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Gran parte del mérito de Halfquake Amen reposa en ser el primero en muchas cosas, pero también en ser el puente de otras. Es el trasvase del estilo de juego kusoge y tramposo del mundillo mod con un vestido de obra experimental, casi vanguardista. El tipo de extensión de Half-Life que no solías ver en la época, pero lo bastante lleno de referencias y chistes facilones como para reconocer de dónde viene. Al mismo tiempo, es sorprendente lo mucho que este juego se adelantó tanto a la avalancha de juegos indie basados en puzzles 3D (ya hablé de Portal en el primer Halfquake, pero aquí me acuerdo más de Antichamber) como a los Escape The Room de Flash. La existencia de Halfquake es una demostración fehaciente de lo compleja, rica, variada y, al mismo tiempo, tan inmadura y tontorrona que era esta escena en un momento tan clave de la historia del medio, y me alegro muchísimo de que pueda seguir jugándose a día de hoy.
Ni qué decir tiene que lo que peor ha envejecido no ha sido el diseño troll ni el hecho de que te hagan esperar 20 minutos literales en un momento determinado, sino el que tengas que saltar tanto en un juego de GoldSrc, lo que debería estar penado por la ley a estas alturas.
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Much of Halfquake Amen's merit lies in being the first in many things, but also in being a nexus to many others. It's the meeting of kusoge and asshole-ish game design from several mod scenes with an experimental, almost avant-garde presentation. The kind of Half-Life expansion you didn't use to see back in the day, but full enough of references and lame jokes to recognize where it's coming from. At the same time, it's surprising how far this game was ahead its time both in how it conceives of 3D puzzles (I talked about Portal in the first Halfquake, but here I'm reminded of Antichamber) and the Flash scene's Escape The Room subgenre. The existence of Halfquake is proof of how complex, rich, varied and, at the same time, so immature and silly this scene was at such a key moment in the history of the medium, and I'm really glad that it can still be played today.
Needless to say, what has aged the worst is not the troll-ish design decision to make you wait literally 20 minutes at one point, but the fact that you have to jump around so much in a GoldSrc game, which should be punishable by law by now.
Ni qué decir tiene que lo que peor ha envejecido no ha sido el diseño troll ni el hecho de que te hagan esperar 20 minutos literales en un momento determinado, sino el que tengas que saltar tanto en un juego de GoldSrc, lo que debería estar penado por la ley a estas alturas.
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Much of Halfquake Amen's merit lies in being the first in many things, but also in being a nexus to many others. It's the meeting of kusoge and asshole-ish game design from several mod scenes with an experimental, almost avant-garde presentation. The kind of Half-Life expansion you didn't use to see back in the day, but full enough of references and lame jokes to recognize where it's coming from. At the same time, it's surprising how far this game was ahead its time both in how it conceives of 3D puzzles (I talked about Portal in the first Halfquake, but here I'm reminded of Antichamber) and the Flash scene's Escape The Room subgenre. The existence of Halfquake is proof of how complex, rich, varied and, at the same time, so immature and silly this scene was at such a key moment in the history of the medium, and I'm really glad that it can still be played today.
Needless to say, what has aged the worst is not the troll-ish design decision to make you wait literally 20 minutes at one point, but the fact that you have to jump around so much in a GoldSrc game, which should be punishable by law by now.