head to head

Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold cover artvsHalf-Life 2 cover art

Blake Stone: Aliens of GoldvsHalf-Life 2

Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Half-Life 2 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).

EXECUTION6 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION3 /10
Blake Stone: Aliens of GoldHalf-Life 2

Axis by axis

Execution6 vs 6

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 1

Half-Life 2 leans harder on reads: Combine AI scripted, non-adaptive.

Variance2 vs 1

Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold leans harder on variance: some randomized enemy placement

Optimization3 vs 3

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold

full breakdown

Half-Life 2