05 pm

   

   This was a tough one. It would appear that Adam Brown favours the harder, more punishing experience when it comes to Half-Life maps. I had to do the final push to the end of the map with only three hitpoints, but I did it. I would argue that I was fine in terms of my weapons and ammo supply, which is what the readme suggests you should keep an eye one. The issue with this map is definitely the stingy health distribution.

   Besides that, for such an old map this actually looks great! There is some very nice brushwork accompanied by very clever usage of the vanilla textures and the lighting throughout is spot on.

   The text prompts on screen in place of voice acted lines are always a little off putting, especially during combat, but then not everyone is a voice actor or has one on standby. 😀

   Installed:
   Manually

   Difficulty Played At:
   Hard

   Playtime:
   23 Minutes

   Reply

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