“Ah, Gordon, there you are. We’ve just sent the sample down to the test chamber.The administrator is very concerned that we get a conclusive analysis of today’s sample. I gather they went to some lengths to get it.”…… “Yes, but with good reason. This is a rare opportunity for us. This is the purest sample we’ve seen yet.”
Purest sample? Then what went wrong? How did a pure sample rip a portal between Earth and Xen? Find out in “Sabotage”.
You play the role of a mercenary, specialized in infiltration and sabotage. You learn of the experiments to be held in the Black Mesa Research Facility (BMRF) – under the supervision of the G-man. Seven years earlier, the G-man had you sent to a high-security prison for a crime you never committed. Back then, you were a high profile elite warrior highly respected for your skills. But your reputation was tarnished for life by the G-man, now an administrator in the Black Mesa Research facility. Now, seven years later, you will finally have your revenge.
Using your contacts, you learn about the experiments that are going to be conducted in Black Mesa by a certain Dr. Freeman. He will supposedly use a pure Xen sample crystal. You also find out about a delivery truck that delivers regular supplies to the facility. You prepare to hijack the delivery truck to Black Mesa. Killing its driver is an unforunate side effect. You then disguise yourself as the truck driver to enter Black Mesa.
Having gained access into the complex, you then make your way to the lower levels of Black Mesa, and switch the sample for an impure one before the experiment is to take place. Things are bound to go wrong with a switched sample, and the administrator will be made the scapegoat. He will take the blame. And you will have your revenge.
- Title: Sabotage
- File Name: hl1-sp-sabotage.7z
- Original File Name: sabotage.zip
- Size : 1.10Mb
- Author: Suresh VS
- Date Released: 01 January 1998
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Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 8 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 7 Mins by monster_urby
Longest: 0 Hours, 10 Mins by Dmitry
Total Time Played: 0 Hours, 25 Mins
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Looks good D\L now. If its decent I will give a reveiw.
very short/no combat/no structured ending/pointless. Sorry I can not find some constructed and positives points to quote.
This level feels like more like an interactive set piece than a shoot-em-up. You play a mercenary trying to sabotage the experiment at Anomalous Materials. Yes, that experiment.
The first part is actually quite effective, as you can hear the scientists talking Gordon through the experiment. Very nostalgic. But all that you’re really doing is walking around until you find a button. It would have been cool if you had to bypass some security systems or something. But instead you just open some doors, ride down a couple of lifts and put on a HEV. I really felt that an opportunity was wasted. At the very least a security guard could have asked what you were doing. Once you’ve pressed the button, you leave. And then the excitement begins…
Except it doesn’t really. You face a few aliens on your way out but nothing tough. The whole experience only lasts a few minutes and when I finished I was left thinking “That was it?”. Playing through the level is rendered almost pointless by the lack of action.
The architecture is below average as well. There are some nasty texture misalignments, and everything has rather odd-looking proportions. Some of the doors don’t even fit in the frames. But worst of all are the level transitions. It is possible to get stuck inside a wall on each and every one of them. There were two places where architecture actually looked good. But in the first case this was spoilt by high r_speeds (1200+) and in the other you could only see the room through a window, and couldn’t get in yourself.
The only reason to download the level is for the novelty of the intriguing idea. With a bit more thought put into the design it could have been quite fun penetrating the Black Mesa security grid. If someone were to make the effort of doing some coding so that security guards attack the player and scientists run away then the idea could be made into an interesting experience. But as it stands, Sabotage is a rather short and dull experience.
Notes
This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Thursday, 23rd December, 1999 by Chris.
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.
An interesting take on the cause of the resonance cascade. Of course, later entries in the Half-Life series give us some insight into the original of the Xen crystal that caused the Resonance Cascade.
In this interpretation however, Black Mesa security was severely lacking in some crucial areas. Your role in triggering the cataclysmic event is to walk into a room and push a button. It’s nice that you can hear the scientists on the loudspeaker, similar to what was heard in Decay years later.
After that, you have to get back out again, with aliens swarming the facility. Fortunately, the Xen creatures were also preoccupied with more interesting areas of the complex. You fight a handful of aliens before reaching the sector C platform and boarding a tram… presumably to escape but who knows.
Manually
Hard
7 Minutes
Stream of thoughts while playing:
Interesting premise – find out why the resonance cascade happened (hint: check the map title). I enjoyed that the intro cutscene matches the readme, it definitely always pays to read that IMO. Cool to see Black Mesa from a different perspective too, a mercenary sneaking in to sabotage the experiment. H
earing the acoustics change from room to room is sweet. Pretty ugly and blocky map so far but it has it’s charm. Overhearing scientists say the usual experiment lines about starting rotors etc is very cool! Wowww, I opened a door only to find another closed door behind it, weird way to lock the player in a room.
Pretty rough map, it has an HEV charger that is 200% too big. More jank – barnacle placed way too low, obviously not touching ceiling. I haven’t seen this low fidelity barrels before, they are literally hexagons.
It’s cool seeing the scientist get on damaged bridge you see him fall off in the start of HL. Damage trigger in final cutscene, guess you’re supposed to die? The map has some cool ideas but it’s very rough.
Def worth checking out though IMO.
Manually
Hard
8 Minutes
There’re not many enemies, but the level is more focused on architectural design like the first area, big with containers, good mood and ambient. Until we get to that sample. So the idea was taken from the original Half-Life until we get to that tram. In Half-Life we lost the tram because the bridge collapsed. Here the bridge didn’t collapsed and we escaped. I think the idea was to simulate the beginning of HL with a different story.
Manually
Hard
10 Minutes