The ravenous shooter fanatic has been left high and dry on occasion, but 2005 is looking promising indeed. The forthcoming Project Snowblind from Crystal Dynamics is a big, icy chunk of the looming shooter hailstorm. While inspiration from the Deus Ex series is readily apparent, the futuristic Snowblind is definitely its own distinct "thing," unique in both mechanics and setting. Snowblind aims to combine the dramatic, big battlefield drama of games like Call of Duty with the free-form combat and options of other shooters.

Unreal Championship 2 Diary 01:05 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - consoles: xbox (0 comments)
TeamXbox smacked up a new edition of its Unreal Championship 2 diary series written by Epic's Mike Capps:

We've just hit content complete on the project, which is a huge milestone in development. (Good job, guys!) We structure our process around two targets: feature complete and content complete. Content complete means ALL the art is in there. It may not all be perfect, there may be some known bugs, etc., but all the animations, textures, maps, etc. are in the game and playable. Feature complete for us really means "feature locked", when all the features in the game are operational and playable. That's probably the most important milestone to me -- because it's when I can say, "Sorry, it'll have to wait for a sequel." without people thinking I just don't like their feature.

Game Reviews 12:15 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - games: general news (0 comments)

PC

• Alexander - Boomtown - 7/10
• Lord of the Ring: Battle for Middle Earth - GameBiz - 85%
• Remedy - Adventure Gamers - 3/5

  Xbox
  

• The Punisher - Gamespot - 6.6/10
• Tork: Prehistoric Punk - Gamespy - 2.5/5

  PS2
  

• Airborne Troops: Countdown to D-Day - Gamespot - 4.2/10
• The Bard's Tale - 1Up - 7/10

  GameCube
  

• Metroid Prime 2 - GameZone - 9/10

  DS
  

• Ping Pals - Gaming Age - F

In Other News... 12:03 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - in-house: in other news... (5 comments)
Today's question is:

Why do you think so many people turned on id after they released Doom 3? Was the game really that bad, or is it just fun to kick the man when they're down?

• 'Cold Winter' (PS2) - Screens
• 'Dynasty Warriors 5' (PS2) - Screens
• 'ESPN Major League Baseball 2K5' (PS2/Xbox) - Screens
• 'F.E.A.R.' (PC) - Screens
• 'God Of War' (PS2) - Screens
• 'Hidden Stroke II' (PC) - Screens
• 'Jade Empire' (Xbox) - Screens
• 'The Movies' (Xbox/PC) - Screens
• 'Mutant Storm' (Xbox) - Screens
• 'Oddworld Stranger's Wrath' (Xbox) - Screens
• 'Project: Snowblind' (PS2/Xbox/PC) - Screens
• 'Pro Rugby Manager 2' (PC) - Screens
• 'Trash' (PC) - Screens
• 'World Tour Soccer 2006' (PS2) - Screens

• 'Codename: Panzers' - v1.10 Mod Patch
• This multilanguage mod patch allows you to play custom made maps in single, and multiplayer modes.
• 'Star Wars: Imperial Assault' - Beta Demo 1
• This demo includes Imperial Assault menu screen and interface with shell map, and demo mission.
• Various Game Trailers
• 'Blitzkrieg 2' (PC) - Trailer
• 'Close Combat: First to Fight' (Xbox/PC) - Trailer
• 'Cold Winter' (PS2) - Trailer
• 'ESPN Major League Baseball 2K5' (PS2/Xbox) - Trailer
• 'Iron Phoenix' (Xbox) - Trailer
• 'Second Sight' (PC) - Trailer
• 'Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory' (NGC/PS2/Xbox/PC) - Trailer

Source SDK Update; General Source News 06:13 pm - Andrew Burnes - games: action (7 comments)
A major update for the Source SDK has tonight been released by Valve:

• Added XSI addon for importing and exporting SMDs
• Added simple SDK bot sample code for adding bots to your mod
• Added source files for six Half-Life 2 single player maps
• Added interface plugin to add bots to mods
• Fixed resource leak in the SDK launcher and vconfig utiity
• Added bspzip tool -- allows you to compile custom content directly into a .bsp

Valve has also issued a general news update:

Last week marked the end of the Half-Life 2: Deathmatch level design contest. We received over 200 submissions, and we're going through and playtesting each one. There are a number of great maps in here, and we're already having trouble picking the clear winners. The release of the winning maps will coincidice with a release of Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, which will include two new weapons: the Slam and Stunstick.

Also of note for level designers and Mod builders: there will be an update to the Half-Life SDK this week which most notably will include source files for six Half-Life 2 maps.

Lastly, work on Dave Riller's new map cs_compound continues, along with the other projects we're working on here at Valve. We'll have an update on the map and our other projects next month.

Team Fortress 2?

Kuju Presents George A. Romero 03:12 pm - Andrew Burnes - games: action (1 comment)
Hip Interactive today revealed that the first title in the recently announced 'George A. Romero Presents' series of "inspired-by" games will be developed by Kuju Interactive for console platforms and the PC:

"With George A. Romero's cult status and following among horror fans, a property of this pedigree deserves a first class developer. That is exactly what horror fans will get now that we've signed high profile developer Kuju Entertainment," said Arindra Singh, president and chief executive officer of Hip Interactive Corp.

Ian Baverstock, business development director and co-founder of Kuju Entertainment, said, "Our spines are tingling in anticipation. George A. Romero is recognized as one of the leading directors in the horror world. We're excited to be translating the zombies and terror created in George's imagination into an atmospheric gorefest for game players." He continued, "We're also extremely pleased to be working with Hip Interactive, which has become a publishing force to be reckoned with."

Monolith's Frightening Console Game 03:07 pm - Andrew Burnes - consoles: general news (4 comments)
Eurogamer scared some news out of Monolith's Kevin Stephens who revealed that the technology behind F.E.A.R. is powering a presently unannounced action title for next-generation consoles.

For more on F.E.A.R. click here.

N-Gage's Time Up? 03:00 pm - Andrew Burnes - consoles: n-gage (5 comments)
The Inquirer reports that the end is nigh for the N-Gage, if their 'mole' is correct:

The INQ's Nordic mole claims Nokia is plotting to get rid of its entire Bochum, Germany facility by Q1 2006. That's not just N-Gage R&D; we're talking about, it's the production facility as well.

Nokia was refusing calls at press time. Sven Mole was pretty much adamant that this is the end for the N-Gage as we know it, although Nokia could easily switch N-Gage production elsewhere.

Where's that salt?

Marvel vs City of Heroes - The Fight Continues 02:56 pm - Andrew Burnes - mmog: role-playing (0 comments)
Terra Nova reports that City of Heroes developer NCSoft has issued a motion to dismiss in the case between them and Marvel Comics who are suing for copyright infringement:

City of Heroes is a tool that encourages originality, not slavish copying. It allows young and old to exercise their imaginations to create super-powered beings and send them off to interact with the creations of other individuals in a virtual world called Paragon City. If it should be banned, then so should the #2 pencil, the Lego block, modeling clay, and anything else that allows one to give form to ideas...

Thanks /.

ATI Introduces X700 Mobility 02:54 pm - Jeff Tom - hardware: ati (3 comments)
ATI have a press release on their website announcing their new Mobility X700 Radeon for laptops. Here's a clip from the pr, hit the link for the full thing:

ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT), the global leader for discrete PC graphics, today announced a powerful new PCI Express-based graphics processor for notebook PCs - the MOBILITY&153; RADEON® X700. Driving high definition DirectX® 9 performance into new territory, MOBILITY RADEON X700 delivers eye-popping visuals and longer battery life for the rapidly growing thin-and-light and performance-thin notebook segments. With eight pixel pipelines, six vertex engines and high speed GDDR3 memory support, MOBILITY RADEON X700 provides the horsepower to easily handle today's most visually intensive games, high definition content and workstation applications. With the introduction of MOBILITY RADEON X700, ATI now offers a top-to-bottom line of native PCI Express mobile graphics processors.

Neverwinter Nights II Q&A; 02:52 pm - Andrew Burnes - games: role-playing (0 comments)
Over on BioWare's forums there is an in-house interview regarding Neverwinter Nights II available to read. Here's a clip:

3. I hear that NWN2 will bring NWN up to Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 version rules. Is this true, and what unexpected obstacles has changing the core rules created?

This is true - NWN2 fully supports the 3.5 rules. All the rules changes are spec'd out now and are in the programmers' queue for implementation. NWN did a great job of converting 3rd edition to computer game form, and so the original game has put us in a great position to update the game to incorporate the new rules. The news on this front is refreshingly boring because there haven't really been any obstacles in this arena so far.

Look Back On 2004 02:47 pm - Jeff Tom - games: general news (0 comments)
GameSpot has a feature talking to gaming insiders on their thoughts on 2004 and what might lie in store this upcoming year. Here's a bit from Harvey Smith on what interested him in 2004:

I like the focus on tactical AI; Halo 2 features amazing enemy tactics. But I also like the focus on character quality, as in Half-life 2's emotionally compelling characters. These are two areas where we all need to follow those leads, where gameplay and narrative can be dramatically improved if more designers think about the problems and take advantage of the potential features that are just waiting to be discovered (or, more accurately, waiting to be prototyped, implemented, and tuned). My hope is that we're about to move into an age of development where pretty graphics aren't enough--where developers have to provide something more powerful in terms of player experience.

404 Gaming Adds Hip-Hop Stars Past & Present To Urban MMOG 02:44 pm - Andrew Burnes - mmog: role-playing (3 comments)
404 Gaming today announced that a number of hip-hop stars, both alive and dead, will be in their unnamed urban massively multiplayer role-playing game, of which we will hear more about in May:

Including many features that currently do not exist, our first title will allow subscribers to become integral parts of not just the storyline, but the actual game itself, taking the otherwise stale MMO community and hurtling it forward beyond all competitors. The recent addition of DJ Pooh (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) to 404 Gaming's already impressive staff will infuse our "Hip-Hop MMORPG" in development with an inspiring dose of classic urban storytelling.

The list of collaborating artists and staff involved with 404 Gaming and their first title reads like a who's who of the hip-hop community. Here are some examples: Ad Rock, D.M.C., Jam Master Jay, Chuck D, Flava Flav, Notorious B.I.G., Marlon Campbell, Marc Ghetti, DJ Hurricane, Adam Ghetti.

Permission from the estates of the deceased has been secured, as have their likenesses. In addition to the above news, 404 Gaming's site has been updated, with further information promised soon.

Empire Earth 2 Q&A; 02:43 pm - Jeff Tom - games: real-time strategy (0 comments)
More on Emipre Earth 2 today, as Gamer's Hell have an interview with Dr. Ian Davis of Mad Doc Software:

How will borders work? Will they be static or expand in proportion to buildings you build like in Rise of Nations?

With Empire Earth 2, our goal is to create a truly engaging, rich gameplay experience which brings key challenges and a true sense of realism to the table for hardcore fans. It seems to us that in the real world, borders simply don't expand in proportion to buildings - it just doesn't happen. We wanted Empire Earth 2 to more closely mirror the real world. As such, it made sense to us to create and implement our own system, the Territories System (in which borders do not move) which we feel pushes the game toward the historical realism we're striving for, while adding loads of additional gameplay. (Read on below to find out why I absolutely LOVE the Territories System we've implemented --- I think fans will agree that it's a superior system).

Battle for Middle Earth Q&A; 02:42 pm - Jeff Tom - games: real-time strategy (0 comments)
FileFront also have scored an interview on last year's RTS, Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth:

Q: Mark Skaggs, EA vice president and executive producer of the game, has been quoted to say that "[EA is] going for the best Lord of the Rings game [that can be made], not the best RTS." Is this self-defeating, or is sticking to the Lord of the Rings franchise actually more important than making a great game?

A: I am not sure that Mark has said this specifically, but I think it's fair to say that, for our team and EA as a whole, nothing is more important than making a great game. That comes first and foremost in everything that we do, and we really take pride that Battle for Middle-Earth is built upon the foundation of other great real-time strategy games like Red Alert 2, Yuri's Revenge, Generals, and Zero Hour, all of which were developed by members of this team. Having said that, we definitely designed this game with the more casual Lord of the Rings fan in mind. We wanted to create a product that would appeal to someone who had seen the movies, but never played an RTS game in the past. All the while, it still had to contain the depth and gameplay that our fans have come to expect from our previous work, and I think we accomplished both goals.

Red Orchestra Q&A; 02:40 pm - Andrew Burnes - games: action (0 comments)
Mod Files caught up with the Red Orchestra team to talk about their slick Unreal Tournament 2004 mod:

Your mod is realistic, but is it fun for the average player?

Well, I have always had a philosophy on this. The games that really broke new ground, the ones that really changed the genre, or went on to be extremely popular - They didn't cater to an existing audience. They created their own fan-base. That is my goal for Red Orchestra. That said, I feel Red orchestra has something to offer every player. If a player enjoys tight fast close quarters combat, we have maps where they can get that type of gameplay. If a player likes tactically sneaking through the grass to pick off a distant enemy with their bolt action rifle, they can get that from RO.

If they want to run guns a blazing through the trenches with artillery falling all around them, we can give that to them. Finally, if they enjoy simulation level armored vehicle combat, with or without infantry, they can get that too. One thing I would like to state along these lines. There are two places I feel that many realism games have failed in the past. First, they make things complicated just for complexities sake. Two, they feel downright clunky.

Best Selling U.S. PC Games 02:38 pm - Andrew Burnes - games: general news (4 comments)
For the week ending January 8th The Sims 2 takes back the top slot from Half-Life 2:

1) The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts
2) Half-Life 2 - Vivendi Universal
3) World Of Warcraft - Vivendi Universal
4) Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth - Electronic Arts $48
5) The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts
6) Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 - Atari
7) Call Of Duty - Activision
8) Zoo Tycoon 2 - Microsoft
9) Medal Of Honor: Pacific Assault - Electronic Arts
10) Call Of Duty: United Offensive - Activision

Metalheart Interview 11:19 am - Jeff Tom - games: role-playing (0 comments)
FileFront has an interview on Metalheart: Replicans Rampage, a new role-playing game from Alcella. Here's a bit to get you started:

Q: With so many other RPG titles out there, what did you do to try and avoid falling into too many clichés?

A: As you know, there are only about 30 typical dramatic situations in our life. Art - and game development as a considerable part of it - only mirrors such situations. So there are very few opportunities to discover something really revolutionary. So, the project is considered good if it includes a piece of it, a part of this and a small bit of that, thus consisting of a rational mix of many known elements. A developer should just present a fresh look on such a mix. The sum-total ought to add up to convey a touch of brilliance. Concerning some RPG stamps, I must point out that the players themselves might miss some good-old long-forgotten clichés, in other words - isometric view, post-apocalyptic world, random encounters… Well, you get what I mean.

Dungeons and Dragons Online Update 11:12 am - Jeff Tom - games: mmog (5 comments)
There's a new update from Turbine on Dungeons and Dragons Online as they go over the MMORPG. Thanks Blue's News. Here's a cut on the beta:

So, Beta. First off, we're going to be breaking it into several stages. For each stage, we're going to have different goals, and we're going to want to hear from different people about how to improve the game. The first stage of beta, Beta 0, will be small. Very small. You probably won't be in it. And let's be honest - you probably don't want to be. Oh, I know, you think you want to be in Beta 0. Face it, Beta 0 is going to be exasperating. Chaotic. Messy. Beta 0 is about getting things "un-broken," set up, configured, stable, and ready to expand to the larger beta stages - the ones you will be in. There will be lots of starts and stops and things breaking. This stage will be populated by people who have been in previous Turbine tests, and personal team referrals, who we feel we can abuse in a special way.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. AI Journal 11:03 am - Jeff Tom - games: action (0 comments)
HomeLAN has a developer journal on AI in the first-person shooter, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:

Early in the development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game mechanics we faced the necessity to invent new methods of game AI… The thing is, a free world as we see it in the game, should provide for a new approach to characters inhabiting it. As announced previously, our primary ambition was to create a living-and-breathing world. To accomplish that, on all the Zone levels we implemented the system of life simulation, allowing calculating all the processes within the realm of the game… Still though, we've been only half-way through as, apart from processes occurring beyond the player's sphere and thus impacting his events in indirect way only, there is an area of direct contacts of the player and the world's denizens. So, the second part of enlivening the world involves the events directly related to the protagonist.

EA ESPN Q&A; 10:49 am - Jeff Tom - games: sports (4 comments)
GameSpot have posted a new interview with EA's Frank Gibeau on the recent ESPN deal and their sports line of games. Here's a snippet:

GS: How does the deal with ESPN impact negotiations with John Madden himself? Does the ESPN deal signal the end of the relationship with Sir John? FG: I'm not sure where those stories are coming from. I think the simple fact is, we've had a long-term great relationship with John Madden. And he's in our games next year. And we're talking about the future with him. And by the way, he works for ESPN. If you think about the deal, it's not an inevitability that he goes away. I'm not even sure where that's coming from.

Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich Preview 10:47 am - Jeff Tom - games: action / strategy (0 comments)
FileFront have a new preview on Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich, from Irrational Games:

Combat requires you to be far away in order to successfully engage with your enemies. Even then, it gets a bit clunky when trying to get your heroes to attack different targets. There are still quite a few obstacles to work out in terms of smooth playability, but there are a few nice quirks that definitely make it fun. The obstacle-based level play is pretty straight forward, and you do not have to spend your time wandering the map in order to find your way to the next enemy or obstacle you need to blow up. It's a pro if you do not like to waste your time meandering, but a con if you like to really get personal with your maps, or at least try and make roaming a challenge.

F.E.A.R. Multiplayer Previews 10:40 am - Jeff Tom - games: action (0 comments)
GameSpy, and Computer&VideoGames; also have previews today of Monolith's F.E.A.R., taking a look at the multiplayer portion of the game. Here's a cut from GameSpy:

The multiplayer focuses on the military aspects of the game, with modes including the standard deathmatch, team deathmatch, and variants that include the "slow-mo" ability from the single-player game. Each level contains a special powerup that players or teams can fight for control over, and allows you to slow down time across the entire level. In team games, the controlling team is reduced to 40% speed, while the other team is reduced to 20%, giving the controlling team a huge advantage for ten seconds. There's also a icon on the screen that points out the location of the powerup, so if you're carrying it, assume that the other players will find you pretty soon.

Team 17 Interview 10:34 am - Jeff Tom - games: general news (3 comments)
GamesIndustry.biz have slapped up an interview with Team 17's Martyn Brown as they discuss the game industry, Worms, and more:

You've urged people recently to "look at the charts" for proof that originality doesn't generally sell any more. But let's focus on why that might be: who or what is to blame for this state of affairs? Is it just that sequels and licensed games are what the public want?

So who is to blame? I can assure you that developers would like to make new games, with new ideas, but the costs involved these days to develop a prototype/pilot are so prohibitive. It's not an easy situation to "fix" (if it's indeed broken) since to me it seems that the games market has "matured" into a similar commercial industry much like music and movies and much of what is going on has to be accepted as normal commercial business practice.

Empire Earth 2 Preview 10:32 am - Jeff Tom - games: real-time strategy (0 comments)
Also Computer&VideoGames; today is a preview of Empire Earth 2, from Mad Doc Software. Here's a bit on what's new:

The core group of new features are designed to allow easy management of the AI and the game in general. For example, the Citizen Manager allows you to make sure your civilians are working in the right place at the right time. It appears by setting up priorities geared towards gathering resources for war or for economic prosperity. By and large, you can then leave your civilian population to get on with the dirty work. Similarly the new War Planning feature will allow you to call up a regional map and create war plans for allied troops to follow. Plus you can follow everything - Mad Doc has instigated a picture-in-picture feature, where cameras are set up to watch events unfold from important vantage points and perhaps witness what Davis proudly proclaims as "non-cheating AI".

Republic Commando Preview 10:29 am - Jeff Tom - games: action (0 comments)
Computer&VideoGames; have scored a preview of the LucasArts first-person shooter, Star Wars: Republic Commando:

Fortunately Republic Commando should go even further in restoring reputations for the Star Wars faithful, casting you as the leader of a four-man clone commando squad in a series of daring missions deep behind enemy lines. Which enemy lines? Well timeline-wise it's set at the end of Episode II/beginning of Episode III in the white heat of the clone wars, as the Republic's clone army fight alongside the Jedi for the very freedom of the galaxy. Or something like that, we're a little hazy on the specifics and since Episode III's not quite out yet, we'll have to leave it at that.

Area 51 Preview 03:28 am - Andrew Burnes - consoles: xbox (7 comments)
Worthplaying today takes a gander at Area 51, Midway's console first-person shooter that is being guided by the hands of Hall and Romero:

It'd be sort of stupid not to acknowledge certain things about Area 51, such as the heavy thematic debts it owes to Half-Life. At the first cursory inspection, Area 51 looks like Half-Life would if someone had forgotten to pay the power bill; you're trapped in a dark top-secret military facility, uncovering conspiracies, with hostile aliens that're piloting dead humans around like puppets.

Area 51 isn't a clone, though. For one thing, Cole's not quite human anymore. As you go through the game and Cole continues to mutate, you'll gain a variety of new powers. One allows you to attack enemies with swarms of parasites; another changes Cole into a more powerful form, with an equally powerful melee attack.

F.E.A.R. Hands-On Preview 01:27 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - games: action (7 comments)
GameHelper helped itself to a a hands-on preview of the multiplayer in Monolith's F.E.A.R.:

While we have seen this "bullet time" effect done several times over since the originator, Max Payne, I do believe this is the first time we have seen it in a multiplayer environment - at least to this extent. The slowed firings of weapons create exaggerated trails of bullets that can be easily tracked to their target. Audio itself slows and drops in tone to fit the adrenalized moment. The first time I dispatched another player in slow time was beyond thrilling - I could see the entire course of the projectiles as they first hit the target, and next flung him over a railing.

Hardware & Tech Nuggets 01:25 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - hardware: general news (0 comments)

Reviews

• AeroCool Spiral Galaxies Case - Hi-Tech reviews
• Albatron GeForce 6600GT PCIe - VR-Zone
• Corsair Flash Voyager - NinjaLane
• Enermax Venus MicroATX Case - 3DX
• Enermax CS-718 MaxFlow ATX Case - PimpRig
• Jetway ATi RX480 + ULi M1573 HD Audio K8 Mainboard - OCW
• Koolance PC3-720 Water Cooling unit - Hardware Hell
• Saitek Cyborg Evo Wireless Joystick - The Tech Lounge
• Soltek SL-K8TPro-939 - Neoseeker
• Soltek K8TPro-939 AMD socket 939 motherboard - Teamhardware
• Thermaltake Hardcano 13 A2259 Multifunction Fan Controller - Tweaknews
• Trigem's Kloss KL-I915A mini-barebones system - The Tech Report

  Other Stuff...
  

• 18 card PCI-E roundup - PC Authority
• 2005 CES - State Of The CE Industry Report - The Tech Zone
• Analysis: ATi Catalyst 5.1 - HEXUS
• Athlon 64 Overclocking - AuphanOnline
• CES 2005 Photo Essay Report - Future Looks
• Interview with Intel - Viper Lair

Game Reviews 01:24 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - games: general news

PC

• Armies of Exigo - TCMag - n/a
• Blitzkrieg: Rolling Thunder - Gamers Europe - 6/10
• D-Day - Gamespot - 4.3/10
• Hearts of Iron 2 - Gamespot - 8.3/10
• Konung 2 - Review Outpost - 60%
• Sid Meir's Pirates! - TCMag - n/a

  Xbox
  

• GunGriffon: Allied Strike - Gamespy - 2/5
• Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders - ActiveXbox - 88%

  PS2
  

• FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel - Gamesdomain - 7/10
• FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel - Gamespot - 6.2/10
• FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel - Gamespy - 2.5/5
• Mercenaries - Gaming Age - A
• Virtua Quest - Gamespy - 2.5/5

  GameCube
  

• Intellivision Lives! - Cube.IGN - 6/10
• Resident Evil 4 - ActionTrip - 94%

In Other News... 01:15 am - Robert 'Apache' Howarth - in-house: in other news... (44 comments)
Sorry for the late start this morning as our publishing system was being worked on. The forums seem to finally be back up as well. Today's question is:

What was the weakest element in Half-Life 2? If you could go back in time and change something about the game, what would it be?