Half Life 2 Mods: Episode 1: Mistake of Pythagoras

Just a little post today in honor of how little I’ve done: Waking up late, lounging, organizing the collection of shameful playing cards, showering in the late afternoon, etc. I did take care of another item on the stuff-to-do list, the Half-Life 2 mod Mistake of Pythagoras. It’s short, a little difficult, and pretty Japanese. I kind of like that it uses the Source engine and the Half-Life universe to tell its story, the sort of understated figure-it-out-yourself mode of exposition is fitting given that its used (though perhaps not in the same way) in the Valve-developed series. Some of the action sequences are vague and require a little too much thought for the player to really figure them out, and as expected some of the set designs are a little amateurish, though I’d like to think that some of the wide, high-ceilinged areas were used intentionally for their geometric simplicity. There was a great little a-ha moment for me when the plot sort of started to make sense instead of just being a collection of “LOL Japan” nonsense. If I’m interpreting things correctly Mistake of Pythagoras is actually a poignant little tale about order, chaos, and a bit of mistaken identity. It’s kind of impressive that using only simplistic shapes in the character designs I was able to get a little emotional catharsis out of them in the end. Check it out if you have Steam/HL2 and have a few hours to spare (about two or two and a half it would seem).