Half-Life: The Golden Crystal is the last Half-Life series set in the events of Half-Life 1 made by Gearbox Software, published and released by Sierra Online in March 1st, 2003. You will take the role as Braxton Andrews, a Black Mesa Survey Team personnel whose the mission is to collect crystals on planet Xen. Although using GoldSrc engine, HL:TGC doesn't require Half-Life. It was released on Steam gaming service at June 2nd, 2007. This was the first game in Half-Life 1 series to have a commentary, similar to Portal and other newly-released Valve Source-powered games.
Gameplay[]
Half-Life: The Golden Crystal, unlike Blue Shift, Opposing Force, and Decay, took place one year before the events of Resonance Cascade. It follows the story of Dr. Braxton Andrews, a Black Mesa Survey Team personnel whose in mission of collecting the Xen crystals to be researched in Black Mesa. Due to the event setting back before the Resonance Cascade, the gameplay is short, but not as short as Blue Shift.
HL:TGC does not feature any new enemies, but introduces one new weapon which is axe, replacing the crowbar. The lack of a new weaponry, and also new enemies was one of the most criticized aspects. This expansion pack includes the specialized GoldSrc engine or officially known by Valve as "Half-Life Engine Plus". The Half-Life Engine Plus used exclusively for this Half-Life expansion pack features updated lighting, realistic effects, and the updated A.I system.
Achievements[]
These are various achievements here involving situations where the player excels in the certain aspects during the gameplay. Below are the list of the achievements. Achievements are only exclusive to Steam Version and not in the retail CD version.
- Gold Crystal - Obtain the first crystal in Xen in the chapter "Crystals"
- Air Vent - Cross through air vents instead of taking the normal path to the Lambda Complex in the chapter "Lambda Complex"
- The Crystal Has Arrived - Finished HL:TGC
- Survivor Man - Complete the game without taking damage or losing the health.
- Do It Again - Replay the game from the beginning after completing it.
- One Weapon Man - Have only axe in your weapon inventory
- Bullavoider - Dodge from Bullsquid's toxic spit.
- No One In Xen Knows... - Collect crystals in Xen without getting detected by nearby Xen creatures on sight in the chapter "The Borderworld, Xen", "Crystals", or "Irreality"
- Alternate Exit - Activate the secret ending.
- Cheat And Cheat - Activated "sv_cheats" via console
- The Ultimatum Challenge - Complete the game on Hard without taking damage
- 12'o Life - Play Half-Life: The Golden Crystal starting from 12:00 AM (midnight)
- Screen Shooter - Take screenshot 10 times
- Frozen In Time - Pause the game for an hour.
- Living A Secret Life - Found all of the secrets/easter eggs throughout the storyline.
- Deaf Braxton - Play HL:TGC with all volume (in-game sound options) set to 0%
- Not Afraid Of Dark - Go to dark areas (usually in air vents) without using a flashlight.
- Less Visual Violence - Enable "Content Lock".