Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag (Beta 1.0)

[Munro]

Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag is a fresh breath of air for the ongoing struggle
of the Combines battling the Rebels. In this newest MOD with the humble name of
Half-Life 2 indicated on the title, gameplay revolves around capturing the
opposing force's flag in four alternate modes. For players such as myself who
love to see anything from the Half-Life 2 universe implemented within the game,
HL2: CTF will bring hours, if not days of enjoyment. [br]However, for those who do
not fancy Half-Life 2 as much as us loyalists, does HL2: CTF bring enough unique
gameplay elements that intrigue you into finally finishing the Half-Life 2 story
mode? I think not. If you haven't already taken fancy to the players, weapons,
or just about anything in Half-Life 2, then I suggest you stay away from this
MOD as every gameplay element revolves around the raging war between the Rebels
and Combine forces.[br]
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Although I continually tried to remove the thought from my brain, HL2: CTF only
feels like an addition to the wonderful HL2eathmatch. Every element is
reminiscent of HL2eathmatch's gameplay, excluding the actual objective;
Capturing flags. However, this isn't a negative thought because with the
addition of capturing flags, HL2: CTF advances the deathmatch style gameplay by
including not only a chance to set up strategic positions to prevent the
capturing of your flag, but also by spreading runes throughout the map to
enhance abilities to give you that certain edge above your opponent. [br]
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The greatest feature that I appreciate the most about HL2: CTF is the ability to
strategically position players to ensure your flag doesn't get captured, thus
giving something each player on the team to work on while playing. Scoring is
broken down into six different factions, each ranging from killing a person to
capturing the flag. Another great inclusion is you cannot solely win on killing
the opposing team. The amount of teamwork required to win is very high, so
straying along and trying to be a kill-whore won't make your team mates very
happy.[br]
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In HL2: CTF's current status there are around 11 maps to play, and each map
contains enough killing ground to last throughout the beta stage. HL2: CTF's
maps are chalked full of different routes to plan an invasion on the opposing
force. My personal favourite is CTF_Prison Riot, an abandoned prison complex.
Weapons are scattered throughout each map and once taken, each will respawn
within a given amount of time. As with every game, individual maps have their
own advantages with a certain type of weapon, but launching debris with your
gravity gun never gets repetitive. [br]
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Even though I appreciate Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag's gameplay, I do not
believe everyone is aware of how many hours of fun this MOD can bring once you
find a populated server. This is the most concerning problem; there aren't
enough servers with players on them, and once you are lucky to find a populated
server, possible lag and server shutdowns kill the experience. However, I do not
believe this is HL2: CTF's problem, because not many server hosting companies
support the Half-Life 2 modding community. Throughout my playing period, I
hardly noticed any bugs that hindered the playing experience, but as usual there
are those bugs and glitches that need fixing through further releases.[br]
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Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag is a great MOD that every Half-Life 2 enthusiast
should experience at least once in their lifetime. The gameplay is simple
enough, yet playing on the unique and diverse maps created by the experienced
mappers in the development team delivers the real fun and excitement. Although I
only experienced one time where my game disconnected while playing due to the
server crashing, I was very happy with Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag's
stability. Final Verdict - Download HL2: CTF and experience what it has to offer
yourself! More strategies, forums, and an explanation of the gameplay can be
viewed at Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag's
homepage.