Not a good way to experience Half Life.

Where they ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up is they tried to improve on the original, and the improvements are just worse.

There are more dead ends, the player gets stuck on level geometry, the movement isn't as smooth, combat feels worse, and the new puzzles are just the same two puzzles over and over again - which are themselves just the same two puzzles that Half Life 2 did, but when Half Life 2 did it, it was new. Keep in mind that HL2 is now going on 20 years old.

While the mod shines when it's just doing HL1-but-prettier, what is left is a game that has very outdated design decisions (outdated as in, "this was new and interesting in 2004") and a lack of polish. A very overrated game that would have benefited from less development. A good example of why "less is more."

Not a good way to experience Half Life. Where they fucked up is they tried to improve on the original, and the improvements are just worse. There are more dead ends, the player gets stuck on level geometry, the movement isn't as smooth, combat feels worse, and the new puzzles are just the same two puzzles over and over again - which are themselves just the same two puzzles that Half Life 2 did, but when Half Life 2 did it, it was new. Keep in mind that HL2 is now going on 20 years old. While the mod shines when it's just doing HL1-but-prettier, what is left is a game that has very outdated design decisions (outdated as in, "this was new and interesting in 2004") and a lack of polish. A very overrated game that would have benefited from less development. A good example of why "less is more."