Almost everyone I've seen who's played the game universally agrees with one another that the last section of the game is designed poorly with heaps of flaws throughout the second you exit Black Mesa. Maybe I'm biased because I love boomer shooters, but during my playthrough, I thought the textures as well as new enemies you fought leading up to the final boss were created using a well-chosen color pallette and provided the necessary evolution from fighting your way through a base. They took on a much more extraterrestrial design, and the final boss satisfied the build-up of gradually making your way deeper and deeper into the foreign dimension. Where else do you see this in a game for its time? No where else, as the next great, influential FPS that came along a year later, SS2, fumbled its ending with a rushed 3rd half which was confirmed by Looking Glass Studios, even more so than what Gabe Newell claims with Half Life's ending.
I feel like a lot of people who hated on it and still do are either nitpicking on the platforming sections, wanted it to be longer, or played Unreal and had a better impression with that title instead.
I feel like a lot of people who hated on it and still do are either nitpicking on the platforming sections, wanted it to be longer, or played Unreal and had a better impression with that title instead.
