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Justice - SP by satchmo

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Map Info

Map Description

Justice: A Single-Player Map for Half-Life 2

Version 3 released: August 30, 2005
Length: Approximately an hour long for a first-time player
Difficulty: Kick-ass hard

SCENARIO
Did you find the ending to Half-Life 2 not challenging enough? This map is an addendum to what happened to Gordon after the official Half-Life 2 ended. If you're looking for a more intense conclusion for Half-Life 2, you've come to the right place.

The map takes place a few days after you have blown up the Citadel in City 17. Gordon Freeman regains consciousness after a brutal beating by the combine capturers. You're locked up in a jail, and your murder trial for killing Dr. Breen and his associates is scheduled for the next morning.

The G-Man is presiding as the judge over the trial, and your instinct tells you that you really have no chance at getting a fair trial. Judging from the appearance of your cellmate, you better get out when you still have a chance.

You must escape the courthouse before night falls. You've got nothing but your wit to successfully survive the squads of combines guarding the courthouse. Fight with your brain, not just with your guns.

If you wish, you can watch a video walkthrough of this map, courtesy of Habboi.
Postscript:

There was an earlier version of the map with two antlion guards in the courtyard instead of the gunship. After playtesting with members of the SnarkPit, I decided that having a gunship can take advantage of the layout of the map so much more than the antlion guards. The older version is no longer available for download. I hope you enjoy this new version as much as I enjoyed creating this map.

Discussion

Posted by coge balas on Sat Mar 12th 2005 at 6:17am
This mod is intense. You start out with nothing and have multiple ways of beating it, and I love that. The gameplay was great fun, though I think it just barely crossed the thin line of too difficult/too dependent on quicksave. This was great fun overall.
Posted by satchmo on Fri Mar 11th 2005 at 9:23pm
[Author]
I just want to warn anyone who wants to try this map. It is extremely challenging, and it would be nearly impossible to finish if you haven't beaten Half-Life 2 yet. So consider yourself forewarned.

My recommendation is to quicksave the game frequently, and always walk carefully into a new area. You never know what's waiting for you.
Posted by FATS48 on Fri Mar 11th 2005 at 7:54pm
I guess it may have just been down temporarly, I tried again today and all was fine. Thanx again
Posted by satchmo on Thu Mar 10th 2005 at 3:54am
[Author]
PM me if anyone is having trouble downloading the map. I'll try to get to the bottom of it. Thanks.
Posted by satchmo on Thu Mar 10th 2005 at 2:16am
[Author]
I tried the download link, and it seems to work fine for me. Try it again, the site might have been down temporarily.

Unfortunately, there isn't another site that this map can be downloaded. It took me a long time to find a site that can host my map.

Good luck.
Posted by FATS48 on Wed Mar 9th 2005 at 2:08pm
I can't get on the d/l site, is there another site this can be d/l'd from? I keep getting error report
Posted by Dark Tree on Thu Mar 3rd 2005 at 9:34am
First off, I never found a crowbar OR the grav gun...so that made things a bit tougher. :/

Anyway, It was fun enough to play. You said it should take about an hour for beginners. I think that is fairly inacurate. I would say beginners would never even make it past the first gaurd. To even beat this map I would think you would need quite a bit of experience....I would say the average time it would take to beat it...if at all would be about an hour and a half.

It was hard...I will give you that...and I would never knock off points for how hard something was...unless it was near impossible.

The brush work was OK....I didnt see any badly stretched areas or any graphical errors which is great...however, it was very simplistic design. The statue in the middle of one of the rooms looked nice as well as the fountain.

If I would have known you provided enough RPG ammo for an entire army I might've used that weapon a bit more. :D

Also, there was no point to the buggy, except for you to refill some bullet ammo.

The ending...although not super abrupt (fadeout, one line of text), wasn't very fulfilling for someone who just had to one-handedly kill 20 combine with monsters and a flying ship. Varsity said it was difficult but rewarding when you beat it....exactly what was I rewarded with?

I love custom SP maps and I would say its worth a play (or two?).

The bottom line:
There were a couple of nice looking areas...but who the hell can notice detail when you are about to die the whole time! :)
Posted by satchmo on Thu Mar 3rd 2005 at 2:16am
[Author]
Thanks, Dark Tree.

I wonder how you made it without using the crowbar and the gravity gun. What did you use to kill the first prison guard (with a pistol)?

I agree it's tough, but that's my intent. The map was never designed for a beginner. I estimated the time for a player who has already beaten the entire Half-Life 2 but playing this map for the first time. Someone who hasn't played HL2 before can never survive the challenge.

The buggy was put in there originally to battle the antlion guards. But I just left it in the map after I replaced the antlion guards with the gunship.

Did you read my walkthrough, by the way? That should guide you along if you plan to go for a second trip through the map.

Thanks again for taking the time to play the map.
Posted by Varsity on Tue Mar 1st 2005 at 9:43pm
Lots of combine, too many turrets, very hard but rewarding when you beat it. :) The brushwork is a little basic but hey, what do you expect from such an early work? The displacement mapping in the skybox is the only inexcusable problem: it doesn't take much to bump up the detail and hit smooth! ;) Oh yeah, and there's not much scope beyond the first area for the gravity gun. It could have been exploited better. Still worth the download!
Posted by satchmo on Fri Feb 25th 2005 at 7:19pm
[Author]
Wow, I just played the map again this morning. And I agree that
it's very challenging. No one can survive the combat unless
he/she has been through the official Half-Life levels first.

I died several times before I finished the map, and that's even with a
complete knowledge of all the enemy locations and traps. Now I
can sympathize with anyone playing the map for the first time.

However, the map would be a lot easier if the player takes advantage of
all the weapons I hid in the map. The shotgun hidden inside the
jail cell in the beginning is crucial in fighting the first wave of
Combines. And the 0.357 Magnum in the adjacent storage building
is very useful in eliminating those Elite Troops inside the main
control room.

And don't forget to utilize the gravity gun. It's very handy in
several places in the map, but it's most useful in dealing with those
turrets and roller mines.