I just want to point out that in Surface Tension, the section where you get attacked by the Apache while traversing the cliffs, it’s not very well designed. In fact, it’s very badly designed for the following four reasons:
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There’s no reason why it should take as much as 15 rockets to take out the Apache.
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There’s no reason why there should be an infinite rocket ammo crate there.
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There’s no reason why the Apache should be a carbon copy of the Half Life 2 gunship.
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There’s no reason why that section should be frustrating at all. The player gets hit completely randomly, even when sitting behind hard cover. Because this section drags on for such a long time, by the end of it, the player is almost dead or already dead, even if he was sitting behind hard cover all the time.
It’s not hard to make this section less frustrating, more original, while keeping it challenging. Just do the following:
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Make it so the gunship goes down quicker, like with 4 rocket hits.
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Remove all rocket pickups prior to arriving at this section. Remove the infinite rocket crate and replace it with 5 or 6 rockets. Also, maybe add 1 or 2 Gauss ammo as a backup means to take out the gunship.
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Remove the sound before the gunship fires its cannon. There’s no need for it. This should ensure the encounter stays challenging and doesn’t rip off the Half Life 2 gunship so much.
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Add a better sound for the Apache cannon. One that sounds more impressive and is better quality.
Until such changes are made. I recommend to everyone to put on godmode once you start this section, so that you don’t get frustrated and you can quickly get to the fun part again.