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A nice little half life mod, its fun, its simple. Some of the design decisions make it a little hard to go back to, but hey, if you really wanted to, you can play this on your dreamcast!
Zombie Donkeys
It's alright. It's a very silly mod that can certainly be fun at times, but grating at others. The two boss fights at the end of the third chapter are far and away the worst parts of the mod, but that said I would actually still say that the third chapter is the best of the three, even if it does go off the rails.
A classic mod for Half-Life who's historic impact is immense. This mod, alongside Counter-Strike and Natural Selection, is often cited as one of the modding community's crowing achievements, or at least it was back in the start of the 2000s.
Today, They Hunger is really showing its age. Compared to mods nowadays, it's very simple and primitive. Compared to modern game design sensibilities, it regularly flies in the face of good communication of concepts and level design. But to someone who has played Half-Life, this offers a fun --if slightly enraging-- challenge. The weapons are fun to use, and the set pieces were on par with base Half-Life at the time. The story is nothing to write home about, but is fun nevertheless.
They Hunger is an ode to classic Hollywood Horror from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, the decade where the game is (allegedly) set. There are cartoonish and old monsters like zombies, Frankenstein zombies, skeletons, and severed hands. The game's "art direction" is a mash of reused Half-Life textures and gothic stone textures.
Gameplay wise, the placement of enemies is often unfair, but you get used to it. Damage is big, with most enemies doing at least five points of damage or more. You will often have to peak and save-scum. Save-scumming is good practice anyway, as there is a horrific shortage of autosaves. You could die to a spree of lead from unfairly placed police zombies, autoload the last save, and be fifteen minutes away from where you died.
All in all, it's a great piece of history, especially for Half-Life fans. And the gameplay is alright when you get used to its unfair nature. I wouldn't NOT recommend it, but it's no surprise that this mod has fallen into obscurity. Although given its historical importance, that obscurity is also a little upsetting.
Today, They Hunger is really showing its age. Compared to mods nowadays, it's very simple and primitive. Compared to modern game design sensibilities, it regularly flies in the face of good communication of concepts and level design. But to someone who has played Half-Life, this offers a fun --if slightly enraging-- challenge. The weapons are fun to use, and the set pieces were on par with base Half-Life at the time. The story is nothing to write home about, but is fun nevertheless.
They Hunger is an ode to classic Hollywood Horror from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, the decade where the game is (allegedly) set. There are cartoonish and old monsters like zombies, Frankenstein zombies, skeletons, and severed hands. The game's "art direction" is a mash of reused Half-Life textures and gothic stone textures.
Gameplay wise, the placement of enemies is often unfair, but you get used to it. Damage is big, with most enemies doing at least five points of damage or more. You will often have to peak and save-scum. Save-scumming is good practice anyway, as there is a horrific shortage of autosaves. You could die to a spree of lead from unfairly placed police zombies, autoload the last save, and be fifteen minutes away from where you died.
All in all, it's a great piece of history, especially for Half-Life fans. And the gameplay is alright when you get used to its unfair nature. I wouldn't NOT recommend it, but it's no surprise that this mod has fallen into obscurity. Although given its historical importance, that obscurity is also a little upsetting.
aw yeah buddy back when modding at soul. real romero-esque zombies with aesthetics based more on movies like house on haunted hill. its just reskinned half life assets and it can get a lil too annoying in the later chapters but god if this isn't a labour of love.
played the dreamcast port but its not an option on here
played the dreamcast port but its not an option on here
Not aspiring to be anything other than a campy schlock horror experience, and at that it's pretty successful - at least initially. The beginning of this game channels the dread and desperation of Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD better than probably any other (and to the medium's shame, no major title has ever even really tried) complete with the realization that you do not and will never have enough ammo to kill all the slow moving zombies, and instead need to try to steel your nerves and just make your way past them without backing yourself into a corner and getting overrun. Sadly these frankly masterful opening sections give way to an overreaching story, too many annoying enemies with guns, and totally out of whack pacing and difficulty.
One of my greatest gaming dreams is something that can replicate the feel of Romero's DEAD movies and for a while this almost manages it. I wish it had kept its focus there instead of kind of losing it entirely.
One of my greatest gaming dreams is something that can replicate the feel of Romero's DEAD movies and for a while this almost manages it. I wish it had kept its focus there instead of kind of losing it entirely.