Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast is some kind of show-case made by Valve to introduce their new High Dynamic Range method of applying light inside the Source Engine. Actually, although this is a very technical subject, the developer’s commentary that comes with it, is more than worthwhile listening to. It gives quite some insight into how this mini-level was constructed, and even into how HDR lighting actually works. It’s not easy to talk about something as complex as this is an easily understandable manner. Fascinating stuff, and for the die-hard Vavle-fans: you even get Gabe Newell’s words at the beginning of the commentary ;-).
– Real player with 61.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Short First-Person Games.
After playing around with the level for a bit, I can definitely say that Lost Coast is a complete success. It’s not available seperately, but it is available in the Half Life Complete Pack (which is on sale right now). Here, you play as Gordon Freeman, as you come across the tiny town of St. Olga, whom is under attack by the Combine with a gun that launches headcrabs into the town. The 14-Minute Tech Demo shows off what the Source engine can really do, and as a result the game looks beautiful. It’s almost like a work of art.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Ryse: Son of Rome
fun game that holds up today even though it was just a “tech demo” when release. decent story, solid graphics, and mediocre gameplay. plays like a simpler version of the batman arkham series. the only downside is that campaign is very short (4-6hrs) and the combat is repetitive. still, worth checking out since it plays like an extended action movie.
– Real player with 60.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Short Third Person Games.
Contrary to what the game’s title might leave you believing, the protag’s name is not actually Ryse, but it’s actually Marius. Some characters do tell him to rise from time to time when he’s being a lazy slacker falling asleep in the middle of a war, and the subtitles use an i instead of a y, but that’s just semantics. I’d also consider the “Son of Rome” part to be a little inaccurate since a city can’t conceive people. Although people can be conceived inside cities, and Marius’s daddy-o, Leontius sure laid down the pipe on his wife Septima. And we have confirmation that he did so at least twice since Marius has a sister! I might be going a little off track here, so let’s get down to the game itself.
– Real player with 21.8 hrs in game