After being made aware this was the first of the Valve games to have a commentary mode with nodes interspersed throughout the level to explain the creation, I had to go back and play what was my introduction to Valve games to begin with. I'm a professional game artist myself and always enjoy a look behind the curtain, especially if it's a work that partly motivated me to enter the field. Lost Coast is a tech demo. It's not a game, but a level with a unique set piece. A whole slice that puts Half-Life 2 in a microcosm, and does so very well. What's unique about it is the East Europe coastal town setting, Byzantine monastery, and execution of the then-experimental High Dynamic Range.

What they had to say about High Dynamic Range on the commentary track wasn't exactly new to me. Anyone who had to learn Unreal Engine had to figure out all of the industry standard post processing effects. Making use of tone mapping and bloom and the high dynamic range, refraction shaders, it was interesting to hear from their words and 2005; as a modern game artist it gets taken for granted. I would go as far as to say these unique features have been ruined. Because of how easily implemented it is in games, I see it regularly misused and overcompensating for many titles with poor art direction and level design.

Nonetheless, the art direction and level design in this tech demo are quite good, and I really enjoy the few nodes that break down their choices. They go with a very vertical cliff facing sequence as combat starts so people have a clear direction to go, and can see enemies going. They have a very good levity, knowing when to break up environment exploration, puzzle solving, and combat. They set up the arena areas so the player knows they're going to have to deal with a conflict but have a little bit of time to strategize and just breathe a little. You could say what the level design accomplished was a platonic ideal for the cinematic shooters that were popular for the era. It even ends with an action movie climax of blowing up an attack helicopter with a rocket launcher. Cliche as it is, I felt it was earned.

The coast, the NPC you talk to before the level properly starts, both give a very strong impression to me. I was constantly moving and adjusting myself to find a nice photo. I had plenty of opportunities for photos with very strong compositions and compelling images, which really isn't an easy thing to accomplish, especially not for a game from 2005 played nearly two decades in the future. There's a timeless thought put into the way the aesthetics and elements of the game all fall into place, and there's no better example of this than the Byzantine monastery. It was certainly a highlight, and a shame that it didn't end up in the base game. Although, it makes going out of your way to try Lost Coast a little bit more worth it.

Obviously, this is only for people interested in the technical aspects of Half-Life. People who are already fans, who don't see Gabe Newell as a meme, people who are looking for something free but perhaps with a little bit more polish to it than what you typically find in free game lists. It's old. It's great. It's a modest piece of gaming history, even. There's worse ways to spend half an hour.