The Ship

"A tense and unique mod for Half-Life 2"

"The Ship" was a multiplayer Half-Life mod released back in 2004 that had pretty unique gameplay. It was because of this that the game didn't get much attention upon release. Valve decided to team up with the developers of the game and convert the game into the source engine. Even though it's no Counter-Strike in terms of players, the gameplay is solid and is loads of fun once the learning curve is over.

STORY: NO RATING
The story is pretty basic (and actually not even mentioned in the game)
The game takes place in the 1920's and a mysterious "Mr. X" has given out free tickets to a recreational cruise ship. Though the people who have bought the tickets have fallen into a trap. They must kill a specific person on the ship or else they will be killed as well as their families. I'm not counting this against the total score, as this game is not recognized for it.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10
Once you join a "Cruise" (server) you are given a name and the name of the person you have to kill. You must find and kill that person with whatever weapons you find (axes, revolvers, knives etc.) but you must kill that person in secret or else you will be arrested and thrown into the brig and fined. At the same time you must tend to your needs in a "The Sims" like fashion. You must eat, go to the bathroom, shower, and a few other things. While you are doing this you are vulnerable to the person who is hunting you. Since you don't know who is hunting you and who is'nt you must always be aware of the people behind you. This makes for some tence gameplay moments. Though it is rather difficult to kill a person, good players may only kill about 4 people throughout the duration of the map.

GRAPHICS: 8/10
The game is done with the source-engine but the characters have a sort of exaggerated cartoonish look to them. The HUD works nicely and the variety of weapons and characters is pleasing to the eye Everything else is pretty average, you won't see anything spectacular.

CONTROLS: 8/10
You have your basic WASD movement controls but several things are added in. You have a map of the ship (which comes in handy many times), a list of your needs, and an inventory which you use to store various items and weapons. You can also right-click to view information about a certain item or person. It takes just a little getting used to but its worth it.

SOUND: 7/10
You won't hear anything that'll blow your mind or anything. Occasionally you'll run by a radio that'll have music from the era the game takes place. When a character talks to another you hear a sort of murmer in some nonsence language (just like The Sims). Guns sound the way they should and all. It's alright.

OVERALL: 8/10
This is definitely a mod worth looking at if you want something different than the standard run-and gun shooter. The gameplay is unique and is fun once you get the hang of hunting down your target (and avoid being killed be the enemy). I personally would look into this game if you want a game where you have to wait just for the right moment to strike.

Buy or avoid?
I would say buy for those who are tired of the "kill anything that moves" mods for Half-Life 2. Although many people may be turned off by the slower paced gameplay (and I mean pretty slow. As stated before you won't get many kills in the map cycle, though when you do get a successfull kill it does feel rewarding). Also, you don't get the standard jerks in most online shooters who do nothing but camp all day, this style of gameplay just prevents that since standing in one place all the time will probably get you killed by your hunter.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/07