Adaca, a great new FPS from independent developer Siris Pendrake, manipulates game gravity to maneuver 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Half-Life 2 and Halo into the same orbit.
Like Half-Life 2, Adaca gives you a gravity glove to chuck objects all over the place. Out of ammo? A filing cabinet will do just fine. Adaca's roster of enemies also takes heavy inspiration from Valve's seminal shooter, with opponents that look almost identical to Combine soldiers and Headcrab Zombies. The bulk of the first episode involves your character traveling across hostile territory to reach a group of resistance fighters, which feels strongly reminiscent of Highway 17. You can pick up wooden spools and circular saw blades and hurl them at enemies. There’s even a “we don’t go to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ravenholm” nod.
But Adaca also borrows liberally from Master Chief's adventures. Like Halo, you can only carry a few guns at a time, so when you hear the telltale click of an empty chamber, it's time to scan the ground for an enemy weapon to scavenge. This forces you to familiarize yourself with an armory's worth of unique pistols, plasma rifles, and other, stranger guns. In the second episode, the game becomes significantly more Halo-like, as the map opens up for the first level, leaning in the direction of that series’ wide-linear design.
As a Half-Life fan, I'm having a great time playing it. But, as much as I’m enjoying myself, Adaca is making me realize how unique and special Half-Life 2 is. Despite the massive modding scene that cropped up around Half-Life 2, there still haven't been many games like it. Meanwhile the triple-A scene has all but given up on the story-driven single-player shooter. Devs like Pendrake carry the torch with skill, but there are things that independent developers just can't do.
Half-Life 2, despite eschewing cutscenes entirely, is a deeply cinematic game. Though Gordon Freeman is a cypher, the characters around him are bursting with personality. Alyx and Eli Vance, Dr. Kleiner, and Wallace Breen are all written perfectly for this kind of sci-fi action story and voiced with charisma; the game's story and stakes feel worthwhile as a result. Plus, the game’s one-cut approach to gameplay and storytelling keeps the world feeling immersive and propulsive, hustling you from shootouts to shootin' the shit without missing a beat.
Adaca can't really do that. It's an independent game that, as far as I can tell, was largely developed by one person. It would be a major drain on their resources to include impressively well-voiced characters doing walk-and-talks, and for most players, it wouldn't make too much of a difference anyway. The feeling that a sci-fi action story was unfolding around you was a big part of what made Half-Life 2 so special, and Adaca captures that sense too.
I'm glad that Adaca exists. Though it doesn't embody everything that I love about Half-Life 2, it makes up for it by doing its own thing. Mostly, though, it makes me wish that we were still getting shooters inspired by the greatest FPS ever made.